Author: pwyrcorgtkn

What protections do we need, from new and emerging technology, privatization, corporate greed, corruption, surveillance, and the secret state, and increased intrusions, on our rights and liberties ?

Gone are protections like Glasss-Stegail enacted to avoid financial crises like that of the Great Depression, Fairness Doctrine that required broadcast license holders to fairly present different points of views on issues of importance to the public. Antitrust law designed to discourage monopolies and price fixing, regulations diminished, dismantled, ignored over time.

It seems we are surrounded by consumerism, recruited, coerced, towards capitalist ideas that can produce greed and corruption challenging community cohesion, personal relationships, political trust and effecting long lasting good public principles, practices, and policy. When we shift towards embracing imperial, and oligarch regimes, are we reinforcing an allegiance to a system that often uses oppression and violence, forgetting or ignoring the human struggles, the ongoing fight for liberty and equal protection?

Your vote is your voice. Are you counted?

Protecting, improving, establishing and reestablishing eroded practices of respect, kindness, grace can be strengthened, not viewed as embarrassing and weak. Many of us feel touched, if not directly affected by a world that seems to have gone off the rails. It seemed customary once for us to look out for each other, little things like, holding doors, buses, small moments of goodwill, a kind of solidarity that helped promote a world of decency. We still do but it doesn’t feel as common.

Will we continue to challenge and discourage the corrupt, coerced practices of oppressive systems ? Systems that can fester greed, exclusion and violence in pursuit of profit, power and repressive control. Systems that promote authoritarian, oligarchy, conquer, assimilate or eliminate (if needed) in pursuit of a resource taking , imperial policy.

People understand how important it is to have their interest represented, not just the interest of the rich and powerful. We want representatives who will consider our best interest when governing our lives. Many of us think those representatives need to be accountable, inclusive, and just, as we want the world to be.

Freedom and justice is often determined by law, who interprets the law, and how the law is applied. Looking at the history of law it looks hierarchical, set up mainly for, and by the powerful and rich an often male dominated domain that protects its power and privilege.

Accountability and inclusion among other issues continue to be challenges. Divide and conquer tactics have notable effect on society and culture.

Our past helps us understand who we are, and can help when examining why some issues continue to be a challenge to a more inclusive, accountable society.

Still the struggle for freedom, inclusion, accountability and equality, persist.

It often seems routine to maintain control over segments of society, with laws and monitoring systems, in policy and principle, written or unwritten, official and unofficial, intentional or not that if violated could mean violence to self, family, community, loss of income, livelihood, reputation, and other hardships.

Strategies used in America and around the world to oppress dissent go back to the foundation of civilization. Surveillance, harassment, infiltrators, provocateurs, threats, violence, and the use of technology have often been the tools and tactics of control and repression.