For years now I've been making the same points: the government and the levers of power have been taken over by Wall Street and corporatists cartels; and that only a well-organized movement capable of acting in a cohesive and strategic manner against the root causes of corruption has any chance at turning things around, and saving the Republic.
Anyone who has read my diaries knows that that is the one recurring theme I keep "harping about," and that I keep pointing out how perplexed I am at the fact that given the horrendous levels of corruption and crime being perpetrated by the Powers That Be against the people of this country, there hasn't been such movement yet.
And especially, since it is such a simple proposition. I've been so frustrated about this, that in many of my diaries I call out to organizations like MoveOn, and Daily Kos, and Bold Progressives, and ColorOfChange, and CREDO, and others, to please, pretty please, unite in such a form, and get this much needed resistance movement going.
I've commented that I suspect that one of the reasons this hasn't happened is because the minute anybody starts to get any traction, they are co-opted by the corrupt Democratic party establishment, or by the media (see Van Jones).
Well, today, to my astonishment, I got an email announcing "The Conference To RESTORE THE REPUBLIC."
What immediately caught my attention is them stating the most fundamental fact, right off the bat:
Our government is corrupt.
Not corrupt in any criminal sense, but corrupt in a perfectly legal sense: special interests bend the levers of power to benefit them at the expense of the rest of us.
I may quibble a bit, since I do think that it is also corrupt in the "criminal" sense, but I embrace their simple statement of the fact that the entire government is corrupt, and that that means both, the Republican and the Democratic party establishments.
I'm also down with this statement (on their website):
Only the people can force lasting change on this broken system.
And that change begins with understanding: The people must recognize that corruption is not just one among many important problems. Corruption is the root problem that makes solving the others so difficult.
And this quote:
There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.
- Henry David Thoreau
And with the fact that one of the leaders setting the agenda is Lawrence Lessig (see video bellow).
What they are advocating is exactly what I've been calling for, for a long time. There is research involved, there is organizing, there is street-level activism...
We can't stop the corrupting influence of money in politics until we build a sense of public urgency about its effects. The Rootstrikers Street Team is a dedicated group of activists across the country who raise awareness about the problem of corruption by bringing it to the streets.
I'm in! I'm going to check it out. I signed up for the kick-off conference which will take place on April 20th at San Francisco State University. I'm actually going to reach out to my contacts in the Bay Area and see if we can have side meetings during the conference...
Now, having said all that, my only concern is that it seems like they will be collaborating with Huffington Post on exposing money and politics. That actually is very concerning to me, but I'm willing to look at the whole "package" and see what they're about before I make my final judgement about whether this is legit or not.
Any social justice and anti-corruption movement worth its salt must lead to a head-on confrontation with the plutocratic corporate state. That confrontation does not need to be necessarily violent, but it must be a confrontation nevertheless. That's where the rubber meets the road...
Either way, so far so good... I like what I see.
San Francisco Bay Area people, check it out and see what you think, and let's connect so we can meet during the conference.
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