Representative "Democrazy": Take It or Leave It

Have you ever thought to yourself, "Does my vote really even matter? Does it even count?"
Well, it kind of does. Kind of, but mostly does not. Why is this? You may hear from time to time people say that the United States of America is a pure democracy. This is not completely accurate-- we are actually a representative democracy, which means we elect people who would "represent" the public as a whole. We vote for them, then they decide every thing for us because they would reflect most of the public's aspirations, dreams, thoughts, and feelings... at least in theory they should but often that is a luck of the draw. Considering most of the public that votes is older, higher class and white, it will reflect mainly their's rather than what everyone feels, which in a way that is our own fault for not taking the time to vote.
But besides that, I personally would prefer a different type of democracy, one where we can choose everything ourselves and each vote is one count. Not towards a representative, but us choosing and doing our own research of everything. I realize most of the public isn't politically educated, which is fine, if we implement some sort of easy education that would sort each issue into categories and list who stands for what and the intent/consequences of each. This way each voice is heard rather than bunching up the entire public into one large group and assuming they all think the same way. In that way the vote actually DOES count and doesn't die in vain.
You can call me "democrazy", but maybe I dream a little too big of change. Take it or leave it.

Lammily: Possibly the Doll of the Future?

It is a well known fact that many girls (and guys) have trouble with body image. Where this originally stems from could be a variety of things, but Nickolay Lamm suggests we should start with the dolls little girls play with saying, "Average is beautiful".
"Meet Lammily, a toy doll with realistic proportions", is about Nickolay Lamm redefining the image of Barbie and high fashion dolls. He took the average measurements from the "average" 19-year-old girl listed on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and created a 3D model out of it as a statement  against what is defined as beautiful and ideal. The feedback and support has been amazing for Lamm's project and if you wanted to get one yourself, you may have to jump in line! They ship out in November!
Now, do toy dolls really affect how children see body image? I would say so. Even if this margin is very small, the slightest change is a great one. Lamm speaks out to children and parents alike in this like it a sort of movement in his video clip supplied on Salon using a sense of emotion in the music and a little bit of diction to get through. He ends his video saying, "Toy giants aren't going to be changing their designs anytime soon. Rather than waiting for change to happen, let's be the change..." Definitely a change I would like to see happen because no one should define their self-worth based on something society calls "beautiful". Like Lamm said, average is beautiful.