Curt Gibby – “What Do You Mean When You Say, ‘Democracy'”
9:30 am – 12:00 noon, Room B-102, Montgomery College, 3200 College Park Drive, Conroe, TX 77384. See links to maps at bottom of this email.
The Program (the seminar will be in two sessions, as usual, with a break in between) x
We are told we live in a democracy. We are committed to bringing democracy to Afghanistan and Iraq. In practical terms most of us probably feel that we do live in a democratic society, in fact, the best democratic society in the world. For most of us life has been relatively good, we have had opportunity and have achieved a pretty decent standard of living.
But is this what democracy has meant to everybody in the country?
Technically, we have a democratic republic. We are governed by the representatives and leaders we elect. If we have a democracy, why doesn’t everyone vote in the elections? Many will argue convincingly that the founders of this country, did not want a true democracy, because common people are too easily misled. What do you think?
The framework of our government is defined in the Constitution, and the first 10 Amendments, also known as the Bill of Rights, define the basic rights of us citizens and protects us from the excesses of the mob, and the legitimate government running amok.
For those who like to read ahead, here are some resources on the Web. This time I have found Wikipedia (The Free Web Encyclopedia, pretty useful. I hope you agree.). This is neither required reading nor are you limited to the list. The main attraction of a seminar is that people get together periodically and share what they have observed and learned.
When you see something in this email in a different color, usually blue, and underlined, it is usually a hyper link. When you click on it, your browser will take you to that web location. Hit the “BACK” button to return to this email.
Here is a link to the Bill of Rights: http://www.billofrights.org/
There have been 17 more amendments to the Constitution which you can find at: http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Amend.html
And you can read the Constitution here: http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Constitution.html
But what is really guaranteed or implied by the term, “democracy?” Today and in the future?
What about forms of government? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forms_of_government
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_democracy_and_elections-related_topics
What about systems of law? Criminal, Civil? What do we expect from them? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Legal_codes
What about rights? Human rights and rights to property? Rights to natural resources? Justice? Freedom? Some of the things, promised to us by law are now regarded as “rights.” When, in fact, they are entitlements. What makes an “entitlement” Work? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights
Have you ever heard of the “categorical imperative?” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categorical_imperative
How did Socrates feel about democracy? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates
Athens is considered one of the oldest Democracies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy
Current Events:
Only twenty days till the election. Whatever the outcome our lives will return to normal, or will they? What about Iraq, Medical Coverage, Employment, Inflation, Terrorism, etc. etc. How will the next administration, Congress and Legislature make America and the World a better Place? Is everybody happy?
Be sure to bring a current event or two that you’d like to share.
If you have a good cartoon sent it to me on email and I’ll project it on the screen.
And of course! We have an election on November 2nd. (The last debate is Wednesday night)
Last Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail: (received not Postmarked) October 26, 2004
First Day of Early Voting October 18, 2004
Last Day of Early Voting October 29, 2004
This morning on Public Radio I heard about this web site that will help you determine who you should vote for based on how you answer 15 questions. The program crashed when I tried it apparently due to overload. Good luck, I’d be interested to hear how it did for you: http://www.selectsmart.com/president/
Here are some other Web sites we have mentioned before if you are still researching your election selections:
Republican National Committee web site – (all it has is pictures of Kerry) http://www.rnc.org/
Democratic National Committee (One picture of Kerry, One of Bush) if you type in http://www.dnc.org, it takes you to http://www.democrats.org/
Bush Cheney site is http://www.georgewbush.com/
Kerry Edwards site is: http://www.johnkerry.com/index.html
What is the latest Pew Research Center Poll: http://people-press.org/
Other Polls http://people-press.org/otherpolls/
Jim Hightower, a populist who has little use for any candidate http://www.jimhightower.com/
League of Women Voters homepage: http://www.lwv.org/
Find your candidates: http://capwiz.com/congressorg/e4/rlist/?state=TX
Check the presidential candidates on the issues (Nader has no comments, I’m not even sure he is on all the ballots in Tx)
http://capwiz.com/congressorg/e4/dnet/?gridid=57361
But if you like to dig deeper, getting ready for the class, or leading up to the election, or afterwards, try:
Major Party, Third Party, small insignificant party, independents andwrite-ins
http://www.politics1.com/p2004.htm
More good useful stuff – Work histories of candidates
Project Vote Smart http://www.vote-smart.org
Follow the money in national politics
Opensecrets.org http://www.opensecrets.org/ (formerly the Committee for Responsive Politics, CRP)
Follow the Money — most complete resource for information of money in state politics
http://www.followthemoney.org/
All candidates and their surrogates twist the truth till it’s a lie; but you have factcheck.org:
http://www.factcheck.org/ to help you separate the wheat from the chaff.
The Center for Public Integrity : Investigative Journalism in the Public Interest: http://www.publicintegrity.org/default.aspx
DemocracyNow.org Amy Goodman. A national asset. I may not always agree with her, but I have tremendous respect for her as a persistent seeker of the truth and a tremendously able, courageous and energetic journalist. Listen to her daily at 9:00 on KPFT FM 90.1 and catch streaming video and listen to archives or read transcripts at http:www.democracynow.org
For some of the best, timely, pertinent information for today’s world, watch Bill Moyer’s NOW on PBS at 8:00 pm on Fridays and if you miss it go to: http://www.pbs.org/now/ for discussion topics, transcripts, enrichment materials. Bill Moyers will leave the show after the election.
Natural Resources Defense Council – Many of the fallen regulations effect the planet and it’s resources . This may be a challenge because many of these are a matter of personal opinion, The science involved is often disputed. http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/default.asp
About The Third Saturday Seminar
The Third Saturday Seminar is sponsored by the Academy of Lifelong Learning (ALL) Program at Montgomery College. More on the ALL program at: http://www.montgomery-college.com/all/
For information about Montgomery College: http://wwwmc.nhmccd.edu
Parking: May I suggest that you park in the “West Parking Area” , as that parking area is closer to Building B. Ignore the “Instructors Only” signs on the parking, That only applies on week days.
Maps of MC Campus and directions http://wwwmc.nhmccd.edu/students/campus/maps.html
Looking forward to seeing you there. (And please let me know if anything in this announcement doesn’t make sense.)
Best regards,
Curt Gibby
Spring, TX
gcgconsult (at) n-star.com