The evil of legialative camaraderie

"Civic" refers to citizens who collaborate for responsible freedom more than for the city.

A personal paraphrase of the June 21, 1788 preamble:  We the civic citizens of nine of the thirteen United States commit-to and trust-in the purpose and goals stated herein --- integrity, justice, collaboration, defense, prosperity, liberty, and perpetuity --- and to cultivate limited services to us by the USA. I want to collaborate with other citizens on this paraphrase, yet would always preserve the original, 1787, text.   

Our Views (theadvocate.com/new_orleans/opinion/our_views/article_06456a9e-2bc3-11e8-90de-b3213f2fa09b.html)

Despite the caption, this editorial seems to use cute phrases to condone legislative secrecy.

The Advocate personnel and other writers for the press recently published bemusement about legislative camaraderie; theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/article_62dd6f22-2588-11e8-a98d-dbbd4666dace.html and theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/stephanie_grace/article_389ef9e4-2612-11e8-9479-2b8ba55e0e88.html and theadvocate.com/new_orleans/entertainment_life/nell_nolan/article_0fe9d4ee-2741-11e8-aa04-b736c83cff09.html.

Citizens who go to the Capital witness and experience the evil of legislative camaraderie first hand. When the witness is seated and recognized, representatives who could have departed before the introduction wait and intentionally or not deprecate the seated citizen. The chair may surprise the citizen with the question, “Phil, do you feel you must speak?” As though the citizen should know the decision has been made in secret or for some other camaraderie. Special caucus members never look at the citizen. The chair imposes interruptions, surprising the citizen with obscure house rules.

The Advocate personnel add to the bemusement with popular, meaningless jargon: “drain the swamp,” and “sunshine laws.” If they kept track of their own articles, writers for The Advocate could have used this editorial to point out that legislative camaraderie equates to abusing the people.

As long as The Advocate personnel leave civic responsibility to readers, The Advocate writers will continue to foster camaraderie with civic abusers like the Louisiana legislature and governor. It is past time for The Advocate personnel to look in their mirrors and state: "I am first a fellow citizen."

Nevertheless, only a civic people can motivate reform so as to establish justice in Louisiana. A civic people of the United States use the purpose and goals stated in the U.S. preamble to collaborate for statutory justice, a worthy purpose even if possibly attainable goal.

   

Our Views, 3/20 (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/our_views/article_5fc69f7a-27b3-11e8-80b4-93d0b92c30bc.html)

  

To Tom Robinson:  I think Baton Rouge is divided: citizens who behave according to their perception of the civic agreement that is stated in the preamble to the constitution for the USA, and dissidents. I think most Baton Rougans are civic citizens.

Dissidents are comprised of innocents, aliens such as criminals, and social democrats. The Advocate personnel promote social democracy rather than the American republic. They may or may not understand their motives. 

Nevertheless, social democracy is chaos, as we observe in Europe. The Advocate personnel may reform, but I imagine it would have to be in collaboration with the social democrats at LSU.

  

Today’s thought, G.E. Dean (Psalms 56:3-4 CJB), The Advocate, March 17, 2018, 7B.

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God - I praise his word -in God I trust; I have no fear; what can human power do to me?”

Dean says, “Faith in God will give us victory over fear.”

For 1700 years, the Holy Bible defended the slave-master relationship and vice versa. But slavery in America was ended by Civil War and civil unrest a hundred years later. I oppose the brutality America inflicts on poor children. I see no evidence that Bible interpretation holds promise.

It seems to me David and Dean merely hope they don’t have to collaborate to solve such problems. They both seem egocentric.

  

Other forums

quora.com/How-can-we-make-society-better

The individual, such as yourself, may consider an idea that is not widely expressed: each human has the authority to choose beneficial behavior. This is so, because the human individual may control personal energy during every moment of life and may balance three external powers everyone continuously faces.

Unfortunately, existing cultures inculcate the belief that an individual needs a higher authority. Ironically, the higher authorities are typically weak and ineffective. Therefore, a person who does not accept personal authority may wander from authority to authority and thereby waste a human life. Unfortunately, it happens often.

The second idea that is not widely expressed is that conformance to society does not satisfy pursuit of individual happiness. The individual wants but does not articulate private liberty with civic morality, where “civic” refers to individuals who collaborate for mutual safety and security more than for a municipality, doctrine, or tradition.

In a civic culture, collaborating citizens discover and benefit from actual reality or the-objective-truth rather than conflict for dominant opinion. Consequently, civil order, both civilization (coercion) and government (force), conform to the-objective-truth. Peoples who may adopt these concepts might develop distinct cultures, because, like individuals, nations have differing perceptions of happiness. 

However, civic nations commit to comprehensive safety and security.

But not everyone participates. For example, some people erroneously think crime pays. So the need for statutory justice never ceases. However, since justice is discovered on the-objective-truth, criminals (who also have individual authority) appreciate it more than law from arbitrary opinion. Therefore, crime lessens as statutory justice increases.

In this post, I have touched on four authorities some human beings may learn to balance: individual authority, the-objective-truth, mankind’s civil order, and private liberty with civic morality. The latter is the un-realized American dream.

To : I commend your phrase “send the wrath of god upon them.” With the lower case “g” you, both accurately and precisely, took the deity out of the described personal attitude.

This is an advantage of Quora posts as well as publicly accessible comment sections by online media (such as my hometown newspaper, The Advocate): the writer is not hindered by an editor who might, with arrogant honesty or no integrity, change your “g” to his or her “G.”

The long-needed nadir of “freedom of the press” has arrived, and the sooner the press morphs to responsibility the better. Regardless, responsibility is now in the purview of civic people, where it belongs. The sooner a civic people---people who accept human, individual authority--realize it, the better.

Conflicted media personnel may realize and accept, “I am first an individual, and second, a worker for the media.” President Trump routinely, tacitly, powerfully tweets: “I am President:  The office does not annihilate my person.” I would not mimic Trump’s brashness but am cautioned-by and compliment his tacit expression: “Approach me with integrity or deal with whatever my person comes up with.”

The press-workers, so far, won’t collaborate with Trump’s challenge: either offer integrity or receive lies and other creative protection of the President’s office. It reminds me of a message attributed to Jesus:  Support the leader that was elected for you . . . or not. The press often confuses appeal for integrity with soliciting personal loyalty, narcissism, or worse.

Returning to your descriptor, “Activist for every individual's right to self-determination,” I am attracted to “individual” but distracted by the capital “A.” What’s that for?

But addressing your work, please compare the first sentence of my post: “The [human] individual . . . has the authority to choose beneficial behavior.” That’s the beginning of my post about an overall theory for civic morality. If you and I collaborate on our two expressions, a good idea may emerge.

 Phil Beaver does not “know” the actual-reality. He trusts and is committed to the-objective-truth which can only be discovered. He is agent for A Civic People of the United States, a Louisiana, education non-profit corporation. See online at promotethepreamble.blogspot.com.