Self-Determination: What is it; do we have it?

We're ONE step closer today, since Stop Dark Money has been certified for the 2022 Arizona general election ballot as Prop 211. Please Vote YES on Prop 211!

What does self-determination mean?

Last month, Washington Post published an op-ed by NYU law professor Richard H. Pildes.

It’s not just us. Western democracies are fragmenting.

Three major elections on the same Sunday in June — in France, Colombia and Spain — tell the fundamental story of democracy in our era: the continuous disaffection with government, the collapse of traditionally dominant parties and figures, and the constant search for alternatives — which is quickly followed by yet more disaffection and the search for yet other alternatives. This is no longer a narrative of dysfunction distinctive to one country, if it ever was. The Conservative Party in Britain is now scrambling to find a new prime minister; the government in Italy is near collapse. The nature of political authority has fundamentally changed. Political power has become fragmented, as voters abandon traditional parties and turn to upstart, insurgent parties or independent, free agent politicians from across the political spectrum.

In multiparty democracies, such as the three that held elections last month, the fragmentation of political power makes it more difficult to form governments, causes those governments to be fragile and prone to collapse, and weakens their capacity to deliver effective policies. Politics in the United States, with our well-entrenched two-party system, are nonetheless being shaped by similar forces — although here fragmentation means the Democratic and Republican parties are torn by internal factional conflicts that party leaders struggle to surmount.

People in "Western democracies" are sensing the archaic, anachronistic, power structures which are clearly antagonistic to the foundation of self-determination. Could this be the root of political polarization? 

When the original 13 colonies formed in the New World, what did telecommunications look or sound like?

In 1787, with adoption of the US Constitution, wasn't it all about self-determination. 

For some anyway? Who the Constitution covers, as citizens (who get to vote), has expanded greatly. Rightfully so.

Think. Really think. What is it going to take to restore a sense of self-determination to our citizens, our communities, our country?

Has Congress experimented with long-distance voting? Have any of the state legislatures? Have Congress and state legislatures been able to solve the problem of Big Money and the pernicious impact it has obviously had throughout the nation?

Are Congress and state legislatures stuck in a time warp?

Humanity today is nothing if not about INNOVATION.

Innovate your way out of this, Western Democracies. Including the no longer very United States of America.

The Arizona Constitution makes clear that elected officials are NOT "our leaders," which if they were would imply they are our RULERS... rather, they are our employees, our REPRESENTATIVES. Those who are supposed to be bound by a Social Contract to make decisions Res Publica, or for the good of the republic. Anyone paying attention knows that's not what really happens.

Why not?

Arizona Constitution Article 2, Section 2 states: All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.

1. Derive their JUST powers from the consent of the governed. This is not simply a formality. It's the mindset our elected officials/representatives MUST always operate from and with. 

2. Why do we delegate our sovereign authority to elected officials? To protect and maintain individual rights.

In Common Sense, 18th Century pamphleteer Thomas Paine wrote a stirring (long) essay which states, "We have it in our power to begin the world over again."  Paine's essay sparked the American Revolution. The SPIRIT of that revolution needs to be refreshed. 

I've said for some time that Direct Democracy is our SUPERPOWER. For nearly four years now, I've been active to get the Outlaw Dirty Money and its successor, Stop Dark Money citizen initiatives on the ballot for voters to consider. ODM was stymied by the pandemic in 2020. Stop Dark Money is now facing resistance that feels like what Stephen King wrote about in his novel 11.22.63 (view the limited series on Hulu)

Dark Money interests have challenged SDM in court. WE won the first round. The suit is now in front of the Arizona Supreme Court. Read the latest filing by the good guys. This is a response to amicus brief filed by Rusty (formerly, for a short time, a good guy) Bowers, Karen Fann, and Doug Ducey. The trio now fancy themselves rulers rather than servants of the PEOPLE. Bowers, Fann, and Ducey seem to think they're a BFD and are trying to get the hard work the PEOPLE have put in completely invalidated.

There is a press conference scheduled for Tuesday morning (August 23, 2022) at 11:00. Location: Outlier office complex 668 North 44th Street, Phoenix. That's between Van Buren St and Loop 202.

My vision is ultimately (who knows how long it will take?) to see an advanced form of Direct Democracy replace the state legislature to more fairly and accurately aggregate the WILL of the PEOPLE.