Democracy: A damaged pull toy?

The dogs of 'Tug-of-war'

 It is simple and fascinating entertainment for this early, mild winter.


I take a break and watch my two young dogs out in the snow  playing 'tug of war'  with  pull toys. The dogs themselves are different as night and day, one black, short and compact with a lot of fur, the other tan, tall,  and short-haired.  They're about the same age, still young enough to love playing with pull toys.
Pull toys are those brightly-coloured,  braided rope things everyone has,  inexpensive entertainment for dogs of all sizes and shapes.  Some come  with a short-lived fuzzy  tennis-ball on them,  a knobby plastic bone, or a loop for a handle.  They can be woven, braided or knotted, but  the actual construction is almost irrelevant as they get  dragged around, chewed up, and eventually totaled.
It's tough being  a pull toy around here. 


The combatants stand nose to nose, jaws clamped  tightly, seemingly to the death, pulling, growling, stiff-legged, shaking their heads,  not giving an inch except to reposition for a better grip or to gain some other advantage.  They are commonly both on the same end of the short rope, jaw to jaw, nose to nose, trying to gain as much of the plaything as possible.
Curiously, if called, given direction, such as  'wanna go for a walk?'  or otherwise, they will often mutually turn and  run in the same direction, side by side,  teamwork immediately apparent, but both are still unwilling to let go.


At times, in the mutual  attempt to dislodge the other determined combatant  from the rope they will  shake their heads so hard  it makes me wonder if  concussions could result, --how about  neck or brain damage,  like damaged hockey players-- injuries still arrogantly and vehemently denied by a few 'agitated and uninformed, but ' manly' sports advocates.  Hockey greats Crosby and Pronger  are  the latest, but  no matter--the injuries speak clearly for themselves, and yes,  we digress as surely as the dogs of tug-of-war  growl  in bravado and give nary an inch. Making big money with hockey leagues is  more important.  A tug-of-war between profit and common sense.  Go figure.  Back to the pups under observation.
Ultimately  the dogs might mutually drop the pull toy into the snow because of exhaustion, disinterest,  or sudden distraction like the chatter of a squirrel,  a scolding raven fly-by 100 feet in the blue sky above them,  a snow plow or  the occasional vehicle sputtering  down the road.

  
Bottom line,  unless specifically rescued from it's trials out in the cold world, the pull toy always gets the worst of it.

Shredded, chewed to bits, braiding segregated,  parts missing, lost in the snow - dismembered, abandoned or  just plain forgotten. Strangely,  it may be rediscovered at some later date,  and if enough material exists at the time of that revelation,  with a few sturdy knots and some attention it may be adequately restored to tolerate yet another round of use and abuse.  
Sounds something like democracy, isn't it?  Is democracy in North America like a damaged pull toy that will eventually be abandoned because of severe damage?  Can democracy survive stress, parts arbitrarily being removed,  'modified and stretched' in all directions, endless attacks perpetrated with intent  by the devious?  Is that process condoned by apathy and disinterest in government process? How about where the systemic, malicious degradation of democracy is practiced?

 Is democracy as we know it to be eventually abandoned? Can democracy be rediscovered and restored?

At Incoming Bytes we suggest this analogy should not be ignored, lost, forgotten, or abandoned. Why?
Since 9/11, personal  freedoms in North America  have been under attack under the guise of security. The images of  riots, pepper-spraying 'officers' and  riot-equipped police state are far too common. Across North America the 'Occupy This' movement was shut down by bureaucracy-- clearly with no moral right to stifle civilian protest and demonstration. Our leaders remove individual freedoms as they empower themselves and practice self-entitlement.   

Will North American democracy continue to be willfully  damaged, to a point where it will be eventually  abandoned?

The question must be: Following devious, repressive governance,  shall ever more extreme governments be installed until democracy is shattered?
History shows that the abuse of power eventually leads to the destruction of government--regardless of political dogma practiced.  Perhaps power leads to willful blindness and madness as well as abuse of power? 


The reader at Incoming Bytes  is encouraged to observe, think, and speak out --for change of direction and constructive teamwork--before genuine democracy is shredded, abandoned, AND  forgotten. 
Watching that progression is fascinating too--just keep that tug of war in mind.







That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Occupy this! Democracy under Attack

It must dawn upon us...Occupy this...

The global  'Occupy Everything' movement has generated a lot of attention over the last few  months.  
In North America the occupation of parks, streets, and other public areas by campers and  demonstrators of all descriptions was  intended to bring the insatiable  greed  of Corporate North America and the questionable economic policies of less than stellar financial institutions and  government to the attention of you, the reader.

The coloured tents, signs, unshaven occupants, endless speeches, chanting and impromptu arrests  became  both  fascinating and annoying to some, an unattractive blight on an otherwise 'pristine' urban landscape to some observers, --but a logical demonstration, a virile seed,  and a powerful inspiration to others. The movement grew exponentially. Why would it not?
  Brought to the attention of big government, not coincidentally under fire by the same protestors,  the lackadaisical occupiers, in-the-park campers,  "obstructing the public spaces of  holiday shufflers and shoppers  alike" also raised the ire of 'one or more'  'directly-affected' slightly miffed local governments and stuffy officials across Canada. 
Authorities disapproved of  colourful tent cities, odoriferous portable toilets, the occasional campfire, burning tents, and the  'unauthorized'  occupation of so-called 'public spaces' by 'demonstrating rabble'.  
The Occupy Toronto encampment was disassembled, and  as of this date, police are moving in to remove the Occupy Montreal site. The Occupy Edmonton site was also "encouraged to disappear" overnight by "authorities".  At 4:00am yet.  How convenient to keep their actions out of the scrutiny of the public.


At Incoming Bytes we can easily observe that local 'authority' figures, bureaucrats,   and officials "occupying the halls of power"  once more  purport to  know what is best for all of society. 

   It should be no surprise that  the people demonstrating, encamping, and speaking up may also NOT know what is best for our society;  Babies and Grade II students do not know what is best for our society, seniors do not necessarily know what is best for our society and neither do campers and demonstrators necessarily  --clearly so--but what they DO  know is what is unjust, what is hypocrisy,  and what has been damaging society.


  --And just what might the 'real best for society " actually be?  Guess.
The freedom to freely demonstrate. The freedom to free association with others that also believe in alternatives.   The freedom to speak up and identify bureaucratic abuse without fear. The freedom to speak out without fear when abuse of authority is recorded.  The freedom to speak out when governments waste tax dollars endlessly, without thought, while failing to feed children, seniors, and the homeless.  The freedom to speak out when war is declared  at the cost of trillions of dollars --not by the people, but by a few hawkish international policy-makers, self-aggrandizing   politicians and military leaders  cheered on by the petroleum and  armaments industry in the name of profit.   
That's not ALL.
The freedom to speak out against obscene corporate profits garnered without morals on the backs of the working poor. The freedom to speak out when corporations outsource jobs to China,  slash North American jobs, and simultaneously pay  CEO's bonuses of  tens of millions of dollars each year for such stellar performance . The power to speak out against the pervasive ROT that is endlessly observed in government.  Fake lakes. Billion-dollar political-pork-barreling.   Glorious half-million-dollar CF18 Fly-byes  to stroke the ego of  militarists and politicians  to make themselves feel good about spending billions on WAR. 
The power to speak out when financial institutions gut the financial sector, threaten bankruptcy  to political allies, who bail them out with hard-earned tax-payer dollars.  


All freedom-loving people should be giving notice.  
Occupy this concept: 
  Right is right. 
 
The practice of ethics, fairness, and justice  in governance, bureaucracy and industry is not only required, it is demanded by any democracy, it is demanded by the people of Canada. 
Canada  IS a democracy, or was.
Is democracy now under attack by our own governments?

Our government  purports to "wish democracy" upon places like LIBYA. We spent BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars interfering in the political process in that country, "supposedly" to depose a dictator.  Free the people and all that.
Was it hypocrisy, a bid for control over oil, or just more playing "puppet"  while filling huge and profitable contracts for the defense industry? 
 ALL people interested in justice, fairness, reason, and freedom globally should OCCUPY THIS concept: in a democracy, people have a RIGHT to demonstrate and speak up....or have our "authorities" conveniently forgotten that?


 Is the  official action now being taken to disassemble and quell the "uprisings of peasants" in Canadian cities merely  an indication of how close government is bedded with big business, or is  the apparent disapproval of freedom of expression throughout North America  a harbinger of fascism and dictatorships being established?  

We have to wonder.
The recent highly-publicized  American image of a uniformed officer CASUALLY strolling down a row of seated, quiet demonstrators, heavily pepper-spraying them ---is  a clear message of a TOTAL lack of  respect for civilians, inexcusable arrogance and a brutal abuse of power. The authorities responsible for this response to civil demonstration should be ashamed of themselves.
Why should concerned citizens not be allowed to voice an opinion, and demonstrate? 
At Incoming Bytes, the question of the day must be:
"How long does the existing political-corporate system in North America think it will be occupying the halls of power with the increasing abuse of authority?" The reader is encouraged to think independently. 
We suspect:  "Not long".   Ho hum....




that's my story and I'm sticking to it.