[Platform] Donate NOW - build the Green-Rainbow Party into a force for change!

[Eli Beckerman]

I agree with much of what you are saying, Suel,
but not with where you place blame, and not with your conclusion.

We the people are, after all, bombarded with messages from the time
we get up to the time we go to bed, from before we are able to understand
language,
until after we are on a fixed income with little flexibility in our budgets,
to consume,
to fear, to care primarily about ourselves, to accept the ugliness of "human
nature",
to embrace "progress" even when it comes with millions of hidden harms, and
on
and on.

It's hard to blame people for buying into the "audacity of hope", or
"together we can" -- messages that speak to deep human needs that are far
too neglected in this system. As we've seen with Deval Patrick, these types
of calculated promises are
the most cynical type of politics, and they steer people in the wrong
direction.

But we'd be foolish to ignore the hopeful signs that abound, with a growing
number
of people doing important work outside of the failing political, social, and
economic frameworks. The challenge is that much harder when the mainstream
media and the mainstream politicians and the mainstream activists do not
articulate the extent of the problems we will face. If only we all knew what
was going on, then we could adapt _before_ the realities accumulate... and I
know you agree that our role is to both lay out the problems and point the
way and work on the solutions. Because of the abdication of this role by the
mainstream media, we need to find a way of crafting a different story and
getting that story out there.

On Jan 12, 2008 5:57 AM, Suel Bartone <sbartone22 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Eli:
>
> The Obama phenom tells me once again that there is something deeply
> wrong with the electorate of this country, that is, something wrong
> with  the people who vote, not the people we vote for.
>
> Obama is running a campaign of vague notions about "hope", with few
> if any specifics about the problems we face or the policies we need
> to tackle them. HIs written policy statements show little difference
> between him and the other front-running corporate candidates.
>
> The people are voting for a feel-good message. They want to feel that
> there's "hope." that "everything's gonna be alright", like some
> nostalgic late-60s soul song from our long-lost adolescence.
>
> They don't want a candidate that publicly and courageously states the
> issues and proposes workable solutions. That's way more reality than
> they can handle.
>
> They want to "feel good," feel that their candidate's gonna "make
> everything alright". It's "morning in America" once again. The
> American electorate has done this over and over again, dozens of
> times in the last 20 years of national politics. They practically beg
> for candidates that give them an excuse to exit from reality. They
> fall for someone who is not the most competent leader and policy
> expert, but the one who speaks the magical words of comfort and
> optimism, the one who creates the aura of magical redemption from our
> anxieties and problems.
>
> Americans don't want to deal with reality. It's a product of their
> faith in the American Myth of Manifest Destiny. If you believe
> "everything's gonna be alright," then it will be. The stock market
> will go up; you will magically have a job that makes all your car
> payments; you will be a success some day.
>
> Cynthia McKinney is no less female, no less Black, yet she is a
> candidate who clearly and courageously elucidates the real crises we
> face, and the solutions that will deal with them. Which is precisely
> why she, and others like her, like Ralph Nader and just about anybody
> who runs for the Green Party, will always lose. Because its not the
> platform of the American Myth; it's not the magical feeling of
> optimism and success.
>
> Years ago, after I ran for State Representative, I finally understood
> what was wrong with this country. After that, I no longer blamed the
> politicians. I blame the electorate. Politics is merely the outcome
> of a deep cultural process that generates within the electorate and
> ripens into a candidate of their own fabrication.
>
> That's why things aren't really going to change until those crises,
> like peak oil, become very real and very deep, and people are forced
> to wake up and deal with reality.
>
> Suel Bartone
>
> On Jan 11, 2008, at 10:13 AM, Eli Beckerman wrote:
>
> > As the corporate candidates talk about change, take a second to
> > think about
> > what it will take to truly bring about the changes our society
> > desperately
> > needs to make.
> >
> > As the economic, social, and environmental crises that face us
> > continue to
> > grow,
> > it is essential that we build a political force that can confront them
> > directly.
> >
> > It is clear that the two corporate parties are unable to even
> > articulate,
> > let alone solve, these crises.
> >
> > In Massachusetts the Democrats -- with a supermajority in the
> > legislature
> > and a self-styled "progressive" governor -- are still unable to
> > address the
> > real issues facing the Commonwealth.
> >
> > It is past time that the Green-Rainbow Party become the voice of
> > the people
> > of this state, and that we build an alternative political party
> > that can
> > guide our communities through the converging crises we face.
> >
> > 2007 has been a year of false hopes. Please contribute today, and
> > make 2008
> > a year of new beginnings. Contribute today at
> > http://green-rainbow.org/contrib.html
> >
> >
> > The Green-Rainbow Party does not accept corporate donations.  All
> > our work
> > is done
> > by volunteers.  Every dollar you contribute goes directly to
> > helping all of
> > us focus
> > our organizing power to become the just, fair, and sustainable
> > society we
> > want to be
> > and have the political voice we need to bring about the necessary
> > changes.
> >
> > With an exciting Green-Rainbow primary nearing on February 5th, and an
> > important
> > Green Party nominating convention in July in Chicago, your
> > donations will
> > help get
> > the word out about our presidential candidates. But even more
> > importantly,
> > donating
> > now will help build the Green-Rainbow Party into a force at the
> > local level
> > where we
> > have the most leverage.
> >
> > Please visit http://green-rainbow.org/contrib.html and make your
> > contribution today!
> >
> > Thanks for your support -- and vote Green-Rainbow February 5th!
> > Don't forget -- January 16th is the last day to register (Green-
> > Rainbow or
> > unenrolled)
> > to be eligible to take a Green-Rainbow ballot in the primary.
> > _______________________________________________
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