I feel kinda helpless as an American watching the petition grow. I wonder what would happen if an American petition got big, would corporate America kill it? Would it get traction? Idk…
They’d let it grow to near 100% acceptance among relevant groups, then seed articles to split attention and truth, and then buy 60 senators for a bag of bubblegum and two spools of string.
This isn’t just a change.org petition. In the EU (and a lot of member countries) theres a system for citizens initiatives, which have the same or similar legal weight as laws proposed by legislators.
That doesn’t mean the proposed laws get passed, but it does mean the people can bypass the politicians in order to at least get something onto the starting line.
They had the “We the people” platform, started by Obama. But Trump started ripping it apart, and Biden pulled the plug on his first day in the office.
And even then instead of being people driven, the US administration would choose what they want to address or not. For all the excesses of EU bureaucracy, there are plenty cases like this where it prevents politicians from ignoring people’s concerns; they can still refuse to act, but at least the petition system forces them to go on record.
Some states allow citizens to propose ballot measures if they get enough support, which then get put up to vote in the next election and become law, but both parties hate the practice and fight it wherever they can. No such thing exists at a national level though.
Don’t worry too much. If the EU passes legislation for this, you’ll likely benefit from it as well, similar to all the other pro consumer things spilling over.
I feel kinda helpless as an American watching the petition grow. I wonder what would happen if an American petition got big, would corporate America kill it? Would it get traction? Idk…
They’d let it grow to near 100% acceptance among relevant groups, then seed articles to split attention and truth, and then buy 60 senators for a bag of bubblegum and two spools of string.
The old senators will think that’s a good deal.
Does the US have citizens iniatives?
This isn’t just a change.org petition. In the EU (and a lot of member countries) theres a system for citizens initiatives, which have the same or similar legal weight as laws proposed by legislators.
That doesn’t mean the proposed laws get passed, but it does mean the people can bypass the politicians in order to at least get something onto the starting line.
Many US states have official citizens initiatives systems, but not on the Federal level, no.
They had the “We the people” platform, started by Obama. But Trump started ripping it apart, and Biden pulled the plug on his first day in the office.
And even then instead of being people driven, the US administration would choose what they want to address or not. For all the excesses of EU bureaucracy, there are plenty cases like this where it prevents politicians from ignoring people’s concerns; they can still refuse to act, but at least the petition system forces them to go on record.
Some states allow citizens to propose ballot measures if they get enough support, which then get put up to vote in the next election and become law, but both parties hate the practice and fight it wherever they can. No such thing exists at a national level though.
Don’t worry too much. If the EU passes legislation for this, you’ll likely benefit from it as well, similar to all the other pro consumer things spilling over.