Let's cut through the haze, and the lies, and the propaganda, and let's define the situation right now in the United States: The American plutonomy is in charge, to the detriment of the citizens. Both political parties are corrupted to the core, in the pockets of plutocratic special interests from industries like big oil, big pharma, insurance, military contractors, multinational corporations, and organizations like ALEC, the NRA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, among many others.
This plutonomy is putting into place an oppressive regime in the form of an increasingly draconian, punitive, and unresponsive (and corrupt) justice system, a total information awareness surveillance police state, and a 24/7 mind-numbing propaganda machine in the form of the U.S. media.
Politicians at all levels are corrupt, enriching themselves, their family members and close associates, at the expense of the people. The concept of "public servant" has become pretty much extinct in the current political arena (except for people like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Alan Grayson, among others).
Here are some suggestions... Maybe some people can see the adoption of some of these suggestions as new year's resolutions.
First, stop obsessing and reporting 24/7 about the latest dastardly fascist crazy act by the right wing lunatics, including the Republican party. Hardly anything is being accomplish by the obsessive compulsive attention on these lunatics by people on the left, the sane, intelligent citizens of this country.
We have to come up with our own agenda, define it, understand it, communicate it, and implemented, onward, constantly, without hesitation or fear.
Don't be afraid, or concerned about maybe not having time, or the emotional strength to get involved at this level. You don't have to change your life radically in order to become an effective progressive warrior. You can keep living you life pretty much as you have thus far, just making some slight adjustments depending on your level of commitment.
You can still go to work, take care of your household responsibilities, take time for relaxation and entertainment; you don't have to give up on your favorite HBO or Showtime series! All you have to do is set aside some "marginal" time and "resources" and see how you can plug them into the larger progressive agenda.
First things first... Let's focus on the endemic, to-the-core, corruption in the Democratic party establishment. That's our main problem, because within the plutonomy the Democratic party is the instrument we have chosen to help bring about a more perfect union. On the right, we already know that it is populated mainly by religious fundamentalist wingnuts, infantile gun-totting debased people who fantasize about the day when they can use their guns against the government, while hiding their odious and debased racist, retrograde instincts. Those folks are gone; there is nothing we can do by engaging them at this point. Let them stew in their own hate and paranoid anger!
How many politicians are in Congress? What are their names? What districts they represent? Who are they meeting in the next fundraiser? Where is the bribery money that's working to destroy democracy and enslave the population, coming from?
What's the best way to flush out the information. Here's one great resource: The Sunlight Foundation. Check out that site and familiarize with all its features. Especially, check out their project, Political Party Time.
Reach out to Occupy Wall Street and other activist groups and form Progressive Warriors Cells in communities across the country, and very importantly, come up with a way to coordinate research, information, and strong activism actions between all the "chapters."
But here's something very important. Find a couple of key issues all progressive groups can agree on, and cultivate the formation of a hardcore group of Progressive Warriors activists and strong selfless public servant leaders.
In my view, the root cause responsible for the endemic corruption in out political system is the bribery politicians of both, the Democratic and the Republican party establishment are subjected to every day of the year.
So let's stamp it out; let's start there. Imagine groups of citizens in small and big towns getting together, sharing research about their local congressman or senator. When is their next fund-raiser? Can we identify the nefarious forces and interests who do everything they can to hide the effect of their influence peddling, with the help of the bribed politicians?
Once that information is available, let's place some protesters at every special interest fund-raising event, and let's shame the politicians on the take by revealing the pay-to-play world they help perpetuate.
Most importantly, let's identify and bring about honest politicians with a deep understanding and commitment to the concept of being a "true public servant."
Let's make it clear that you can either be interested in wealth accumulation or be a true public servant; but you can't be both. By that standard, most of the politicians at the national level would not qualify for office, since most of them are rich!
So, let's remove them, and instead, let's help elect true public servants; people who would never use their position in government to enrich themselves, their close family members, and their associates--as its the case now.
Here's the key, any such movement that applies even a modicum of discipline, focus, and clear agenda, could have immense impact in our politics.
I have many, many ideas about this concept, in different areas, including business, collectives, government regulation, etc. My commitment is that instead of writing about the latest defecation by right wing lunatics, I'll be writing about ideas focused on helping bring about a strong and relentless progressive agenda, until we are able to stamp out once and for all the remnants of ignorance, religious fundamentalism, and plutocratic control.
But most importantly, it is not necessarily about "my ideas," but about doing everything I can to awaken the citizen within each of us. Identifying the root causes is not really that hard; they are almost self-evident if one just clear his or her mind from the garbage being put out everyday the U.S. media corporate conglomerate and pays attention.
Would you join me in that effort?
--------------------------------------------------
P.S. Someone got me a one-year subscription. Thank you very much! That was a nice surprise. Please, everybody, do what you can to support Daily Kos by getting a subscription and donating. This is a great resource for progressives. BTW, and just to clarify, I have no personal interests nor am I affiliated in any way (related to business) with Daily Kos, other than being a member.