It looks like the American public, or some significant portion of it, is waking up. There is now a new populist uprising in the making. Long beaten into submission, the cowering lumps of disengaged despairing doormats have finally seen the writing on the wall, are breathing a new life, and getting ready to strike back at their oppressors — the 1% and the .1% and the .01% — who just about have it all, but want even the few remaining scraps.
The statistics have been clear for some time. Everyday Americans — the 99% — have been getting royally screwed. Government of the people, by the people, for the people has been turned into a hollow slogan, a fading recollection of a noble, now irrelevant, improbable, and ostensibly inoperable idea.
In spite of the best efforts by the media — always in service of the rich elite — to hide the rotten news mounting during this democratic devolution, people have grown increasingly aware of the problems and outcomes. They didn’t need to look at charts and statistics. They felt the pain personally. Individual wealth for everyday Americans is shrinking. Wages and purchasing power are in decline. People are in debt up to their eyebrows. Schools, roads, whole communities are falling apart. The water isn’t even fit to drink.
The Sanders/Trump populist uprising is the inevitable result. Eventually, the pain becomes unbearable and people understandably look for some way or some one to fix things. Sanders has some great ideas, Trump has a big mouth. They each in their own unique and characteristic ways represent a “savior” to the masses.
But neither of these men, or any presidential candidate for that matter, can get the job done. That is written in stone. Read the Constitution.
How does it get done?
We get it done. Sure, you can follow the campaign, go to your favorite candidate’s rallies, watch the battle for the presidency unfold on the boob tube. After all, it’s the best reality show in town. Better than Mud Wrestling With The Stars!
Then, when you want to actually do something for yourself, your family and friends, your community, your country, please tear yourself away from this insulting media circus and begin to actually change the world for the better.
Forget about the labels. Forget Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, right wing, left wing, socialist, Green Party, Tea Party.
Americans actually agree on a lot of important things. Arguably most!
With all of the shouting, the cage fighting of the Republican debates, the far more civil and intelligent but still largely irrelevant Democratic debates, muddled by the sports-team-like coverage of all matters political by our entertainment-oriented media, you wouldn’t know this. But most Americans actually share a host of values and priorities, and even more surprisingly, specifically agree on much of what needs to be done and not done.
Here is a short list of things U.S. citizens by sizable majorities agree on:
75% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $12.50 per hour.
63% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
75% of voters want fair trade agreements protecting jobs, workers, the environment.
76% of voters want a cut back on military spending.
76% of voters want the U.S. completely out of Afghanistan.
79% of voters want no reductions in Social Security, 70% support expanding it.
79% of voters want no reductions in Medicare.
80% of voters oppose the “Citizens United” U.S. Supreme Court decision.
68% of voters think taxes on the wealthy should be increased.
71% of voters support massive infrastructure renewal.
74% of American voters are for ending oil industry subsidies.
93% of voters want GMO labeling on their food.
These are huge majorities!
These astonishing and powerful consensuses get lost in the trivialization, marginalization, and other weapons of mass distraction and sheer propaganda we all endure just trying to find out and understand what’s going on. We are teased, taunted, cajoled, manipulated, titillated, dazzled, disturbed, and generally overwhelmed by the main stream media.
But we are not informed.
If anything we are confused, sometimes outright misinformed.
Thus we lose focus. We can’t keep our eye on the prize, because from watching television we have no idea what the prize even is.
Worst of all — and it almost appears to be intentional — we are divided.
We are set against one another, encouraged to vilify and blame others, the very people we actually agree with on a lot of things, the very people who are our natural allies as we fight for our survival in the class warfare the rich and powerful wage on us.
Turn off your TVs. Hide your smart phones under the mattress. Let the screensaver on your computer do whatever it does — swimming fish, go-go dancers, shooting stars — and don’t disturb it to watch the latest Trump riots or primary predictions. It’s mood lighting. Recycle your USA Today, your daily newspaper, your weekly and monthly magazines.
Then . . .
Go talk to someone. Anyone!
Your neighbor, your cousin, your kid’s teacher, that lady down the street who is always working in her garden, the guy who polishes his car three times a week, your ex-spouse, anyone in your community who you can approach without getting shot.
Maybe you could bake some cupcakes or buy some wonderful muffins from the bakery in town. Or make a trip to Costco, if all the bakeries in your area are now out of business.
Start out with something like this:
“Would you like a cupcake?”
In Part III of this series, I’ll suggest where you go from there, while you’re munching away on whatever treat you brought along with you.
Putting Boots (Birkenstocks) on the Ground: Part III
On the other hand, it seems to me that Americans love to complain and quite freely carry on about personal problems, things which annoy them or thwart their pursuit of a decent life.
Now consider this . . .
Just as all politics are local, all politics are personal.
That is, what happens in the remote, unfathomable corridors of power affects people every day of their lives on a very personal level.
Cut Social Security and Medicare, grandma must choose between medications and buying nutritious plum pudding.
Keep the minimum wage low, both parents have to work two or three jobs and there’s no one home to watch the kids. Families disintegrate.
Keep the country at war, there’s no money to fix to potholes which rattle the car when you drive to the funeral for your son or daughter who got sent back from the battlefield in a body bag.
You get the point.
There’s no reason to “talk politics” per se with people. There is very good reason to talk about problems we’re all to one degree or another victims of — specifically the problems which are NOT BEING REMEDIED by our elected representatives. These are personal problems which happen to be the direct consequences of political action and inaction on the part of these elected officials. There is no need to argue politics here. We are all just human beings facing often unnecessary trials and challenges. We’re all in this together.
I promised in the previous article in this series, I would suggest what to say after “Would you like a cupcake?” or “Nice weather we’re having today.”
I can’t dictate specific sentences. There’s no set-in-stone script for this. I can offer general guidelines and the overall direction such conversations should take.
First off, what to avoid: There should be no reference to ideologies or ideological leanings or loyalties — conservative, liberal, socialist, libertarian — nor any discussion or mention of political parties. Period!
The labels don’t matter. We live in the same community. We’re all Americans.
Second: Stay away from generalities. “All politicians are crooks.” Like Abraham Lincoln? “I believe in America and the Constitution.” So what? “Our congressman is a good man.” He probably is, but he is still not doing his job. “My family has always voted Democrat.” Right. And there are people who always eat ice cream for breakfast. That doesn’t mean it’s a very smart thing to do.
These broad, sweeping exhortations may be satisfying in some way, and may even be true. The truth is, in terms of getting anything of substance accomplished they go nowhere. They lead directly to resignation and apathy.
Stick to tangible issues, the stuff that puts people in a bad mood everyday! This usually means bread-and-butter, life-and-death issues. These are things which because of rotten public policy cause growling stomachs, empty savings accounts, astronomical credit card debt, sickness and the difficulties of getting medical treatment, disappointment, despair, heartache, disillusion. A battered citizen is not impacted by philosophical differences or observations about the human condition. They are feeling pain. Neglect. Abuse.
Third, and perhaps most important: DO NOT TALK PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS — unless of course the person insists on it. Yes, the presidential race is exciting, dramatic, baffling, entertaining, frustrating, infuriating. But just leave it alone for now. Even if you agree with the person you’re talking to, it is both a distraction and a dead end.
And if you don’t agree, the potential for constructive engagement will be totally destroyed.
We need to talk about problems and solutions, not add to the deafening din of discord and division. At the end of the day . . .
We all face the same opponents and challenges.
We all have identical, similar, or related problems. If those problems are not solved, then we will all — with the exception of the very rich and powerful who will move someplace else or start a colony on the moon — suffer. Individually and collectively we will pay a heavy price.
So what do you talk about?
Remember the percentages from the previous article:
75% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $12.50 per hour.
63% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
75% of voters want fair trade agreements protecting jobs, workers, the environment.
76% of voters want a cut back on military spending.
76% of voters want the U.S. completely out of Afghanistan.
79% of voters want no reductions in Social Security, 70% support expanding it.
79% of voters want no reductions in Medicare.
80% of voters oppose the “Citizens United” U.S. Supreme Court decision.
68% of voters think taxes on the wealthy should be increased.
71% of voters support massive infrastructure renewal.
74% of American voters are for ending oil industry subsidies.
93% of voters want GMO labeling on their food.
Look at the level of agreement we share on many issues.
Frankly, we have a lot to talk about and if those percentages are correct, there are very good odds that whoever you are talking to is already negatively impacted by our elected officials not addressing at least one, but more probably several of the items listed above.
It will all come to the surface.
Like I said, there is no script. But just as examples, here are some openers:
“My kid is still living with me. He’s working at Walmart and can’t make ends meet. With the crash back in 2008, we can barely make ends meet.”
“My mom and dad might have to move in with me. They’ve been working hard all their lives but Social Security just isn’t enough.”
“Did you know that the high school ran out of money and can’t afford to buy new text books? Probably doesn’t matter. My son can’t afford college anyway.”
“Your garden looks great! You’re very smart. Who knows what they put in our food these days. Did you know one out of every three Americans now gets cancer?”
“My nephew got killed in Afghanistan. He was only 20 years-old. Why are we fighting in Afghanistan? Will these wars ever end?”
It’s just a matter of looking at who you’re talking to, sensing what is important, finding some common ground, then both sharing the frustration and acknowledging the need to do something about solving the problems.
Listening . . . common sense . . . and basic intuition go a long ways.
Anyone reading this is intelligent and caring. Otherwise, why would you be reading this? Why would you have made it this far in this article? You could be watching TV, a movie from Netflix, or updating your Facebook page.
I know you care. I also know that — again if the percentages above are anywhere close to accurate — you personally have been slapped around and brutalized by the insensitivity and inaction of our elected representatives.
Everyone wants the mess to be cleaned up. Everyone wants life to start looking up again for the vast majority of Americans who have been marginalized and ignored for too long.
So just talk. Talk and listen.
Maybe people won’t talk politics. But once the floodgate is open, people will talk about what’s hurting them, what’s now holding them back, how they are getting screwed by the system and those who have looted the country and run America into the ground, how they had wonderful dreams and hopes for their children which have been betrayed, how the American Dream is being destroyed.
They will talk. You will listen. Then you will propose something very simple.
That something will be introduced in Part IV of this series.