Families must matter. To be American is not to be somebody but to believe in something.
Change is a journey, not a destination. We must believe in it; the elements of it are often already present. Even in business, faith is necessary at the onset of any undertaking. Change means making more of what�s already here, not giving up all we have.
Regarding the accusation that Americans are too addicted to instant gratification, Kanter said that it was nothing new. High technology does provide some of this and does shorten our attention spans, but there is nothing wrong with instant gratification as long as it leads us to longer goals. People must think faster and act faster.
�We need principles from which all things derive,� said Mary Ann.
Money and politics are a large problem. We must constantly remind our politicians of principles that transcend them.
And why is voting a better emblem of citizenship than volunteerism? Because we must have the right people in office.
--at this point I had to leave the computer for a few minutes to answer the phone�
When I returned, I discovered that Kanter had been disconnected and Steve Freeman, the author and advocate of election protection, was on reviewing the threats to our rights posed by the present administration.
Mary Ann asked why public officials have not reacted to this crisis in the history of election protection.
The media have failed us as guardians of democracy, he answered. This show is an exception.� He has been interviewed repeatedly by major media portals but no script has been aired. People are nonetheless waking up. Forty percent of Americans believe that election 2004 was stolen.
Regarding 2008, in agreement with Greg Palast, Freeman warned that the battle was already lost because of the way we will vote and because of the structure of the system, which calls ideas radical even though a majority of people believe in them. The Democrats won�t challenge the Republicans. Two thirds of Americans oppose the Iraq war. No expert denies that an election can easily be stolen.
With ten minutes of the program remaining, attorney and election activist Paul Lehto came on to share his reactions to Kanter�s presentation.
�We must be inspired to do things by passion, which makes the world go round,� he said. �We need inspiration and a goal.�
What inspiration is greater than the Declaration of Independence? Mary Ann asked. The entire purpose of this country is to have people�s will respected, said Lehto. It is important to read and reread this document, which states in its second paragraph that the purpose of the government is to secure and guarantee our rights.
The government must be our servant. What�s happened? A revolution. We had divided up King George III�s crown into a million pieces, each of which endowed one of us with rights. Now the crown seems to have snapped back together.
Kanter was quoted to the effect that we need that key vision, to go back to our basic rights. Then Mary Ann went on to reiterate her belief in small successes as means to empower greater numbers of people, �to be packaged and waved around like flags.�
