A Citizenry Empowered to Defend Itself from Tyranny (True Democracy: Article XVI)

Terry O. Scott-Bond

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A citizenry empowered to defend itself from tyranny,

or an oligarchy, or anarchy, pick your poison,

turns off the television, radio, and internet content that does not have (as written in “True Democracy: Article IX”) a strong relationship to covering facts with ample context because nearly every major sociopolitical and socioeconomic problem we have comes back to this

one way or another: we have been plagued by a decades-old push to propagandize our populace

in order to make people mindlessly partisan, no matter how hypocritical, nonsensical, detrimental, or corrupt their party becomes.

Those of us on the side of learning and sharing facts, deep and wide context, and rational decision making that seeks to improve the lives of all of the People, we have all been given more than enough warning for quite some time that all of our communicators must counteract and counterprogram propaganda that has been directing the People toward fear and hatred and that has been spread to the People across every valley, hillside, and plain in the nation,

even while people eager to see a conspiracy everywhere they feel like finding one, all too frequently fail, if not all too conveniently fail, to see the greatest ones already right in front of their faces, such as those feeding their brains a steady diet of sewage by purveyors of misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda who are committed to shaping people’s perceptions of reality rather than reporting facts with ample context (and reporting it even if it displeases the powerful) and that tell you that your diet should have no variety, only the sewage.

Yet, we know garbage in creates garbage out

and that democracy requires the oxygen of a free press with high journalistic standards,

and, incidentally, any administration intertwined with, run by, or interchangeable with, media outlets/brands gives us state media, like the state-run media of nearly every dictatorial regime across modern history, trying to shaper perceptions of reality instead of reporting facts with generous context. Beware.

Let’s be aware, and let’s nourish our brains and beings with a variety of sustenance.

All the while, there is a better story we can live out:

one in which we are a part of our direct, collective self-governance for the sake of everyone’s wellbeing because we are united in our shared humanity, our birthright,

in which we each cooperate with all of our neighbors across the continent(s), for we are their neighbors, too. Always remember

that you belong to the most powerful forces in human history — humanity itself and the human spirit — and that true democracy and unity that serves humanity is achievable,

for, even in a democratic republic, it is possible to have a party that facilitates true democracy. (More will be shared.)

Parties, when in seats of power, despite always claiming to represent the people, especially parties that purport to be populist, do not actually represent national majorities, whether that is due, for example, to the jerry-rigged U.S. House’s gerrymandering, the skewed U.S. Senate’s representation of geographic area over people, the winning of elections with less than fifty percent of the electorate, voter suppression schemes, and so on their majority representation claims are phony, phony like their expedient claims of populism, as they take both power and the common-wealth of the People away from the People, in order to empower and enrich themselves.

That pretending to be on the side of the little guy while seeking to engorge oneself upon the wealth of the nation, is the hallmark of antidemocracy,

of monarchy, of dictatorship, of oligarchy. Here is one way we can spot this together: when people seek to divide the People against itself (through enflaming misogyny, racism, and other bigotries), rather than to unite all people as one family.

It has been said that a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on. That is because liars are, as the saying goes, really trying it. But this does not have to be the only way

we allow things to be done: the natural counterprogramming against lies and propaganda

relies upon, yes, deploying the facts with ample context, but also doing so while keeping everything extremely simple and concise, leveraging abundant pathos that also lets the audience know that you see them, that you can hear them, that you are on their side, that you have hope to offer them, that you have connection to community to offer them, if not also a sacred and spiritual connection (to the Earth, everyone and everything on it, and, to be sure, the entire cosmos), and that you are asking for their help.

And then you must toll the bell of these types of messages over and over — and over and over — each day, across every city, village, valley, holler, hillside, plateau, and plain.

Quite well enough, both in the past and now, you have been warned: there is essentially no other way out of our predicament, no other way to uphold democracy, no other way away from antidemocracy.

Together we can write our democratic destiny. Together we progress and conserve democracy. Stand with us against that which is antidemocratic. We take action for democracy, humanity, the People, you.

We include(s) you.

(More will be shared.)

Please follow Terry O. Scott-Bond on Medium (an account is free), and please spread the word to your family and friends. Thank you! **https://medium.com/@terryoscottbond**

Terry O. Scott-Bond is an engaged, caring, conscientious citizen of the world’s longest-running constitutional democratic republic who loves and believes in democracy.

“True democracy is love”: The Temple of Love — built with the wealth and labor of the People, under the yoke of tyranny, and ultimately reclaimed by the People — at the Palace of Versailles. “Violence begets violence. . . . and love begets love.” (Terry O. Scott-Bond)