"Ours" means a membership association of progressives like DailyKos, with its 200,000+ registered users, a community further augmented through members trading with green non-member local businesses. "Theirs" means the plutonomy.
We need a progressive credit union, so we can lend to our own community, earn interest for our own community, and invest in our own community. Why would anyone choose Citicorp (especially after Michael's Moore's movie) if they could have a credit union that pays the same interest rates, has transparent management, member ownership, and a progressive vision?
Sometimes we think the only voice we have is our vote. Natural enough with political junkies. Our vote has been hijacked, though. While working to get it back, we can't forget our other important voice, our wallet. True, must of us aren't wealthy. But acting together, I think we are big enough now to have a real impact, and it's if done right, we will only get bigger and stronger. If our current efforts at reform fail, we need a Plan B, instead of reinventing Plan A to fail again and again.
We need to think about opting out of the plutonomy to form our own economy.
Let me preface this by saying it's not that hard to start a credit union, you need 3,000 depositors and minimal $$. I've talked to a credit union expert who's a Kossack and he stands ready to help when there's enough demand.
Now, let's take the above idea, and expand it:
1. We need our own credit unions, not their banks.
2. We need our own mutual insurance companies and self-insurance companies, not theirs.
3. We need our own investment vehicles, not theirs.
4. We need our own green utilities, not theirs.
5. We need our own green real estate developments, not theirs.
6. We need our own co-op farms and food delivery systems, not theirs.
Ayn Rand was wrong about almost everything, but maybe she was right to suggest that a community of doers needs to just go and do it themselves, to show the way, instead of trying to convince those with a vested interest in the status quo to change. In the marketplace of ideas, tangible success will change hearts and minds quicker than any ideology.
Unlike Rand's vision in Atlas Shrugged, we don't need to disappear and shut everyone else out, though. Instead, we leave it open to them to join us as members, and as we grow bigger and stronger and more successful, word will get out. The buzz will grow, imperceptibly at first, us being too small to notice and attack, growing bit by bit until - boom - we're the economic equivalent of a disruptive technology and it's all over before the other side gets it that they're obsolete.
Yes, it will be hard work. Yes, it will limp along for a while. Yes, it will take faith and vision and discipline. But meanwhile, our money stays in our community, helping us instead of them. Other communities, religious, non-profits, community development corps, special interests, have been doing this for years without controversy. Why aren't we? Even if our new economy doesn't become the standard, at least we will be helping ourselves and not helping those who are destroying us.
Is there any doubt now that it's not our government but "theirs", now that our presidential candidate and our congress are in office yet doing what "they" them them to do, over our protests and cries? "Our" government has been captive for generations, using the old media to brainwash us that it's not. But things changed with the disruptive technology of the Internet. Now King "Old Media" is dead and long live "New Media". We woke up and flexed our muscles a little. Why not King Plutonomy is dead, long live Ecoconomy? Why not use our new muscles and see if we can knock the Plutonomy out? Or at least beat it back into its corner?
We can do all the above, it's perfectly legal, other member associations do it every day. It's not controversial, it's not new, it's just a different perspective that would be a parallel track to accomplish the goals we want, which is a fair, transparent, law-abiding economy where those willing and able to work can earn a reasonable profit, or even riches, and where everyone is treated equally and with respect, and where rules that favor the plutocracy don't apply.
Don't you think people all over the country would rush to buy in to a membership association that offers health insurance to its members, with that health insurance program a non-profit with the same values as the membership association?
If our credit union loaned money to a member non-profit to buy reclamation land in the ten largest metropolitan areas, and we cleaned it up (right) and built green housing on it, and offered reasonable mortgages to members to buy this housing, don't you think there would be a demand?
We don't need everyone to join us at once. This site started small, and because it was a good idea that worked, people joined, more and more, bigger and bigger, over time. Within 4 years it became a powerhouse that influenced our last elections; it only took 2 more years to win a majority of them. The same principles should apply with our own new economy, too.
I know it's a new idea. But the old idea of traditional citizen participation once every election doesn't seem to be working all by itself, so it needs help in this new technological era. We need new ways in addition to votes to meet our needs and exercise our newfound power, so we aren't dependent, captive, and helpless.
This is my idea; what is yours?