Do We Still Live In A Democracy?

P.S. Boycott Fox News

In the sixth century BC Athens, Greece was ruled by a class of hereditary aristocrats. They made all the key decisions. It was the job of everyone else to sit down, shut up and do what they were told.

That was considered logical and right. The aristocrats knew best. They had more money. They had more education. They were taught poetry and literature and painting.

Only a madman would think of allowing the average Greek to have a role in running the affairs of the nation.

Then the average Greek decided differently. The people of Athens rose up and overthrew the system of rule by a handful of aristocratic families. A new system was born. They called it “demokratia” – rule by the people.

You may know it as democracy.

All that was 2500 years ago. Yet, the issues at play remain immediate today. The aristocrats have never really gone away. They have just changed the terminology they use.

They are no longer aristocrats. Now they are “experts.” They no longer claim the right to rule in the name of Athena. Now they base their appeals on “the science.”  Like the ancient Greeks, you are too ignorant to be allowed to question them.

America remains in outward form a constitutional republic, a type of democracy. The American people retain the right to go to the polls and choose amongst candidates on the ballot. In theory, the people still rule.

Increasingly, that is all it is – theory. Increasingly, the reality is that a tiny percentage of the population controls our government and our society. They own the political class. They own the giant media conglomerates. They use the organs of a vast administrative state to impose their will and crush dissent.

Witness the firing of Tucker Carlson.

Carlson’s crime was that, like Donald Trump, he threatened the established political order. He refused to color within the lines. He called out not just Democratic Party leaders but leaders of the Republican Party as well. He refused to jump on the NeoCon bandwagon and push endless escalation in Ukraine. He dared to confront Big Pharma over the vaccines and their obvious medical side effects.

Tucker sided with the people. He broke ranks. He spoke truth.

Sean Hannity whose show followed Tucker’s on air always understood the rules. He knew who was calling the shots and framing the narrative, and he danced to the music. It was just fine to rant all night about “libtards” and ridicule Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and Joe Biden. That, in the scheme of things, was harmless and made the “prols” feel empowered. It provided the illusion of pushing back against the system without actually leading to meaningful change.

Carlson did something dramatically different. He told everybody “They are lying to you.” He asked forbidden questions:

“Is there any meaningful difference between the Republican and Democratic parties?”

“Are vaccines killing people?”

“Who is really running our government?”

Carlson crossed the line. He became a threat to the ruling class. He gained such immense popularity that like Donald Trump he threatened to break the whole, rigged system. He had to be silenced.

All that is clear and behind us now. The question now is what the American people will do in response. We have passed the phase of awakening. We have entered the phase of action.

This nation is under the control of a tiny class of fantastically wealthy individuals who have virtually nothing in common with average Americans and don’t much care how their decisions impact the lives of those average Americans. As the economy sinks, jobs vanish and lifespans decline these individuals and their hirelings get ever richer and more powerful. They have come to believe they can do anything and suffer no consequences for their actions.

We, the American people, can either stand up as the Athenians did and disabuse this would-be ruling class of the notion they are impotent or we can accept slavery and servitude. That is not a call to arms. That is a call to action.

It is time to stop complaining and start moving. Theodore Roosevelt said roughly 120 years ago that it was the duty of every American to “do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” That kind of attitude is even more urgently needed today.

Let’s start with this. All over America, there are millions and millions of Americans who are horrified by the action taken against Tucker Carlson and disgusted by the actions of a network that pretends to speak for them. Every one of those individuals needs to turn off Fox News and never turn it on again. Every one of those individuals needs to contact their cable company and demand Fox News be dropped from the service provided. Every one of those individuals needs to contact the companies that still advertise on Fox and demand they pull their ads.

Twenty-five hundred years ago the Athenians stood up and said enough. It is time we do the same.

As a start, #Boycott Fox News.