So, it's 2015, and the Tea Party is back in Fringeland, muttering to itself...the GOP is cowed and broken, licking it's wounds, having had to give up seats...actual seats...on it's side of the aisle, to accommodate all the new Dems.
What now?
Although none of the above has happened yet, and there's certainly no guarantee that it will come to pass..."What now?" is what at least some of us should be thinking about.
I'm
gonna ramble, here...let bubble up many things that I've mulled over. I'm also
gonna link shamelessly to Wikipedia...and if that's the hammer you intend to
strike me with, you are a fool. Go back under your rock, and re-examine your
Assumptions.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The
Reagan Revolution has done huge damage to the country.
Socially, Economically, Morally, and in the other metrics that come to mind.
We are an Empire, abroad...and a heartless, idiot, at home.
The division and acrimony among the People is at it's highest level, since the Civil War...and the Surreality...the utter Confusion...displayed by both sides of the political divide...but especially that of the Right...is simply staggering.
But this is not meant to be about How we got to where we're at...but about where we're going.
If the Democratic Party listened to me(which they do not), here's what I would do...and quickly.
First, I'd start zealously Enforcing the Sherman Anti Trust Act...With a Will.
One of the Features of Mature Reaganism is near Monopoly Control over every material aspect of life.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Antitrust_Act )
Corporate Consolidation, it should be understood, is a Bad Thing.
Start Undoing it.
Maybe we could stop subsidizing Giant Corporations, as well.
Freeloaders Suck.
Second, and related, I'd move very quickly with...not a penny...but a quarter, for a while...tax on every dollar that Wall street (the FIRE Economy) "Makes".
Socially, Economically, Morally, and in the other metrics that come to mind.
We are an Empire, abroad...and a heartless, idiot, at home.
The division and acrimony among the People is at it's highest level, since the Civil War...and the Surreality...the utter Confusion...displayed by both sides of the political divide...but especially that of the Right...is simply staggering.
But this is not meant to be about How we got to where we're at...but about where we're going.
If the Democratic Party listened to me(which they do not), here's what I would do...and quickly.
First, I'd start zealously Enforcing the Sherman Anti Trust Act...With a Will.
One of the Features of Mature Reaganism is near Monopoly Control over every material aspect of life.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Antitrust_Act )
Corporate Consolidation, it should be understood, is a Bad Thing.
Start Undoing it.
Maybe we could stop subsidizing Giant Corporations, as well.
Freeloaders Suck.
Second, and related, I'd move very quickly with...not a penny...but a quarter, for a while...tax on every dollar that Wall street (the FIRE Economy) "Makes".
This
"Industry" has become a Parasite on the Real Economy(what You do
every day with your Money and your Time).
It's high Time for a Vermifuge.
Third, and also related, End the War on Unions...end "Right to Work", Unilaterally, and Federally...maybe even Amend the Constitution, eventually....
And speaking of that, Amend it to Counter the odious Citizen's United, Publically Fund Elections, and declare...ONCE and FOR ALL...that Corporations ARE NOT PEOPLE!
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Management_Relations_Act_of_1947 )
Next, I'd undo the Consolidation of Media Ownership.
It's high Time for a Vermifuge.
Third, and also related, End the War on Unions...end "Right to Work", Unilaterally, and Federally...maybe even Amend the Constitution, eventually....
And speaking of that, Amend it to Counter the odious Citizen's United, Publically Fund Elections, and declare...ONCE and FOR ALL...that Corporations ARE NOT PEOPLE!
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Management_Relations_Act_of_1947 )
Next, I'd undo the Consolidation of Media Ownership.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentration_of_media_ownership )
End the things Clinton did, to encourage it.
Similarly, Bring back Glass Steagall, and related Legislation.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_steagal)
End the things Clinton did, to encourage it.
Similarly, Bring back Glass Steagall, and related Legislation.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_steagal)
In
the realm of Government...Fix the Filibuster...and punish it's overuse, and
misuse.
While it can be an essential tool, to ensure that the Minority has a say, it has been become Farce.
No More Paper Filibusters.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibuster )
While it can be an essential tool, to ensure that the Minority has a say, it has been become Farce.
No More Paper Filibusters.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibuster )
We
should also endeavor to Fix the Gerrymandering Problem.
It's dishonest...and it appears that our elected representatives cannot be trusted with this endeavor.
So take it away from them.
I'd put it in the hands of the People...with a Randomocracy Type selection system.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering )
(Randomocracy is explained in Arthur C Clarke's "Songs of Distant Earth")
Next, I'd revist Apportionment, in general...we have too few Representatives to realistically Represent Us.
Currently a Congressional District has around 600,000 Constituents.
It is Impossible for anyone...good or bad...moral or no...to "Represent" that many folks.
So, re-animate Article the First.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_the_First )
Next, I'd tackle the Overblown Intelligence and Warfighting Sectors...and End the Stupid and Unamerican War on Drugs.
Disband the NSA.
It should be well known, by now, that they cannot be trusted.
The Cia needs a spanking, as well....and we should Open the Damned Vault, and let the People IN>
Hypersecrecy is anathema to a democratic-republican form of Government.
The Cold War is Over...and so is the War on Terror...which was a terrible idea, to begin with.
We should apologize for all our sins, abroad, over the last Hundred years...just Fess Up...and resolve to try harder to live up to our Ideals.
(the Right will especially hammer me on this point...but I don't care. I am unafraid of men in caves, or weak countries who want to try something different)
The War on Drugs...especially the War on Marijuana, has sown fear and distrust, between citizen and cop, and between citizens, themselves. It has eviscerated the 1st,4th,5th,6th,8th,9th and 10th Amendments, done murder to the credibility of Government, and put millions of otherwise innocent people in Jail.
And anyway, after lurking in Right Wing Fora these past few weeks/years, I think the sudden widespread legal availability of some Primo Weed is just what we need, at this juncture.
It's dishonest...and it appears that our elected representatives cannot be trusted with this endeavor.
So take it away from them.
I'd put it in the hands of the People...with a Randomocracy Type selection system.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering )
(Randomocracy is explained in Arthur C Clarke's "Songs of Distant Earth")
Next, I'd revist Apportionment, in general...we have too few Representatives to realistically Represent Us.
Currently a Congressional District has around 600,000 Constituents.
It is Impossible for anyone...good or bad...moral or no...to "Represent" that many folks.
So, re-animate Article the First.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_the_First )
Next, I'd tackle the Overblown Intelligence and Warfighting Sectors...and End the Stupid and Unamerican War on Drugs.
Disband the NSA.
It should be well known, by now, that they cannot be trusted.
The Cia needs a spanking, as well....and we should Open the Damned Vault, and let the People IN>
Hypersecrecy is anathema to a democratic-republican form of Government.
The Cold War is Over...and so is the War on Terror...which was a terrible idea, to begin with.
We should apologize for all our sins, abroad, over the last Hundred years...just Fess Up...and resolve to try harder to live up to our Ideals.
(the Right will especially hammer me on this point...but I don't care. I am unafraid of men in caves, or weak countries who want to try something different)
The War on Drugs...especially the War on Marijuana, has sown fear and distrust, between citizen and cop, and between citizens, themselves. It has eviscerated the 1st,4th,5th,6th,8th,9th and 10th Amendments, done murder to the credibility of Government, and put millions of otherwise innocent people in Jail.
And anyway, after lurking in Right Wing Fora these past few weeks/years, I think the sudden widespread legal availability of some Primo Weed is just what we need, at this juncture.
After and during all of this, we need to tackle the problems faced by the American People.
For decades, we've learned to blame and fear the poor and unfortunate...the sick, and the weak.
The Myth of the "Welfare Queen" is hateful and false.
So, shore up "Welfare"...everything from foodstamps to unemployment to disability...end the Presumption of Guilt that currently Rules these systems.
The reason we have so many folks who need this sort of thing(and I would count myself among them, even if I weren't...Solidarity!)...is because of 35-100 years of the Mythmaking Right.
Begin the Reawakening by Helping, not Harming, those less fortunate.
Then, we can maybe tackle some of the Causes of such Misery.
I've already spoken about the HyperCapitalism, which led to Near Monopoly...well, there's another phrase that more aptly describes how we've allowed our Economic Life to be run: Hydraulic Despotism.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_empire )
Why don't we have electric cars and Rail? Because the Car companies and the Oil and Gas companies have colluded to prevent it.
...and we gave them billions in Corporate Welfare for their trouble.
A handful of Corporations own the media, another handful controls the Meat Supply, another handful sits astride the Seed Supply, and a few more control the stores, and the manufacturing.
These entities have bought our Governments.
Then they set about rewriting the Rules and Regulations to ensure that their Despotism was complete and could not be challenged from Below.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barriers_to_entry )
We need to Decentralise Everything.
Democratise It All.
Remake the world in a Human Image, instead of the image of a collection of papers in an offshore post office box.
I've written extensively about this...Toilet Paper as a Cottage Industry.
We don't Make Anything, any more.
(http://amfortasthehippie.blogspot.com/2012/12/me-vs-us.html )
(http://amfortasthehippie.blogspot.com/2012/12/us-vs-me-ii.html )
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decentralization )
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Lastly, yet concurrently, we must remember who we are.
The Tiny Minorities of Oligarchs, and their Rabid Hangers On, have convinced us that we're all like them.
We are not.
Most of us continue to quietly, if not secretly, believe in the Time Honored Idealism that truly made this country great.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Lastly, yet concurrently, we must remember who we are.
The Tiny Minorities of Oligarchs, and their Rabid Hangers On, have convinced us that we're all like them.
We are not.
Most of us continue to quietly, if not secretly, believe in the Time Honored Idealism that truly made this country great.
(http://amfortasthehippie.blogspot.com/2010/11/on-persecution-and-inalienable-right-to.html )
(http://amfortasthehippie.blogspot.com/2012/11/room-enough.html )
(http://amfortasthehippie.blogspot.com/2012/11/room-enough.html )
Make Ignorant Screaming Shameful, again.
Make Fearmongering and Lying through your teeth and Wild Eyed Hatred, Shameful, again.
The
Idea that it's Me against Everybody Else, is not Civilisation....it is it's Anathema.
We should all be ashamed to have let this terrible few get away with so dividing US.
I have always been ready to defend the Rights of the most Odious among us...even the Klan...
It is high time that We the People demanded some Reciprocal Consideration.
The Enemy of Mankind, when you boil away the distractions and BullShit, is not other Humans, at all...but a set of Ideas, long since disproven.
That is our Battlefield.
Not our streets, and not our borders, not some sandy country that had the misfortune of being located atop "Our Oil"...but in the Minds of Americans.
We, on the Left, have been Remiss and Cowardly, for too long...and left this Battlefield to the Small Minded Men, who care only about Greed...and that fearful and confused portion of our fellow Americans who didn't know any better.
It is hard not to hate them...I understand the recent calls from the Left to charge the Lot of Them with Sedition...but that cannot be the way forward.
A little soap in the mouth, perhaps...but they do not deserve our Hatred, in return for their hatred of us...rather, our Pity...and our Forbearance.....all the while making Certain that they do not again take over the whole damned country.
It has perhaps become clear to you that our words are all but meaningless to them...so let us try Action, for a change.
I await your thoughtful response.
We should all be ashamed to have let this terrible few get away with so dividing US.
I have always been ready to defend the Rights of the most Odious among us...even the Klan...
It is high time that We the People demanded some Reciprocal Consideration.
The Enemy of Mankind, when you boil away the distractions and BullShit, is not other Humans, at all...but a set of Ideas, long since disproven.
That is our Battlefield.
Not our streets, and not our borders, not some sandy country that had the misfortune of being located atop "Our Oil"...but in the Minds of Americans.
We, on the Left, have been Remiss and Cowardly, for too long...and left this Battlefield to the Small Minded Men, who care only about Greed...and that fearful and confused portion of our fellow Americans who didn't know any better.
It is hard not to hate them...I understand the recent calls from the Left to charge the Lot of Them with Sedition...but that cannot be the way forward.
A little soap in the mouth, perhaps...but they do not deserve our Hatred, in return for their hatred of us...rather, our Pity...and our Forbearance.....all the while making Certain that they do not again take over the whole damned country.
It has perhaps become clear to you that our words are all but meaningless to them...so let us try Action, for a change.
I await your thoughtful response.
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