Capitalism congratulates itself

Once again.

Every first Tuesday in November capitalism hosts a big charade. It parades its candidates around the media for everyone to see, hear, and read. Debates are hosted and the two faces of capitalism bloviate at each other for however long.

Then the voters, those that choose to participate, pick the face of capitalism that they wish to look at until the next charade.

The election charade happened yesterday.

Today capitalism congratulates itself for winning.

What exactly?

 

Questions I have that I am waiting for the answer to:

1. How many people did not participate in the charade? In a business meeting, school board meeting, or any official meeting where a legally binding decision is to be made, there must be a quorum of members present and participating. In an election, the voting booth is the meeting place and the voters are the ones that are making the decisions. Did 50 + 1% of the eligible voters participate? If not, then should the election results count?

I say no. Quorum was not met.

Since quorum was not met, how can these results be valid?

2. Were there other candidates that wanted to run but could not get any attention? I know of the Democratic and Republican candidates because the media regularly reports on them. Were there other people trying to get on the ballot? Why does the media not report on them?

Then again, it is quipped that freedom of the press belongs to those that have one.

Which is not you and me.

Which leads me to the importance of the independent media.

If a candidate is running for office and the media does not report on it, can they really be running?

We need to take our democracy and our media back.

We need to demand that they – the television and radio stations, the newspapers, the magazines - represent us. We the people.

And if they won't – we need to start our own,

The Prometheus RadioProject works to help get Low-Power FM stations on the air to meet the needs of under served communities. Jamestown has 107.9 WRFA-LP. It plays some rather interesting and progressive material,  like Democracy Now!

Can Buffalo or any of the suburbs, or Batavia, or Springville, or Little Valley, or any community get another station that meets the needs of the people?

There's the Independent Media Center – A website that allows users to publish the news that affects their communities.  It's a place that we can start to get the stories out that matter to us.  It needs some dusting off.  It took a hit when the Occupy Movement was crushed.  Let's dust it off and get it going again.

We need to find the ways to make our voices heard all year round.

Then we will count when it really matters.

On a Tuesday in November.

2015 Election Referendum

I voted .

Now down the important information - the two referendum on the ballot.

Proposition #1 : Electoral Redistricting - Absolutely not.  On the surface it looks OK.  In reality it is a veneer - a nice cover over garbage.  The fact of the matter is that the people selected to do the redistricting will be hand picked by the people in power.  So nothing will really change. NY will still have the same gerrymandered garbage that keeps us in the rut that we are in.

What do socialists demand?  Proportional representation.  This winner-take-all system denies the voices of the people.  If we look at the election of 1992 - a majority of the voters (60%) rejected Bill Clinton as president.  And yet we wound up with him as president.

We need to have what the European & Canadian citizens - If a party achieves 5% of the vote (or more) they receive that percentage of the representation.  Plain and simple.  Two thirds of the electorate does not participate because the corporate owned and controlled parties don’t represent them.  A proportional representation system gives more people an opportunity to have their voices heard.

Proposition #2 : School Technology Bond - Yes,  with a provision.  The poor districts and schools need to have the priority on the spending.  No money should be given to private schools or charter schools of any kind that do not respond to a publicly (read democratically) elected school board.  

Therefore - If the School Bond passes,  we need to call the elected representatives in our districts and let them know - no taxpayer dollars for private schooling.

Otherwise - I was the first person voting in my district today.  I looked down the ballot and saw many races with the same person endorsed by every party on the ballot.  I refuse to endorse a democratically appointed dictatorship.  So I wrote in the bottom line (marked “write in”) “None.”

It sends a message.

Do you duty & vote.

Make your voice heard.

In as many ways as possible.