direct democracy is the only way

[Thorne]

Really? OK, cutting off the electricity, water or drainage could do that (though none of those are provided by the city here in the first place) - but would the electorate seriously vote for that in the first place?

I can envision a small town, primarily of one religion (Christian, Mormon, Muslim, makes no difference) cutting off services to a small section of the town which was primarily of a radically different religion. Couldn't you? When the preachers start screaming about how those "evil people over there" are threatening the church, the children, the imaginary deity? I can easily see some groups voting along those lines. How many times have you heard people telling those who rock the boat that if they don't like the way things are, they can move? This would be a way to force them to move. Whether they can afford it or not.

Now maybe I'm just a cynic, but look back in history. People have done, and still do, horrific things to people they see as different. Just look at the Salem witch trials. The enslavement of Africans. the mistreatment of Blacks, or Hispanics, or Orientals. The forced incarceration of innocent Japanese-Americans during WW2. All rationalized by an adherence to community standards. And a fear of those who are different.

Yes, sadly I can easily imagine a so-called Christian community voting to keep police, fire services, ambulances, etc, from responding to calls in a primarily Muslim neighborhood, leaving those people at the mercy of those who would prey upon them. Or the reverse could happen. Or perhaps a conservative group voting to deny those services to the liberal area on the outskirts of the city. Or a group of homophobes voting to deny equal rights to gays. Or any number of other groups, as long as they represent the majority in the voting area. We see it everywhere. Far too often.

[thir]

I can envision a small town, primarily of one religion (Christian, Mormon, Muslim, makes no difference) cutting off services to a small section of the town which was primarily of a radically different religion. Couldn't you? When the preachers start screaming about how those "evil people over there" are threatening the church, the children, the imaginary deity? I can easily see some groups voting along those lines. How many times have you heard people telling those who rock the boat that if they don't like the way things are, they can move? This would be a way to force them to move. Whether they can afford it or not.

Now maybe I'm just a cynic, but look back in history. People have done, and still do, horrific things to people they see as different. Just look at the Salem witch trials. The enslavement of Africans. the mistreatment of Blacks, or Hispanics, or Orientals. The forced incarceration of innocent Japanese-Americans during WW2. All rationalized by an adherence to community standards. And a fear of those who are different.

Yes, sadly I can easily imagine a so-called Christian community voting to keep police, fire services, ambulances, etc, from responding to calls in a primarily Muslim neighborhood, leaving those people at the mercy of those who would prey upon them. Or the reverse could happen. Or perhaps a conservative group voting to deny those services to the liberal area on the outskirts of the city. Or a group of homophobes voting to deny equal rights to gays. Or any number of other groups, as long as they represent the majority in the voting area. We see it everywhere. Far too often.

I can see this too, but I have a feeling that it would never have come to that in the first place, if the whole organization were different.