[TOUGH QUESTIONS] State or individual - which should be master? - Zerowedgie

[Steve Kinney]

On 07/23/2018 04:42 PM, juan wrote:
> On Mon, 23 Jul 2018 12:03:18 +1000
> Zenaan Harkness <zen at freedbms.net> wrote:
> 
> 
>>
>>  ∙ the state    direct democracy    anarchy/ism
> 
> 
> 	so what is 'direct democracy'? A bunch of statists who can 'directly vote' on how to abuse their betters? 
> 
> 	unless you give some actual specification for 'direct democracy' (which is just another for of statism anyway) you are not saying much, if anything.

As I understand it, direct democracy means people banding together to
exercise political power "by hand", using whatever kind of force
necessary to get the results they want.  That makes direct democracy
very nearly a synonym for anarchy, especially as the term usually
describes dissident movements pushing back against one or another kind
of State authority.  Like anarchy, direct democracy does not define or
describe a form of government in the usual sense of the term.

Tactical options for direct democracy include propaganda (publications,
protest rallies, etc.); strikes and boycotts; occupations and
expropriations; sabotage and physical intimidation; or even armed
conflict.  Because they fill roles more usually taken by the State, both
local charities and 'frontier justice' would also fall under the direct
democracy banner.  So would local governance by a consensus process, as
seen in some tribal councils, and oddly enough, the administrative
process of traditional branches of the Religious Society of Friends,
a.k.a. Quakers.

My limited information suggests that the Zapatista controlled bit of
Mexico qualifies as a "direct democracy" because meetings modeled on a
traditional tribal council process where all may be heard, and decisions
are made by consensus, directs the actions of their military/police
force.  In this instance, one could consider direct democracy a form of
government now in place - and to date, a highly successful example.
Neither petrochemicals nor narcotics cartels have managed to steal their
land.

:o)















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