You mentioned the blank tape levy, and it made me wonder... In that case, won't forcing customers to copy the CD mean the record companies make even more money (from the levy) ?
Our political system has been so corrupted by corporate influence that it barely resembles what our forefathers had in mind. They were a bunch of libertarians, favoring personal responsibility over government control.
The forefathers set up a union of states such that the new states would stand stronger against the influence (read: threat) of the 'old world'.
They devised a system in which the individual states could maintain most of their sovereignty. The original constitution speaks of the rights of the states and Congress, not of the citizens. Example: the original First Amendment only applies to Congress, not the states. It only applies today to the states due to its interpretation being modified by the fourteenth amendment (as it is interpreted by the Supreme Court).
In the early days, 'freedom' meant 'freedom from the English', AKA sovereignty. Individual freedoms (not the state's) were quite different. Note how long it took to abolish slavery, and how long after that it took to end segregation.
In a representative democracy, you're supposed to vote for the person to represent you.
Right. Sadly, the USA isn't a representative democracy on the federal level. The people aren't being represented, are they? The president gets elected by the Electoral College, and who gets in there is up to the states, some of which have decided to give their state more weight by making it a 'winner takes all' situation for that state.
Then there's the Senate, with seats divided on a per-state basis as well, and the House, with seats going to whoever gets a majority in each district.
At no point anywhere in the federal system are seats divided based on what the voting populace decides in a representative manner: giving seats to parties depending on what percentage of the voting populace they represent.
That's how the two-party system exists and stays in place. It might as well be a one-party system as far as representation is concerned.
Obviously neither the Democrats or Republicans are going to care about a better representation of the people. It's really up to a third/fourth party to do this. Voting, as marginally useful as it may seem right now, is really the only thing you can do. There is no alternative.
Levien
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You mentioned the blank tape levy, and it made me wonder... In that case, won't forcing customers to copy the CD mean the record companies make even more money (from the levy) ?
The forefathers set up a union of states such that the new states would stand stronger against the influence (read: threat) of the 'old world'.
They devised a system in which the individual states could maintain most of their sovereignty. The original constitution speaks of the rights of the states and Congress, not of the citizens. Example: the original First Amendment only applies to Congress, not the states. It only applies today to the states due to its interpretation being modified by the fourteenth amendment (as it is interpreted by the Supreme Court).
In the early days, 'freedom' meant 'freedom from the English', AKA sovereignty. Individual freedoms (not the state's) were quite different. Note how long it took to abolish slavery, and how long after that it took to end segregation.
In a representative democracy, you're supposed to vote for the person to represent you. Right. Sadly, the USA isn't a representative democracy on the federal level. The people aren't being represented, are they? The president gets elected by the Electoral College, and who gets in there is up to the states, some of which have decided to give their state more weight by making it a 'winner takes all' situation for that state. Then there's the Senate, with seats divided on a per-state basis as well, and the House, with seats going to whoever gets a majority in each district. At no point anywhere in the federal system are seats divided based on what the voting populace decides in a representative manner: giving seats to parties depending on what percentage of the voting populace they represent. That's how the two-party system exists and stays in place. It might as well be a one-party system as far as representation is concerned. Obviously neither the Democrats or Republicans are going to care about a better representation of the people. It's really up to a third/fourth party to do this. Voting, as marginally useful as it may seem right now, is really the only thing you can do. There is no alternative. Levien
>A friend told me last week that ALS is probably going to cancel their 2000 show
As one of the organizers, I can tell you that the 2000 ALS will take place as announced on the ALS website.
Levien