S3 E47 We Are The People

Episode discussion topics <ul><li>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. </li> <li>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. </li> <li>Regarding the history of "direct" elections where citizens, not legislatures, cast ballots for federal offices, the popular vote wasn't always popular. Still isn't in many parts. Citizens can now vote for Senators and that only began in 1913 and voting for Presidential Electors was being handled by some state legislators, instead of citizens, up through the 1860s with exceptions that continued to occur up through 1876 with a recent close call back in 2000. Wikipedia covers the <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Electoral_College'>Electoral College</a> here for more information. </li> <li>Quoting the article from above, "The Constitution gives each state legislature the power to decide how its state's electors are chosen and it can be easier and cheaper for a state legislature to simply appoint a slate of electors than to create a legislative framework for holding elections to determine the electors." </li> <li>There are all too many state legislators willing, ready, and able to take our votes back from our control, more like things used to be, and submit their own ballots on our behalf when it comes to elected federal positions. We can lose our liberty and our vote. It's been far worse in the past which makes for uncomfortable precedence. </li> <li>The day for service in the name of Martin Luther King Jr. was just last month in January and February, when this episode is being released, is Black History Month. <ul><li>In that spirit, we give thanks to a human whose vision and yearning for equality echoes through to now. Our hope for a more equal, a more just, a more perfec