"When 'The People' are well informed,
they may be trusted with
their government"
In their freedom quest from over-taxation without representation as demanded by England's King
George and Parliament in the Stamp Act many of the early American Colonists rejected such socioeconomic political oppression
in their act at Boston Harbor. To America's fifty-six founding forefathers,
they wanted some say in such matters; further holding the notion that their natural birthright was to be politically
free men and to be able to determine their own destiny in having a say in their own government. They held that
this freedom was a God-given birthright and could not be altered by another human being, head of state or government
thrust upon them without representation.
Thus The Declaration of Independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson, setting forth
this basic tenet officially laid claim to the inherent God-given right to self-determination through self-ruled
democratic government. A government "By The People, For The People, Of The People"
had never before been tried in the history of humankind. Yet these early "Americans" conceived
and believed passionately that a democratic republic would give each citizen a right to vote. This would
permit, they believed, that every voting citizen would hold the rightful privilege, as well as duty, to be able to determine
one's own destiny. Such destiny, however, could only be sufficiently effected through regular proactive interaction
with one's government consisting of those duly elected representatives.
For all Americans of the United States, The Declaration of Independence and The
Constitution are the two a priori documents which define
us as a unique nation, set apart from all other nations and types of government. Further, "the American Spirit"
often noted as being a unique national characteristic, was defined by the principles set
forth in these two original documents provide an inspiring guiding light not only for the first but for
all generations of Americans. The principles espousing freedom from political tyranny and the God-given right of personal
liberty establishing the right to self-rule established The Republic of The United States of America and has
always served as a shining banner for individual liberty before all other nations. Since their writing and
signing, these two a priori documents have served to inspire those elsewhere in the world who have suffered political,
religious and economic oppression desiring to come to America and become part of the great American Dream.
"Democracy is a fragile notion. ..."
No one knew better than America's fifty-six forefathers who as drafters and signatories to The
Constitution, were subjected to persecution, torture, in some cases death and loss of wealth and personal
assets after signing The Declaration and The United States Constitution. The War of Independence with England
was fought by the early "American" patriots seeking to gain their personal and political freedom came at the further expense
of much bloodshed, loss of limbs, loss of family members and homesteads.
That "democracy is fragile " can never be underestimated. Fully realized by Thomas Jefferson
who had stated his concerns about "holding onto democracy by future generations of Americans" was very
much a concern of both Jefferson and the original signatories. Jefferson stated as much in his personal letter to Henry
Lee on May 8, 1825 in which he said the above words.
While the fifty-six realized that the great "American Experiment" may not last and may not be
tenable to endure throughout unseen events by future generations of "Americans" was of great concern to them when drafting
both The Declaration and The Constitution. But no one understood this
"fragility" more acutely than Jefferson who had spent so much time, effort and soul in drafting, writing and expressing America's
founding principles in these two a priori documents.
Democracy is fragile because self-rule is an interactive partnership
between "We, The People" and those we elect to represent us at the federal level in U.S. Congress
as well as our respective state legislatures. For self-rule to be effective, both voting citizens and elected representatives
must interact with each other by regular communication.
Because the United States of America is founded upon those two a priori documents,
our representatives must be told by our communications involving personal conversations, email, regular mail and telephone
calls, all of which provide an opportunity to us to express our wishes and demands. Expressing our concerns, wishes
and demands then serve as a guide for the direction of our elected representatives to take on America's national
policies. "We, The People" must express to our elected representatives our
opinions and concerns as to the challenging issues on all matters affecting us as a collective national self-determined
body-politic.
In our quest for a democratic nation governed by "We, The People" -
the General Electorate - effecting self-determination requires due diligence on our part by staying well informed
of pressing issues before us collectively as a nation. We can do this by seeking out quality information that
allows us to become aware of the facts in each issue.
Understanding the pros and cons of opposing viewpoints prepares us to be well-informed voters
and participants in our own government, providing guidance to our senators and representatives in Congress on what
legislation is appropriate to write, introduce for voting and how we want our representatives to vote on issues on our
behalf.
Moreover, after we vote and send our respective senators and representatives to Congress, we
must stay abreast of the legislation that our representatives are voting for on our behalf. This is
our individual citizen's civic duty and is required for self-determined democracy to work effectively.
Our Congressional representatives can only know our wishes on how to vote on our behalf if we
make our demands known to them by writing, calling, e-mailing, personal visits, attending local Town
Hall meetings with Q & A sessions when our elected congressional representatives return home to make
themselves accountable for their legislative voting record, answer questions and listen to our
concerns as their constituents.
It is incumbent upon all American citizens to participate in our collective democratic
government. Our destiny as a self-ruled nation can only be beneficially effected "By The People, For The People, Of The People" when we all actively engage, making our voices
heard in "The People's House".
"We, The People" must participate in our own government
in order for it to remain a viable form of citizen-determined government that serves all of us in America.
In recent years, however, we have seen a privileged few who able to afford expensive consultant lobbyists through whom they
make their own special interests (SPIGS) known to our congressoinal representatives. This presents an unfair advantage to
you and me and all other citizens of the poor, working poor and middle classes (essentially 99% of America), who
must work at regular jobs and businesses to pay our taxes, put our children through school, take care of our families, take
care of our civic duty.
These highly paid lobbyists unduly influence which legislation is initiated, written
and brought for voting by the U.S. Congress . Such legislation is slanted toward one goal:
favoring the bottom line of profit for those SPIGS and their consultant lobbyists without necessarily the knowledge, consent
and agreement of "We, The People". There are many recent examples of this
practice already having occurred and it is "We, The People" who are now hurting economically,
in the midst of economic turmoil and social distress as a result.
What is the American Democracy Project?
Simply getting the individual American citizen more involved in his/her own government by making your
individual voice heard in The U.S. Congress: "The People's House" built with and maintained by "The People's"
tax treasury on Capitol Hill.
What's the risk if I don't become involved?
Special Interst Groups (SPIGS) that are cash-rich and who employ very expensive and politically powerful
lobbyists as a result of that wealth outnumber our Congressional representatives by 5 to 1. They pose a very unfair
advantage. However, as a partner in America's self-ruled self-determined government, failure to remain abreast
of the challenging issues before us, such as fast-track energy demand vs. environmental destruction and adverse affects of
socio-economic aspects of continuing with outdated energy technoogies being purported by these special interest
groups will freely and unduly influence congressional legislation. Becoming well informed as to the specific facts of
these issues that adversely affect each and every American with repect to setting national policy on these issues such as
national energy policy must be communicated to our elected representatives in 111th Congress.
As Americans with one vote per citizen, self-ruled, self-determined government allows us, the General Electorate,
to demand that our elected representatives undertake what "We, The People" believe to be the
best policies for our nation to pass into law. See links above Articles One -Ten for more informative quality information.
How can I become involved?
It's easy. Democracy doesn't begin and end at the voting booth or jury room. You
can easily become involved in your self-determined democratically-elected government by:
1. Becoming aware of the pressing issues that are adversly affecting us all, such as high energy prices
high demand and environmental destruction and public health risks through continued fossil fuel burning resulting in global
warming and climate change.
-and-
2. Making your wishes known to your elected officials about what you want them to do to resolve these issues
in the bicameral halls of he 111th U.S. Congress by: writing, calling, e-mailing your elected U.S. Senators
and U.S. House of Representatives for your individual state.
How can I make a difference?
Here's how you can easily participate in your own self-ruled government and strengthen American Democracy:
1. Review Articles One through Nine on this homepage, and Volume I of Fusion Energy ~
The Public's Guide,
3. Fill in the required information: your name, address, date of writing letter; then
5. Fill in the required addressee information in the salutation and sign the letter.
6. Print a copy of the letters with the required information filled in.
8. Mail the letters to your elected representatives in Washington, D.C.
9. Mail a copy to President Barack H. Obama and to Vice- President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. both at The
White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. 20005
To schedule a speaking event at your school, college or university to learn more about thermonuclear fusion
energy and its uniqiue capability to generate clean green electricity while at the same time produce alternative clean-green
alternative fuels for America's transportation sector, as well as The American Democracy Project, please contact the
Institute Director's office at institutefusenedtech@Lycos.com.
