On January 18, 2012 the Internet united against the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act, two bills going through Congress that would give the Federal Government news powers to shut down websites it believes have infringed copyright laws. Thousands of Website went on STRIKE! – forwarding all their traffic to a website dedicated to directing citizens to calling their Representatives to voice their opposition to the “Internet Censorship Bills” going through Congress. Over 13 Million Americans did just that, and it worked, Congress dropped both bills.
http://occupywallst.org/forum/representative-democracy-works-when-you-use-it-sop/
Don’t Wait Until Empire to Call Your Representatives
What this proves is that Representative Democracy works…if you participate in it! Both by voting, and by calling your elected officials. Is it perfect? No, but it is better than having a King. Are elections manipulated? Of course, but that’s all they can do. Elections aren’t controlled by a small group of elites that can just push a button and determine the winner. They are manipulated and stolen. Otherwise, why would they have to keep alternative candidates out of debates? Why would the choose which polls to cover and who to include in the polls? Why would use the media to prop up establishment candidates, if all they had to do was push a button? There is no button, there are just people, and a history of power struggle that has led from Monarch, to Feudalism, and finally, to Democracy and Republic.
The problem is most people only call their representatives when something including horrible comes to vote. If you wait for the Empire Now Act to call your Representatives it will be too late. Everyday, every week, of every Session of Congress is important. Slowly Liberties are eroded, slowly powers are given to central government, slowly Wars are funded and services cut.
The Internet gives us the ability to easily keep track of Congress, the Bills coming up to Vote, and contact our Representatives to let them know if we want the to Vote YEA or NAY:
Find Out About Current Bills in Congress:
Find Your Representatives and How to Contact Them:
Next Course of Action: Repeal Section 1021 of NDAA
The National Defense Authorization Act introduced a new concept, the ability for the military to indefinitely detain U.S. Citizens suspected of Terrorism, without Trial or Due Process of Law. Representative Ron Paul recently introduce legislation to repeal section 1021 from the NDAA (the section giving the military said powers). For the next week we should flood our representatives phones, officies and mailboxes with demands that they support Rep. Paul’s H.R. 3785, and repeal section 1021 from the National Defense Authorization Act.
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr3785
On February 3rd there is a day of protest and action planned to oppose NDAA, so if you haven’t called your Representatives by then, do so on February 3rd in order to unite with as many people as possible in a productive form of participatory democracy!
http://protestintheusa.org/events/nationwide-ndaa-2012-congressional-protest/
Vote Smart!
And if your Representative isn’t representing you, you need to vote them out. If a Democrat is failing to make good on progressive issues you need to vote for their Green challenger, if a Republican is failing on conservative issues, you need to vote for their Libertarian challenger. If they loose to the Democrat or Republican, the next person to run in your party will listen more closely to your concerns. Our government was set up to be a slow process. Giving an election to “the enemy” in order to keep your allies from becoming the enemy is worth it, and won’t lead to the end of America. In fact, letting you allies get away with siding with the enemy will slowly destroy America.
Green Party
Libertarian Party
Related Article:
http://freeindependentsun.com/republic/vote-smart-san-francisco-baumavalosyee-for-mayor/
Thumbnail Image: By Thalan (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Jack Wagner is the Editor of The Free Independent-Sun. Born in Sonoma, California and currently residing in San Francisco, Jack set up The Free Independent-Sun on July 4th, 2009, after sleeping in and not making his usual trip up north for his hometown festivities. He figured he'd do something revolutionary to make up for it. In the Summer of 2010 Jack registered Seraf Media with the City and County of San Francisco as a Sole-Proprietorship. He is dedicated to articulating the finer points of the Revolution in order to bring about a Global Renaissance and Abundant World Economy. He also isn't afraid to get his hands dirty transplanting succulents. 
