Democracy

By Dave Lewit, October 7, 2009

Presented at Mass Coalition for Healthy
Communities conference on
Relocalization, October 18, 2009
Boston Tea Party
• Bold action for
democracy.
• Defying distant
corporate and
government rule.
• Regional systems are
already working
Corporate Personhood
• Nowhere in the
Constitution are
corporations given
any rights.
 Towns say no
to corporate privilege
• Voters pass laws
asserting local
authority over
corporations.
• Instant runoff voting
(IRV) enables folks to
vote their mind;
encourages new
parties.
Participatory Budgeting (PB)
• A tradition in New
England town
meetings.
• Now in big cities with
big revenues.
Education and Media
• Today they
domesticate.
Tomorrow they could
liberate.
• They could wither
discrimination and
corporate power
Justice
• Try restorative justice,
not retribution.
• Don’t let lawyers
eliminate
sophisticated jurors
Globalization’s Local Impacts
• Citizen trade
commissions are up
and running.
Subsidiarity
• Empowerment
through local
decisions.
• Not top-down
patronizing and
fostered
helplessness.
Regional Integration
• United Communities.
• Reform of Home Rule
law a first step.