[thechat] Re: thechat digest, Vol 1 #219 - 22 msgs

[Ben Henick]

Martin writes:

> >In the United States the "consent of the governed" is very real, and
> >it is not guaranteed.
>
> Er, yeah. Go read 'Why Americans Don't Vote'.
> <
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/...
> >
> The reality is that the "consent" is that of very particular sections
> of the US population, as there are structural forces which severely
> limit the supposedly universal franchise. And we won't even mention
> Florida :-)

Close, but not quite there.  I debated the same point you're making before
I wrote that statement.

The fact remains that the rights are there, and that people make the
willful and informed choice not to exercise those rights.  (A choice about
which I rant on my site, no less...)

While I grant that the elites have worked very hard to convince the voting
public that their only choice is between two flavors of vanilla, and that
it requires money to become a viable alternative - the fact of the matter
is that it's always been that way, more or less.

However, this is not about the franchise; it is about the understanding,
made crystal-clear in the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution, that there is in fact a last resort beyond the ballot-box
(albeit one which will hopefully never be put to use) that "the people"
have at their disposal.

It's an uncharacteristically libertarian interpretation when considered
in the light of my normal affiliations, but it has a certain currency...


-- 
Ben Henick
Web Author At-Large              Managing Editor
http://www.io.com/persist1/      http://www.digital-web.com/
persist1 at io.com                  bmh at digital-web.com
--
"Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?"
"I think so, Brain, but... (snort) no, no, it's too stupid."
"We will disguise ourselves as a cow."
"Oh!" (giggles) "That was it exactly!"