Democracy will never be more than mob rule and dictator meat. That is the verdict in all top-down democracies wherever they may be.

With no spirit of democracy welling up in individuals, we end up where we are at this very moment. Either we recommit daily to our innermost being, or we perish. We have no end of object lessons. Proof lies in the respect for democracy that actually exists. At this point, the verdict must be shaky.

Maybe, maybe not.

We know that individual affirmation of democracy daily is not widely observed. It is a fundamental tenet of Triadic Philosophy that democracy, tolerance, and helpfulness be affirmed each and every day.This act can be transformative because it is the heart of ethics.

It manifests the basic human qualities of freedom, love, and justice.It respects the rights of all. The importance of local democracy is not just idealistic talk. It is the lead story in today's news.

Trump tax bill in peril

As Donald Trump celebrates his highly defective tax legislation, the chickens are Coming Home to roost. It is most likely illegal. Trump is not a poster boy for democracy. He is representative of the tacky autocracy that is comfortable with the perks of tacky wealth and tacky social behavior. The chickens are coming home in the form of the intelligence that the bill the GOP passed in a nanosecond is most likely illegal at its core. There may be some hope for a conclusion I drew weeks ago about this horrible bill.

Cautious optimism

I doubt that looking for loopholes in the Trump law will do much more than feather the nests of lawyers.

But a frontal assault on the fact that the bill seeks to raise federal revenue by withdrawing deductions paid for state and local taxes has a bit of promise. The reason I say a bit is because our courts are now in the Trump orbit thanks to the efforts of Kochs and others over time to ensure that all courts are Gorsuch-standardised.

The day Judge Gorsuch begins giving opinions that counter Donald Trump will be the day the dam breaks on the progress toward dictatorship that seems to be underway.

So let us see if we get satisfaction on his simple point of law.

Democracy individual and local

Democracy must be in our hearts and minds, not up there somewhere. We live in a land where the biggest enemy is not partisanship. It is apathy and mindlessness. People need to see their own magic. It exists within everyone. It is built on the values I have already named. It works for good at the grassroots. Most of all it works within to increase self-respect and empower us all to move forward.