Do you like democracy? It’s said to be very popular in the United States (not with everyone.) Each person has an equal share in determining our collective fate: A wild, half-forgotten idea to keep in mind as yet another terrifying election season swings into full gear.
There’s a ton of people out there claiming they love and are trying to protect democracy while simultaneously denying, refuting, or belittling other people’s right exercise their share of power, and at the exact moment when those rights are in real danger.
I’m not talking only about the most obvious anti-democratic malefactors, such as billionaire recent-Republican Michael Bloomberg, who is making himself busy drowning everybody else’s voices out in the Niagara-level din of a zillion misleading TV commercials. Maybe, any day now, Obama will speak out against his likeness being used for this purpose. The Republicans, also, are up to their well-known cheatin’ ways via gerrymandering, voter suppression, messing with the census and so on.
Not one of these garbagios wants each person’s voice to count equally, so they should all be kicked out of public life.
In addition to these, however, there are many putative Democrats who are openly hostile to those who don’t agree with them or support their choice of candidate, making all kinds of demands of their fellow citizens. Note that it’s one thing to specify, as Ryan Cooper and Will Menaker have, whom they will or will not vote for themselves. It’s a whole other thing to attack others for exercising their rights.
In its current incarnation democracy is far from perfect, obviously. Still, though. What there is is worth preserving.
Democracy means trust, and an inalienable belief in the intrinsic value of each person’s dignity and rights. Try to persuade, hell yes. Going after the lies and hypocrisy of politicians? Good, wholesome fun. But also: what if we were to trust one another to choose, as democratic values enjoin us to do? The most important campaign is protecting and honoring everyone’s freedom to choose.
Each comment or response costs a tiny ETH fee of 0.00013 (about 5¢ in Ethereum cryptocurrency), payable from your Metamask.io wallet (the wallet is free, and takes just a moment to add to your browser). This system helps protect Popula conversations from trolls, fakers, Cambridges Analytica and other malign influences.
If you haven’t got any ETH yet and you’re a Popula subscriber, please write to hey@popula.com with your subscriber email address and MetaMask wallet address, and we’ll send you a little bit to get started! It’s pretty easy and a lot of fun to use, Yay.
If you’d like to learn more about cryptocurrency, Ethereum, and how Popula is using these new technologies to help protect speech rights and the free press, please visit our FAQ page.
We’re having trouble checking your subscriber status. Try refreshing the page.
Welcome! To leave a comment, you’ll need to log in, and also have your MetaMask wallet ready with some ETH cryptocurrency available.
It’s easy! Just visit metamask.io to install an in-browser MetaMask wallet. If you’re a new subscriber, write to hey@popula.com for $2 in free ETH crypto!
Thank you for being a Popula subscriber! As a subscriber, you may leave comments, but you have to be logged in as commenter here first. This is an additional login—the login for your commenting privileges—and you’ll stay logged in after you log in the first time.
We’ve sent an email to your registered address at … with your commenting details. Please follow the directions in the email to open your commenting privileges and then come back here to leave your first comment!
Thanks for registering! Please log in and you can get started commenting.
You need to connect to the Main Ethereum Network before you can leave a comment. Click on your MetaMask icon so the window pops up, then select ‘Main Ethereum Network’ from the network-chooser dropdown at the top.
You’re logged in and ready to leave comments! All you need is a MetaMask wallet and a little ETH cryptocurrency, just like with our microtipping system.
If you know what MetaMask is and have it installed, activate MetaMask and refresh:
Each comment costs 5¢ in Ethereum cryptocurrency to post! Just write your comment and click the green button. Thank you, Popula subscriber, for joining us in the new world of cryptoeconomics! Please don’t forget to set your wallet address in order to receive tips on your comments.
Alas! commenting is not yet available on your mobile device. Each comment costs a little ETH cryptocurrency to post, and for now that requires a regular computer.
So please go to your laptop, install the MetaMask browser plugin, and hold forth!