Part IV

"I defy anyone watching the debates in Congress regarding the
banks, health care and climate change to say with a straight face
that corporations have been unable to express their point of view
on these matters either to Members of Congress or to the public at
large."

Monica Youn, testifying before the House Judicial Committee

I found this quote while going over some of my research for Part IV, and I suddenly have a great deal of respect for Ms. Youn for cutting right through the BS and getting to the heart of the matter in campaign finance reform. Nothing our government will do is going to silence corporations.

Quotes

"As soon as several Americans have conceived a sentiment or an idea that they want to produce before the world, they seek each other out, and when found, they unite. Thenceforth they are no longer isolated individuals, but a power conspicuous from the distance whose actions serve as an example; when it speaks, men listen." -Alexis de Tocqueville

This quote almost ended up in our VFW presentation twice but not without good reason. It very neatly sums up the whole purpose of voluntary associations.

"We have long rested comfortably in this country upon the assumption that because our form of government was democratic, it was therefore automatically producing democratic results. Now, there is nothing mysteriously potent about the forms and names of democratic institutions that should make them self-operative. Tyranny and oppression are just as possible under democratic forms as under any other. We are slow to realize that democracy is a life; and involves continual struggle. It is only as those of every generation who love democracy resist with all their might the encroachments of its enemies that the ideals of representative government can even be nearly approximated." -John Nichols

This quote is actually from an NPR piece from way back during the early days of the Wisconsin union protests. It's a reminder that a democracy without civic engagement is no longer the ideal government that we praise it to be.

"They [voluntary associations] are the points of "focal structure," places where people can meet to focus their attention and gain a sense of the whole of life through the cultivation of memory and orientation." -Bellah

This quote is interesting because it reveals the sort of circular relationship between voluntary associations and an engaged populace. Engaged citizens start associations, and the associations help focus citizens which can lead to more engagement.

Our Democratically Elected Leader

Our Democratically Elected Leader

    If there is one thing that I learned about democracy from working in a group on this presentation, it is that the individual is as important as the masses in making progress. That is, a strong and effective leader can make the difference between a focused and regarded voluntary association and the unruly mobs that Alexis de Tocqueville described as rampant across Europe. We can see this at any large meeting or legal hearing. While the assembled are ultimately responsible for the decisions, there is always a chairperson, president, speaker, or judge responsible for maintaining order, calling meetings, planning the agenda, and just in general representing the voice of the congregation. This individual is essentially the engineer of the great machine that is democracy. Of course, democracy hardly offers any sort of predictable function similar to a machine, but that is the ideal, anyway. A proper leader can go to great lengths to ensure democracy does not fall to its inevitable weaknesses.

    While our group wasn't exactly large enough to be considered a borderline mob, I think we still benefitted greatly from Steph's leadership. Her actions were not really monumental in a group our size, but the role she did play in organizing our group greatly streamlined the process. By merely suggesting meeting times and keeping a light task schedule, Steph focused our group on the presentation and kept us productive. At this point I would like to point out that my memory does not always serve me well and it may have been Rachel who did some of our group's organization, but the point of who did what is not so important as the point that our group was organized. Considering that I have very rarely seen or experienced a group project that went smoothly without one person doing a disproportionate share of the work, I have to attribute our group's success to our organization. I think Tocqueville would be inclined to agree with me, considering that a voluntary association is pointless if it cannot accomplish anything.

    In our group, organization may have made the difference of at most a few hours of work, but when the stakes are raised and the group's expanded, the importance of leadership and organization increases exponentially. For example, my contribution to our group's presentation, the VFW's role in the Bonus March, demonstrates this importance. Sure the thousands of veterans in Washington were what actually motivated the legislature to finally act, but don't forget the relative few in the VFW who decided when the veterans should come, what they should do, and how they should be provided for during their stay. Without this the Bonus March could not have been the success that it ultimately was.

    Looking beyond voluntary associations, we can see the role that leadership and organization play across all sorts of assemblies. Both the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate are considered very important positions, and the nation can feel the aftereffects when the leader of either house either abuses his/her power to partisan ends or fails to keep the assembly productive and focused.

The Death of bin Laden from John Gast

    I was very pleased to see the extent of America's power manifested in the swift demise brought to our longtime enemy, Osama bin Laden. He stood between America and her destiny, he sought to deny the American people the dream that we strive so earnestly for. I once thought that America was destined to rule the North American continent, but now I see that America's influence is truly boundless and unstoppable. The ancient Afghan people used the same mountain guerilla tactics that they use today to stave off Alexander the Great, but no degree of mountain fighting can stop the American empire. We American people will hold dominion over all that we survey; there will be no compromise but swift demise for any in our way.