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We hope the interaction between the blogs and polls will yield petitions which will get reforms on ballots for The People to be able to choose which to support- even if their ideas aren’t supported by Party Politicians.
The Preamble to the US Constitution gives us a good place to start. It’s a 52 word sentence which defines the role of the US Government. Its brevity, clarity and completeness along with its universal acceptance makes it ideal for our purpose.
“We The People, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the general Welfare and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
The People Blog
This blog asks the question, “Who are The People?” This is where we discuss immigration, civil rights, voting rights, etc. An example might be a poll question, “Are undocumented immigrants entitled to the same Civil Rights protections U.S. citizens?” Our polls will ask questions like this, and you’ll get the opportunity to choose from four answers. “Yes”, “Undecided”, “No” and “Blog”. You’ll get to choose one of the first three answers, and if you want to put something on the blog on that issue your opportunity will be right there.
If you think the question is misworded, biased, misses the point, is unfair- that will give you the opportunity to say why, or suggest a better way to ask the question. “Undecided” can mean”don’t know”, “some, but not all”- or “It’s not a fair question.” The blog gives you the opportunity to make your ideas clear, at the same time the polls give us data we can quantify. If enough people object to the wording of our questions, we’ll know we have to change them. The most important part of our project is to be clearly inclusive of all views, and unbiased. We’re here to enable and empower you, and in return we will ask you for your help and support in doing so.
Union Blog
Here we’ll discuss State’s Rights, Divisive Politics, Separation of Powers, Tolerance of Differences, Secession, Federal Lands, etc- issues having to do with the Founders’ concerns to make America a Unified Nation- with people loyal to the Nation.
Justice Blog
In this forum, issues like Partisan Courts, the Influence of Money on Law and Justice, Affirmative Action, Discrimination, Property Rights, Fair Taxes, etc, will be discussed. Most of the “justice” issues are confined to those which have a “money” component-“Civil Justice”- because most of our laws have to do with property- and most of our justice system is about property. Justice issues which have to do with Civil Rights, Capital Punishment, Police State, Prisons will find their way into the “Liberty” blog.
Tranquility Blog
People dislike chaos, being in constant danger- so they seek peacefulness and safety in everyday life. But sometimes this quest for “law and order” comes with a price- police brutality, suspension of civil rights, oppressive prohibitions, overtaxation, loss of privacy. This forum will allow us to discuss these issues. One example might be “When is profiling appropriate?” “Always”.”Sometimes”.”Never”.”Blog”.
Defense Blog
The Constitution gives the US Government the power to “provide for the common defense”, but some Americans believe the military is too powerful, self serving, and has gone too far, even illegally- beyond its appropriate limits. “Are we Americans responsible for what’s done in our name with our military, soldiers and taxes?” In this forum we’ll discuss the role of the military, what are appropriate circumstances for going to war, intimidation of other nations, how much transparency is required, who gets to decide, etc.
Welfare Blog
The Constitution gives the government the power to “…promote the General Welfare”. That can be interpreted to include many services to the people the government can provide- roads, bridges, airports, education, health care, nutrition, shelter, protections to the financial system, energy supplies, protection of the environment, etc- the list of possibilities is endless. Those things all need to be paid for, one way or another. Some object that the “welfare” which actually becomes reality seems often to disproportionately benefit the wealthy (i.e.”corporate welfare”, Medicare, airports), and that which is deemed “too expensive” is that which most benefits the poor (i.e, WIC nutrition support, Medicaid, pure city water) This blog is devoted to the subject of welfare’s priorities, and how to pay for them, and who should pay for them.
Liberty Blog
Liberty is the biggest and most difficult to define category, and so it becomes a catch-all for issues which bridge the lines between the previous categories. These will often have to to with big Constitutional arguments- those having to do with guns, abortion, drugs, religion, education, sexuality, marriage, taxes, race, class, prisons, executions…. the “Liberty” issues are the ones most hotly debated during the elections, and most typically ignored between the elections.
It will be divided into 10-15 Liberty Blog categories, each defined by one of the Amendments- the Bill of Rights- and a few other important Amendments.
They are the most intractable- and challenging politicians use them to their advantage when they think they can, but avoid them most of the time after they’re elected. Most people vote against what they don’t like, so politicians learn to say nothing controversial after they’re elected- if they want to get re-elected.
The “Liberty” blog will probably have to be subdivided, later- when we can afford it. Perhaps in ten categories- to correspond to the Ten Amendments we call the Bill of Rights- the part of the Constitution devoted to Liberty, limiting the power of government. Trying to imagine it now is overwhelming- the First Amendment alone could be subdivided again into at least four categories…
To some extent, the previous categories can find a limit and balance in terms of money- how much they cost, and how many people they benefit, what their cost-efficient value is and how we’re going to pay for them. But the Liberty arguments go beyond money- they go to the bottom of our hearts and the pit of our stomachs. People are willing to fight and die for Liberty- and they do!
This blog will generate the most controversy, and we’ll do everything we can to keep the debate rational, kind and fair- but these issues carry such emotional weight and can evoke such strong response we expect keeping this blog under control without excessive censorship will be a challenge.
We’ll try to control the input into this blog category with carefully worded questions in the polls- to keep the debate in the higher parts of our brains, and away from our primal instincts. We will ask you to be polite, and reasonable. Some of our rules are designed to require people to be responsible for what they say, in the hopes they will be more responsible about what they say. How successful we will be remains to be seen.-CC
Posterity Blog
In this blog we discuss education, corrections, marriage, inheritance and other issues which have to do with the future of the American youth.