Ali Shahrestani, Esq.

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#BlackLivesMatter – A Movement that Should Lead to a Constitutional Amendment Creating A Direct Democracy

#‎SamDubose‬ is another victim of police incompetence. We have to ask ourselves why we need to be living in a Police State, why we have given up our freedoms and placed them in the hands of incompetent people who are not fit to judge us.

We need a direct democracy in the United States where we vote on laws ourselves and where majority rules. We are giving up our choices and our rights to elected officials and allowing the police to enforce our laws.

As we can see in this 2016 electoral cycle, we have no real choice. We don’t really choose our representatives. We have abdicated our freedom.

We have to take our liberty back, we have to establish a democracy based on direct public action, initiative, and referendum.

It has worked remarkably well for Switzerland, whose economy, multicultural diversity, Arts, and civil liberties flourish.

We don’t need to live in this Police State anymore. We just need to rise up, act peacefully, and change the political structure of the United States from a republic, from a representative democracy, into a direct democracy that is based on us (rather than representatives) initiating laws and voting on them.

We need a much smaller government. In this way we will create a country by, of, and for the people.

We have given up our rights and our liberties, and these have been picked up by the elite, conservative, career driven politicians who make laws in their own favor and who disdain direct democracy. They would rather see an elite contingent of politicians picked from among their own ranks telling everybody else what to do.

How can we expect one person, be it a politician, judge, or cop, to make a decision that reflects the beliefs and choices of millions of people? We would not allow anybody to choose what clothes we wear, what friends we have, or what books we read. One size does not fit all.

Our representatives cannot make choices that will reflect the preferences of millions: our constant and intense complaints about our politicians reflect this fact. A representative democracy therefore makes no sense, particularly for a people as diverse as we are. We must allow our voices the freedom that only a direct democracy allows. We must give up this sham of representation, as it truly provides us no real choice, no real liberty. Let freedom ring, America.

We need not be afraid that we will fall into some sort of chaos. We are guided by natural consequences, by interdependence, by our consciences. If we rid ourselves of the Police State, end the criminal justice system, end prisons, foist off politicians and judges, what do we really think will happen? We cannot be deluded into some fear about a Hollywood vision of chaos that we might fall into if we are not guided by Big Brother’s hands. Nations like FinlandSwitzerlandthe UK, Iceland, and New Zealand show us that by reducing the size and power of the Police State and the criminal justice system and by permitting people to defend themselves and be personally responsible for the safety of the community, the rate of crime actually decreases.

After all, we are adults, we are rational, we understand consequences. Notions to the contrary are simply the product of xenophobia or outright racism. We cannot mistreat each other, we cannot steal, we cannot kill, we cannot cheat, as we will face the consequences: the damage to our reputations, loss of business, isolation, destroyed relationships, and violence yes.

But look at what we have wrought in some effort to create a more humane justice system. Look at our prisons. Look at our court rooms. Look at what justice costs. Look at our Police State. Look at the corruption of our politicians. Look at the corruption of our election system. What choices do we really have in all this? What humanity do we really see in all this?

Look at the brutality that we have created, look at the injustice. It is time that we rethink this structure. We are adults, we have minds, and we must use them to create a better world.

The Police State simply creates a more antagonistic Society, judges render no real justice, and prisons do not rehabilitate but simply exacerbate.

We have turned into a nation of complainers, critics who are satisfied at pointing out the faults of courts, being aghast at police brutality, and having no real confidence in our politicians. We deserve more than to be a nation of complainers. Let freedom ring, America!