Tag Archives: citizenship

Citizen, Love

Have we forgotten “…by the people, for the people?”

One of the things I’ve been thinking about, as I read the news and hunker down at home, is that it seems we, as Americans, have forgotten a great deal about who WE are.
 
We talk about “the government” as if it has nothing to do with us.  As if it is a “them” out there, that we can’t impact or influence unless we fall in step behind ideological lines that require we hate half of our fellow citizens.
 
I admit, from recent reading about how power has shifted in this country over the last 40 years, that there is a considerable distance between most of us and most of the elected officials who walk the halls of government.  That difference, though, seems to be more about people who have SUPER wealth and incorporate the wishes of other SUPER wealthy corporations, industries, and individuals into their votes, stances, and decisions.
 
And I’m wondering …
 
What would the next 3 months – and the next 4–8 years look like if we remembered that WE are the ones who are supposed to be in charge?  What if WE reclaim OUR responsibility for who WE elect and how they spend OUR tax dollars?  What would these United States look like?
Citizen

Trickle-up Power

Since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, we’ve been struggling against the vacuum (meaning there is really NOTHING there) of trickle down economics.  

In the past 40 years, the rich have become super rich and more powerful.  Working people in lower and middle classes have become continually poorer and more disenfranchised. 

It’s time to flip the funnel.

NOW is the time to take control of our representative democracy and make it REPRESENTATIVE of REAL PEOPLE – not just the super rich and corporations.

WE MUST START NOW.

  • Build power locally.
  • Do the right thing locally.
  • Make elections fair and equal for ALL of us.
  • Let the power rise up from the people.

Only then will America be worthy of the label “great.”