General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: From BBC: "Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy" [View all]Kumbricia
(84 posts)Last edited Wed Apr 20, 2016, 12:03 AM - Edit history (1)
Occupy groups were a good start and this is the direction we need to go in.
Right now we're individuals with progressive beliefs scattered around in a larger society in which we have little influence. We need to start local and band together on a voluntary basis and provide social and economic support for each other and practice governing ourselves as though our lives and livelihoods depended on it. Because in the coming decades it probably will get worse and people will likely be more disenfranchised, coupled with the potential for ecological disaster, and it will be good to have a stronger support structure in place, in absence of a responsive government.
It probably sounds pie in the sky but I don't think there's going to be any meaningful change or a shift from oligarchy to democracy until progressives get better organized and better united, starting at the local level.
As far as I can tell, there's nothing stopping people with like-minded beliefs from forming networks and putting into practice, on a small scale, some of the programs and policies we want to see our government do. There would just need to be the will to do it.