[R-G] A Semblance of democray(edited version)

[aaron doncaster]

I really gotta stop writting at 3 in the morning......actually maybe I
should continue writting that late but not post it until I have slept
and then edited. here is the edited version



                  Aaron

A Semblance of democracy

    Have you ever asked yourself what democracy means? Some dictionary
meaning of democracy states that a democracy is:
the political orientation of those who favour government by the people
or by their elected representatives

a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of
citizens who can elect people to represent them.

majority rule: the doctrine that the numerical majority of an
organized group can make decisions binding on the whole group

Even though democracy actually means, rule by the people, today's use
of the term democracy, usually refers to our western style of
representative democracy. This is the type of democracy which I will
be speaking of here in this article.

    In order to have a functioning representative democracy, their
needs to be institutions such as a free press and functioning courts,
to name a couple, through which people can exercise their right to
challenge the status quo. Their also needs to be the means and ability
whereby the citizenry can engage in recall referendums, direct action,
civil disobedience and economic sabotage in order to keep the
representatives on the straight and narrow. Too often we find that
during election campaigns, candidates will offer the citizenry the sun
and the moon only to renege on the promises once elected. The above
mentioned means are essential to have in any democracy in order that
elected officials keep the promises they make to the citizenry during
election campaigns. If we did not have any of the above mentioned
means available to us, we would surely have a  full fledged
dictatorship; as opposed to the mixture of democratic institutions and
dictatorial rule we have today in Canada.

   Now the question we have to ask is, do we have A free press and
functioning courts? Do we have the means to engage in recall
referendum, direct action, civil disobedience or economic sabotage?
With respect to the recall referendum, aside from one province and
maybe some municipalities, we do not have recall referendums here in
Canada. I could be mistaken here but I believe the only country in the
western hemisphere to have recall referendum at all levels of
government is Venezuela.

   What about the means to engage in direct action, civil disobedience
and economic sabotage? Well, anyone can take to the streets and anyone
can engage in economic sabotage but the ability to take to the streets
or engage in economic sabotage has been severely limited as a result
of the authorities criminalizing dissent. There are still unions that
partake in economic sabotage as a tactic to cripple a companies
ability to make profit or use scab labour. These tactics are usually
only used by unions during strike action. I am from Cape Breton and
while I was living with my parents, I remember hearing about acts of
sabotage during the aliant strike. Vehicles were destroyed, cables
were cut, etc. With the rate of unionization falling around the
country, we are seeing this tactic being used less and less by unions.
With that being said, we see the tactic now being used by
non-unionized anti-capitalists and anti authoritarians who are being
criminalized for their use of it. The only reason why economic
sabotage is an acceptable tactic when used by unions but not
acceptable when used by non-unionized anti-capitalists is because
unions use the tactic in an effort to get a better deal within the
existing capitalist system whereas non-unionized anti-capitalists and
anti-authoritarians use economic sabotage as a means to bring down our
current socio-economic system. As long as direct action and civil
disobedience does not threaten the continuation of capitalism, it is
alright, but if those tactic threaten that system then it cannot be
allowed.  With direct action, and here I am using that to mean the
simple tactic of taking to the streets, we are also seeing street
protests being criminalized by the authorities. They want to scare and
intimidate  people in an attempt to continue the status quo, which is
a slightly slower version of what is happening in the United States:
the using of so-called democratic institutions to transition a state
from a representative democracy to a fascist dictatorship. If anyone
disagrees with this last statement, I encourage them to read Naomi
Wolfe's book "End of America".

   I recently received another disclosure package as a result of my
arrest last year at the atlantica protest. I was surprised by the
amount of pictures of the "peaceful march". there were even a few
pictures of a toddler on a tricycle. I guess he is a threat, a future
revolutionary………no wait…….it was the tricycle he was driving that was
the threat. We can't have bikes and trikes taking over the streets!!!
How is big oil suppose to make their profits if that happens. The
package also came with 7 DVD's of surveillance video of the week of
actions against the conference and companies who will benefit from
this trade agreement, now called "The Atlantic Gateway". the amount of
surveillance made me wonder if we actually live in a police state

   Now, do we have a free press and a functioning court. The answers
are no and no. I think it is very obvious that there is no such thing
as a free press when we turn on CBC and here the ultra-nationalist
call to continue supporting our troops who massacre and murder
innocent women children and men in Afghanistan or when we see the pro
Israeli slant of  global's coverage of the genocidal occupation of
Palestine by Israel. One of the many reasons we do not have a free
press here is because economic power is political power

   When talking about the courts, some people may say we have
functioning courts, which is true, they do function. But do they
fulfill their original purpose. Do they uphold our constitution? Do
they facilitate or impede the bringing forth of a just society ? As a
result of my arrest last year during the atlantica demonstration, I
had unconstitutional pre-trial conditions placed on me, a tactic
authorities use against activists right across this county. I recently
decided  to go through the process to get them varied. Another man who
was arrested at the same demo, already went through the process and
got his changed, so I figured it should not be a problem. I must say,
the process is tedious, cumbersome, full of bureaucracy and requires
you to either have money to hire a lawyer or have some knowledge of a
legal system that uses a strange language called legalese. It makes me
think that the old cliché, "it's all creek to me", should actually be,
"it's all legalese to me". The language and terminology that our
courts use make the court inaccessible to a large section of the
populace. Many people don't understand the legalese, don't have time
to understand it and don't have money to hire a lawyer. Most Canadians
are living pay check to pay check, trying to provide for their
families. I must say that I am privileged to know my rights, to have
access to the internet where I can study about the criminal code, the
Canadian constitution and the general workings of the judicial system.
Unfortunately many people to not have this same privilege.

   In conclusion, if the avenues available to engage in our democracy,
in an attempt to preserve what justice we have or enhance it, are
tedious, complex, time consuming, bureaucratic or not accessible, then
one has to ask weather the democratic system we live under is actually
a system that brings forth justice and equality. One thing about
western democracies, they are set up in such a way that most of the
so-called democratic institutions within the democratic society are
only accessible to a small group of people. Such a system is not at
all democratic, it is just a semblance of democracy. It is a system
that does not produce justice, it only reproduces itself!!! It is not
too late, we still have time. If enough of us realise that  western
democracy is just a sham, then we can organize and revolt against it.
Our constitution demands that we revolt against our current
government!!! The UN declaration of human right demands that we revolt
against our current government, but most importantly, our conscience
should demand that we revolt against our current government. Many
activists within Canada are sending out anti-Olympics propaganda with
the slogan, "riot 2010", my answer to that is "why wait"? There is no
better time then the present.
                 Reverend Aaron Doncaster