There is no democracy other than direct democracy. If you cant fire your government this afternoon, they own you, not the other way around.

That's not how direct democracy works.

If we assume that Switzerland is probably closest to the ideal of a direct democracy please take note that voters can not directly vote for the executive government (The Bundesrat, or federal council).

They elect members of the two houses, which in turn elects the 7 executives. Usually this is based on the recommendation by the parties and with a specific formula considering party, language and area of the country.

We also can't fire government members this afternoon. It's just like everywhere else. We can just not re-elect them.

I looked up the Swiss system, and it certainly is not direct democracy.

> it certainly is not direct democracy

You appear to make up your own extreme definition of what the words "direct democracy" should be and what they should mean. But it's not like that. There are ways words and condepts are commonly used. [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_democracy

Looks like I need a new word to describe a system where everyone rules, rather than certain people or organization, since both democracy and direct democracy are apparently taken to describe systems where all people don’t actually rule. Maybe “actual true direct pure democracy” should do.

> Maybe “actual true direct pure democracy” should do.

That would certainly be clearer :)

So many towns where I live put issues on the agenda for town meetings. How this works in practice is that, if there's some issue that someone (like a developer) feels strongly about, they pack the town meeting with allies and push it through because most people probably don't care much and don't even attend the meeting.

I'd argue that it's closest practical example of direct democracy. As in initiatives and referendums.

But I'm always happy to learn if you can come up with a counter example.

Under a direct democracy, you should be able to vote that you can't do that.