Less ‘Representative’, More ‘Democracy’

Posted on | November 10, 2012 | 18 Comments

by Smitty

Jerry Wilson over at Goldfish and Clowns offers up a fine post that is worth your time in full, but here is a taste (emphasis mine):

Economically, there will continue to be no sense of urgency until either Obamacare’s reality in the form of slashed Medicare coverages starts adversely affecting a multitude of families, the tax burden for all who actually pay taxes becomes onerous or the government stops handing out money. If the first two happen, they happen. The latter is far less likely to take place unless it is forced, and the only way that can happen would be if House Republicans refuse to pass any more appropriation bills, thus shutting down the government, until a genuine deficit reduction program is installed. That said, it’s doubtful the GOP has the guts to turn off the money spigot and shut government down, no matter the pain it causes, until Obama and the Democrats agree to genuine financial reform. However, nothing else short of another massive terrorist attack or full blown war on American soil will get the public’s attention.

I submit that this is true insofar as it goes, but the real problem here is indifference. Not just on election days, but the other 2 * 365 – 1 days in between*.

Folks, if we don’t explicitly keep our Republic, it will be taken from us!

I’m preaching to a choir here, so the real question is how we can broaden the discussion past the choir. Guys like Glenn Beck and Mike Church have been instrumental in my own personal education on what this country really was intended to mean. It did not seem possible to me that a society could achieve the level of daftness the U.S. did on the 6th of November. BHO should have been overwhelmed at the polls, far past the reach of any minor accounting boo-boos that may have crept in.

The notion of division of labor goes back a really long way in economics. Yes, we use elections to divide the work between a handfull of officials and the rest of the populace. Sure, it would be swell if we had some higher-caliber statesmen in play. But we the people can’t expect to tune in for elections only and expect the country to stay on course. DC is a tiny fraction of the total area of the country, and holds a distorted, statist worldview. The Silent Majority is pulling off a major sin of omission, methinks.

*Don’t get pedantic with me about leap years and goofy off-year elections like Virginia’s.

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Comments

18 Responses to “Less ‘Representative’, More ‘Democracy’”

Dreeana
November 10th, 2012 @ 8:36 am

Yep- I saw Obama claiming the election was a mandate for higher taxes and thought wouldn’t it have been great if Boehner had the wit or the stones to respond that the election of a Republican congress was a mandate to stop buying elections with other people’s money.
The People’s Indifference Will Take America from “The People” | ZION'S TRUMPET
November 10th, 2012 @ 9:43 am

[…] Less ‘Representative’, More ‘Democracy’ […]
JohnInMA
November 10th, 2012 @ 9:51 am

Perhaps I am more of a cynic than many, but I don’t see a significant last minute shift in the nation. After all, FDR was the premier ‘handout’ president, and he survived longer and with greater popularity than all before or since. (Yes, there was a war, too. But his programs were very well received by a majority).

So, the problem won’t be solved by addressing some historically recent change in a particular demographic. It has been endemic for generations – parents of parents, at this point. Culture and educational systems lead the way, convincing a wide swath of public of not just the modern history and need for this federal benevolence, but also distorting the intent and even the lives of the original founders. I encounter many people who honestly believe that the ONLY way to address any social concern, even minor ones, must come from DC (not even the state in some people’s minds) So, you are right , the solutions are not to be found only during election cycles. A new generation of concerned citizens must be willing to risk fame and especially fortunes to counter this in popular culture. It sounds like Glenn Beck is on that path, recently announcing more investment in providing such content (more historically accurate). Dinesh D’Souza’s work about Obama was relatively popular. The Atlas Shrugged series has been successful enough to not break the bank. This ‘investment’ must grow for there to be any chance of influencing the current citizenry of a more accurate historical picture and to build a more basic understanding of “another way”.

I’ve often wondered why there hasn’t yet been an effort to fund, say, a more ‘honest’ studio and if my dollars would be more wisely invested there than in a political campaign every cycle. Perhaps that is the better place for a large portion of the billions spent to elect someone.
htowt
November 10th, 2012 @ 12:27 pm

Smitty:

Enough with the Benjamin Franklin allusions!
With the 2014 elections, 20 seats in the House and two retired/deceased conservative justices are all that stand between us and authoritarian Democratic Party rule.

Yes, it’s a clear and present danger, but have some fun with it…
http://anti-republicanculture.com
Adobe_Walls
November 10th, 2012 @ 12:28 pm

We can take comfort in knowing that after the collapse there will be a fair amount of “natural selection”. Not the optimal scenario but it is what it is.
The Stupid Suicidal Party | Daily Pundit
November 10th, 2012 @ 1:10 pm

[…] The Stupid Suicidal Party Posted on November 10, 2012 10:10 am by Bill Quick Less ‘Representative’, More ‘Democracy’ : The Other McCain […]
Adjoran
November 10th, 2012 @ 2:08 pm

Watching media over the last four years makes it very clear that if the House allows a government shutdown, the GOP will be blamed and Democrats will take over in 2014, probably with 60 votes in the Senate again.

Great plan, it worked out so well in 2009-11. We got ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank and were very close to cap-‘n’-trade.

Get what we can, but give the man his tax increase “in the spirit of national unity,” but make sure it is on the record that we don’t think it will work. Then the Democrats own it, at least.
K-Bob
November 10th, 2012 @ 2:38 pm

Extra marks for use of “not optimal.”
K-Bob
November 10th, 2012 @ 2:43 pm

I’ve wondered about this, too. When conservatives quietly make a good movie that isn’t given some stupid name like “Hey, This Is a Movie For Conservatives,” those movies usually do very well.

When they make something that’s crucial viewing for conservatives, and tell us that over and over, then two things happen: A) They struggle to find theaters to show it in, and B) A lot of us won’t go watch it.

Think about it. How many of you actively select “Conservapedia” when searching for info on something?

Just shut up and make good movies that conservatives want to watch. That’s the formula.
K-Bob
November 10th, 2012 @ 2:44 pm

He’s thinking about it. But he keeps forgetting. At least he remembers to have a drink once in a while.
K-Bob
November 10th, 2012 @ 2:50 pm

It’s time to test Marbury v. Madison.

The states need to pass resolutions of finding on issues about the Constitution. If 40 states or more passed a resolution declaring Obamacare unconstitutional, then we would finally have some pushback against the chokehold the SCOTUS has on our Republic.

States are supposed to be sovereign in our Republic. Nothing in the Constitution itself declares a final arbiter of what is or isn’t constitutional. Marbury v. Madison was a finding within the boundaries of the federal court system only. Other branches of government have obviously had their own ability to weigh in, they have simply chosen not to, in the vast majority of cases.
Bob Belvedere
November 10th, 2012 @ 3:07 pm

Andrew Breitbart said we must regain control of the arts, so you’re on the side of the Angels.
Bob Belvedere
November 10th, 2012 @ 3:09 pm

This is what Jeff Goldstein has been arguing. State governments need to lead a federalist resistence.
Adobe_Walls
November 10th, 2012 @ 5:38 pm

Thankyou.
Adobe_Walls
November 10th, 2012 @ 5:45 pm

Indeed; the sovereign States were meant to be the most powerful bulwark between “We the People” and federal oppression. This was understood up until the War of Northern Aggression.

Robert E Lee, letter to John Acton 1866

“I yet believe that the maintenance of the rights and
authority reserved to the states and to the people, not only essential to the adjustment and balance of the general system, but the safeguard to the continuance of a free government. I consider it as the chief source of stability to our political system, whereas the consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be
the certain precursor of that ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded it.
Adobe_Walls
November 10th, 2012 @ 5:48 pm

Unfortunately he’s a maudlin drunk so having several drinks won’t put any iron in his spine.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
November 11th, 2012 @ 1:47 am

If the House does it smart and not like Gingrich did it, it would work. Unfortunately it will never work with Boehner leading the charge. A Patton he most definitely is not.
K-Bob
November 12th, 2012 @ 2:00 am

Well, they told me if I signed up with Lee’s army a tyranny would result, and they were right!

— Fast Letter-writing Pundit