democracy does not begin and end with elections
The mesmerizing media is full of it, on Sixty Minutes and every news show;
“President-elect Obama, what will be your first act? Who will be in your cabinet? What will you do about the economy? Iraq? Afghanistan? Iran?”
It would be easy to sit back and enjoy the show, wondering how great the seemingly great man will be, or will he be . . build expectations, or doubt his sincerity and decision-making based on his staff choices, before he even takes office.
That’s getting ahead of ourselves, isn’t it? Aren’t we forgetting something? The first part of “When the people lead, the leaders will follow.”
So far, the people have gotten together to present a new (at least marginally superior) leader the keys to the White House, but before we fall under the spell of the Amazing Snox Box (best children’s allegory for adults ever, by Brian Gage), in all our celebrations and amazement over our achievement, let’s remember that we, the people’s job of leadership has just begun.
For instance:
Are our debates open to all, or is whose allowed on the debates chosen by one non-elected very partisan Republican, and one non-elected very partisan Democrat?
Do we have public financing of campaigns (caclean.org), to level the playing field between ordinary voters and corporatists?
Do we have Instant Runoff Voting (also referred to as ranked voting, LAvotefire.org, irvinla.org), so we can vote for the candidate who most clearly represents our values, without fearing that by doing so we’ll end up electing the one that represents them the least?
Do we have the most efficient form of healthcare, single payer, or the least efficient in all the industrialized world, such that our auto industry is about to go under from the weight of healthcare costs (setting aside for the moment their stupid decision-making in product choice), compared to competitors in other nations who do not bear this burden because they are under single payer plans?
Are our water and food supply safe and free from pollutants? Are they being monopolized by corporatists?
Are our oceans being over-fished and polluted into extinction?
Are our energy production and our transportation systems entrenched in reliance on fuels whose use will lead to catastrophic climate change, destroying the ability of much of the planet to support life as we know it? Did I hear someone say, ‘clean coal?’ Oh dear.
Is a dangerous alternative, nuclear, being seriously suggested without understanding that when the entire use cycle—from mining to refining to transport to plant construction to safe waste transport and disposal (as though such a thing is possible with something that remains toxic for hundreds of thousands if not millions of years) to plant decommissioning at end of use cycle—is considered, it is clearly anything but an alternative? And, can I hear someone say ‘nuclear proliferation’ and ‘terrorism’ in the same sentence? Oh yeah.
Is our economy still built on a house of mostly worthless paper, whose only tangible product (besides the crap entertainment to keep us distracted from how bad this all is) is high tech weaponry to threaten the rest of the world into turning over their resources on our terms, or should I say the terms of the few fabulously rich who control most of the lot, and neglect to share much with the rest of the world?
Are there fewer and fewer jobs and steeper and steeper college fees so that the siren song of the military to keep our thousand foreign bases stocked with fresh canon fodder actually starts to sound appealing, compared to the alternative of being broke and jobless?
Have our civil liberties suddenly been restored, or are we still spied on in our homes and through our phones, capable of legally being detained on here-say without a hearing?
Seems to me like there’s plenty of room for leadership to go around. That maybe we, the people should hang in there for awhile and push. Seems like no leader could lead out of this morass a populace that sits dead on their ass, lost in a daydream, that the change we need is in ourselves. Seems that’s where it has to be. Seems like we’re going to have to rise up and start walking, without waiting to be told in which direction.
Okay so we close Guantanamo and promise not to do it again, give everybody a tax cut and tell them to go shop. Somehow I don’t think that’s going to be enough.
We’re going to have to really work on this one—all of us.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The beginning …
As I write the Star Spangled Banner is being sung, awaiting Barack’s victory speech. I have just returned from working a dozen polling locations in central Los Angeles, documenting machine malfunctions, and first time voters forced to vote provisional for not being on the rolls — even when they had a sample ballot in hand, with their name on it, and had come to the correct precinct, here in one of the blu-est areas of one of the blue-est states.
So am I elated? No time for that, because this is not a victory, yet. It is said our nation was formed to be a nation of laws, not of men. Though we have been led for eight years by men who have done their best to destroy laws that were formed to make us one society, and now are poised to believe they have ultimately failed in this attempt, we are far from fulfilling this promise.
So to our leaders elect, this new Congress and administration, who have successfully performed the balancing act between the majority of the people and the wealthy powerful elites whose influence has put them on the stage before us, here then is the marching orders, my personal mandate, a reassessment of priorities on which I must be uncompromising:
Electoral reform:
—Instant Run-off Voting
—Proportional representation
—Elimination of the electoral college, to make one person one vote a reality
—remove our elections from the hands of unelected corporate partisans, and return to hand counted paper ballots
—elimination of the Presidential Debate Commission; why should partisans of the two major parties decide whose ideas are worthy of consideration by the public — is not a vigorous debate by all candidates the best avenue for voters to appraise the issues before us and determine the most appropriate reaction? Is this not what the founders of our nation intended?
Media reform:
—Divestiture of multinational corporations from ownership of the vast majority of what we see, hear, or read — return to local ownership. A population incapable of discerning truth from falsehood because the media only reflects the views of its billionaire owners can no longer be considered a democracy. Garbage in garbage out.
Economic reform:
—Withdrawal from the WTO
—Reigning in of those who would monopolize our food and water supply
—reinvest in infrastructure —rebuild America
Energy reform:
— regardless of what you have said on the campaign trail, “clean coal” and nuclear are no solution to the global energy crisis or global climate change. We need major investment in geothermal, tidal and wave power, in addition to wind and solar energy. The entry of many small players is healthier for the economy than a few major ones.
Reaffirmation of Civil Liberties:
— The act of a real patriot would be to ensure that our civil liberties are restored and apply to all this time; all classes, all colors, all races, all religions, all tribes, all gender definitions.
Pullback from empire:
— Okay, so the thirst for revenge on the part of American vanity will necessitate a pursuit of Ben Laden, but can we pull back from our global approach of world policeman, if for no other reason than we can no longer afford a thousand overseas bases and the military to keep the whole thing running. Our worst enemy in the world is ourselves.
President-elect Obama, I believe you understand this. From what you have said, I believe you know I must hold you and the new Congress accountable to this agenda, in order to give you the fortitude to push back against established interests that must sacrifice if the country and the world are to move in a positive direction. I believe you are counting on it.
I declare I will do my utmost to fulfill my end of the bargain called democracy. I hope I can count on you. For us to have small d democracy in a small r republic, it is essential that we all deliver. I believe this is what is meant by the expression “freedom isn’t free.”
So am I elated? No time for that, because this is not a victory, yet. It is said our nation was formed to be a nation of laws, not of men. Though we have been led for eight years by men who have done their best to destroy laws that were formed to make us one society, and now are poised to believe they have ultimately failed in this attempt, we are far from fulfilling this promise.
So to our leaders elect, this new Congress and administration, who have successfully performed the balancing act between the majority of the people and the wealthy powerful elites whose influence has put them on the stage before us, here then is the marching orders, my personal mandate, a reassessment of priorities on which I must be uncompromising:
Electoral reform:
—Instant Run-off Voting
—Proportional representation
—Elimination of the electoral college, to make one person one vote a reality
—remove our elections from the hands of unelected corporate partisans, and return to hand counted paper ballots
—elimination of the Presidential Debate Commission; why should partisans of the two major parties decide whose ideas are worthy of consideration by the public — is not a vigorous debate by all candidates the best avenue for voters to appraise the issues before us and determine the most appropriate reaction? Is this not what the founders of our nation intended?
Media reform:
—Divestiture of multinational corporations from ownership of the vast majority of what we see, hear, or read — return to local ownership. A population incapable of discerning truth from falsehood because the media only reflects the views of its billionaire owners can no longer be considered a democracy. Garbage in garbage out.
Economic reform:
—Withdrawal from the WTO
—Reigning in of those who would monopolize our food and water supply
—reinvest in infrastructure —rebuild America
Energy reform:
— regardless of what you have said on the campaign trail, “clean coal” and nuclear are no solution to the global energy crisis or global climate change. We need major investment in geothermal, tidal and wave power, in addition to wind and solar energy. The entry of many small players is healthier for the economy than a few major ones.
Reaffirmation of Civil Liberties:
— The act of a real patriot would be to ensure that our civil liberties are restored and apply to all this time; all classes, all colors, all races, all religions, all tribes, all gender definitions.
Pullback from empire:
— Okay, so the thirst for revenge on the part of American vanity will necessitate a pursuit of Ben Laden, but can we pull back from our global approach of world policeman, if for no other reason than we can no longer afford a thousand overseas bases and the military to keep the whole thing running. Our worst enemy in the world is ourselves.
President-elect Obama, I believe you understand this. From what you have said, I believe you know I must hold you and the new Congress accountable to this agenda, in order to give you the fortitude to push back against established interests that must sacrifice if the country and the world are to move in a positive direction. I believe you are counting on it.
I declare I will do my utmost to fulfill my end of the bargain called democracy. I hope I can count on you. For us to have small d democracy in a small r republic, it is essential that we all deliver. I believe this is what is meant by the expression “freedom isn’t free.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
