MB: You've mentioned democracy quite a few times. Of course, there's a difference between direct democracy and democratic republicanism or republican democracy.
DC: Right, we're a democratic republic.
MB: We the people rule by electing our representatives. And in the senate, that's relatively recent. What would you say to people who say, "No, we're not a democracy, stop saying that."
DC: I'd tell them, "Yes you're correct. We're not a direct democracy. We are a democratic republic."
But the question is do you believe that unelected and unaccountable judges or corporate CEOs or kings should rule us or do you think that we should rule ourselves?
That's really the issue.
We are a democratic republic. We're a country of laws and we need to take that seriously.
MB: Would Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County be willing to move toward direct democracy? Would they be willing to move in that direction?
DC: Absolutely. Core human rights cannot be violated, even by the will of the majority.
MB: We're still going to have elections, but, if we don't do something about yesterday's decision, they'll be totally meaningless.
DC: They already are.
MB: Who knows how credible or disingenuous people like Obama are during the campaign? However, it took him $700 million to become president. So he either learned that he wasn't going to be able to drive his own agenda before he was even elected or, like Clinton, money sat him down after he was elected.
So, the question is are we electing our representatives or are we electing people to fill slots, who aren't going to represent us, but are going to represent the money that either got them there or that can keep them there?
DC: If you are voting for an establishment party candidate, you are participating in a sham. That's my opinion.
You need to vote for people who actually stand for something and who are supporting the values that you believe in.
I feel sorry, actually, for the progressives who mobilized for Obama believing that there was going to be change.
