Citizens Prerogative

Episode discussion topics

• The first amendment holds many liberties that are of the utmost importance to self-rule. One, in particular, was captured in the first 16 words of the amendment:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

• It was designed this way because many founders had no interest in the tyranny of theocratic regimes. They were farmers, ...

Episode discussion topics

• On monuments: Why they are important and under what conditions they serve us the best.
• Challenges with venerating ancestors.
• Effective ways to venerate ancestors.
• Opportunity to keep alive the valuable ideas of our ancestors and inspire a shared symbology that aligns with the principles of a more perfect union.
• We accidentally do not have a transcript for this episode. We did provide a copy of the p...

Episode discussion topics

• Just as the allied nations of World Wars past continue to battle in the struggle against tyranny, we as individuals need to be allies of the common good.
• Equal liberty and justice under the law can only be established if the plurality of Americans that have an equal footing to gain band together in solidarity. Especially those who are least wealthy among us, which represent 98% regardless of ethnic or...

Episode discussion topics

• It has been a while since we discussed the idea of freedom in the United States and this time around we’re marrying it up with the pursuit of happiness. We’re also going to lean into some Stoic teachings to help guide our discussion.
• Freedom is the ability to use one's own agency to affect change in their life. Whether that be to change one's class, profession, companions, or one's own mind. This embo...

Episode discussion topics

• How the power of faction can bring the demise of a republic. Ideology is never a good substitute for reasoned choice and is even worse when wielded by authoritarian bullies.
• Just as Presidents Lincoln and Grant had feared, the greatest threat to our republic may be from within. Will we be able to maintain the people's hold on self-rule? Will we be able to have, as President Adams said, “A government o...

Episode discussion topics

• Paraphrasing Gandhi and Jefferson, if we measured society based on how we are treating our most vulnerable, it would get a failing grade.
• Forced pregnancy and childbirth have a long disgusting history in our country and in the world.
  • The UN recognizes this as a human rights violation and tracks this global problem.
  • The slavery economy in the United States featured, at its core, a potentially ren...

Episode discussion topics

• The second amendment: One highly charged sentence of 27 words.

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

• The original point of the amendment was about supporting a well-regulated militia, and for the people to bear arms for militia's sake.
• In the mindset of the times when it was writ...

Episode discussion topics

• The coup was very real and our republic, and the liberty it promises, remain at risk.
• We were warned about the risks of having a president given history's prevalence of kings and dictators.
• Congress has done nothing to prevent the rise of executive authority even when it came at the cost of eroding its own power.
• The parties are challenged in their own ways and both are enabling greater corruption, ...

Episode discussion topics

• The Supreme Court of the United States of America is no longer bound by precedence when it so decides.
• No reasoning needs to apply, nor any applicable law, a justice may simply rely on their own personal beliefs. The rest of us be damned. And so, as the court turns precedence be damned.
• Something more comparable to a lifetime role like that of the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah) in Iran than the stabili...

Episode discussion topics

• This represents part 5 of the Five-Point Plan introduced in episode 50.
• Leading by example by going all-in on converting to a new economy for climate's sake.
• We can no longer rely on endlessly increasing profits, waste, and carbonization for shareholders' sake. We need to build clean local economies, live in the doughnut of sustainability, and think full circle about resource use.
• This new economy w...

Episode discussion topics

• This represents part 4 of the Five-Point Plan introduced in episode 50.
• What it means to be in service of our nation and recognizing that this also means we are acting in service to one another and our posterity in turn. No small feat.
• Re-establish our sense of community on a grander scale with things like a civil service core and public works administration.
• A service core for public works programs ...

Episode discussion topics

• This represents part 3 of the Five-Point Plan introduced in episode 50.
• Transforming the institutions of our learning system for a more perfect union.
• We live in the age of infinitely expanding knowledge and automation. The past is not our future.
• This means that we need a whole new perspective on learning for posterity’s sake and the future of our republic if they can keep it.
• Forget memorizatio...

Episode discussion topics

• This represents part 2 of the Five-Point Plan introduced in episode 50.
• The right to a minimum standard of living can provide for the general welfare as our Constitution clearly states. Regardless, without a solid foundation and fair rules, our people will not flourish.
• Everyone should have equal rights to the following:
  • Justice under the law. Perhaps courts should become blinded to their biases...

Episode discussion topics

• This represents part 1 of the Five-Point Plan introduced in episode 50.
• No taxation without equal representation. Make elections and taxation consistent and fair for all.
• We need to un-jury-rigging the elections system by taking on the following principles.
  • Make competitive districts where ideas rule the debates, not personal attacks.
  • Ensure equal, safe, and secure access to voting for all. Per...

Episode discussion topics

• A whole episode, or actually a whole min-series of episodes, regarding calls to action around a new strategic plan to save our republic and try to save life on Earth.
• The Five-Point Plan will be described in later episodes and it will call on each of us to refocus our attention on the purpose of our nation.
• This episode introduces the series with an introspective exercise to see ourselves in the pote...

Episode discussion topics

• What's going on so far?
  • Games mostly.
  • Connectedness and some sense of community.
  • Why not university too?
• Who’s out there right now?
• What about NFTs?
  • Play to Earn (P2E) options yield in-game coins that can be redeemed for NFTs or other products from in-game stores.
  • Property and skins can be purchased for coins or cash that are backed by NFTs.
  • Some companies are selling their vir...

Episode discussion topics

• What a mess: Profit-motivated niches and confirmation bias zones abound. Anything that you read or watch that only confirms what you already believe is traveling a well-worn road of confirmation bias. Treat it like junk food. Find something else to read, watch, or listen to that challenges your perception.
• Just like tobacco products, processed mock foods, and social media. Big media products (from th...

Episode discussion topics

• Make sure we take action to secure our right to vote by electing candidates that support voting reform for equal ballot access and representation in congress.
• The misinformation campaigns have the people confused by design. Everything is held hostage by money from the rich feeding into a two-party monopoly that has eroded any sense of confidence in our institutions.
• Regarding the history of "direct...

Episode discussion topics

• Why do we have it?
  • Flags became all the rage in the 1880s. They embodied a symbolism that was cemented during the civil war around flags and loyalty oaths to a new, slavery-free nation. 
  • Through to today, it still serves its original purpose of indoctrinating young citizens and immigrants to honor the republic.
  • According to this Boston Review article: "George T. Balch, a West Point graduate and v...