1) The elections are rigged. Gore got the most votes in 2000 and Kerry got the most votes in 2004, but neither one won the election.
2) When you vote for a little devil because their opponent is Satan himself, you've forgotten who that little devil works for.
The millions who are marching for immigrant rights have an apt saying: Si se puede! Yes we can! It is time for all liberals, progressives, and whatever else you might call yourself if you care about others, to stop being so negative. If you keep saying that we can?t win, we probably can?t. The idea behind positive psychology is to be positive. Those people outside your window may not all have college degrees, but listen to what they?re saying: Si se puede! Yes we can! I can?t think of a better example of positive psychology, can you?
I have some concrete suggestions for those who want to make the world a better place and take our country back:
1. Join the nearest election reform group you can find and help them gather signatures for ballot initiatives and lobby your representatives for election reform. Yes, it does seem a bit futile to try to vote for election reform when the reason for election reform is because our elections are rigged. But we?ve been making progress anyway, so if you want to see things change for the better, put your shoulder to the wheel.
2. Reregister Green and become active in the Green Party. Go to meetings, help out, and run for office. You?ll probably find it a very pleasant surprise to be around others who believe the same things you do. You won?t have to cater to the right on grounds of political expediency, and your voice will be heard. Make your vote count. A Green Party vote isn?t a wasted vote, it is a vote against war, against the Bush (mis)administration, for impeachment, for the environment, for justice, and for your own interests. It is a way to tell the powers that be that you will no longer compromise your anti-war beliefs and vote for a pro-war candidate because they?re the only ones who can win. I?m not asking you to break into defense plants and pour blood on missiles, or to chain yourself to the Pentagon, I?m just saying that if you want peace, the very least you can do is vote peace. Try it. I think you?ll like it and I know you?ll sleep better having done it.
3. Honor the May 1st General Strike: A Day Without An Immigrant. No work, no school, don?t buy, don?t sell. Get out in the streets and join the marches and rallies. If you?ve been waiting for leaders, here they are. Millions of people taking to the streets and demanding justice. Join us! Except for Native Americans, we are all immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. We owe a huge debt to those who came here fleeing U.S.-sponsored totalitarian governments, U.S.-trained death squads, and U.S. economic policies that wreaked havoc in their native lands. Immigrants aren?t to blame for job loss. Any CEO can outsource ten or twenty thousand jobs at a time, no immigrant has the same power. Members of Congress who spend most of their time asking for, begging, borrowing, stealing, or conning people out of money, have no right to attack people who actually work for a living. Immigrants contribute over $100 billion more to our economy every year than they receive in benefits and government services. Do you know who picks your fruit and vegetables, cleans your schools and offices, and works in the stock rooms of every large store and supermarket? On May 1st, you?re going to find out. So stock up on everything you might need by April 30th, and on May 1st join us in the streets. There won?t be much else you can do anyway.
A few weeks ago I attended a meeting of a local election reform coalition that happened to be held at the home of a Democratic senatorial candidate. I was the only Green there and all the rest were Democratic Party activists, the kind who have either run for or held office themselves as Democrats, or who are movers and shakers in Democratic Clubs and hold fundraisers for candidates. At one point my host said something about how terrible it is that the Republicans control everything. I responded that I held the Democrats equally to blame because they didn?t support the Congressional Black Caucus in protesting the fraudulent Florida electoral vote in 2000, and have consistently conceded early, voted with the Republicans, and caved in to the Republicans every step of the way.
My host responded angrily in an attempt to defend his political party. But everyone else there agreed with me. So a few minutes later I asked him if there was anything in the Ten Key Values of the Green Party that he disagreed with, and he said there wasn?t. He?s not running as a Democrat because the Democratic Party represents his beliefs -- it doesn?t. He is running as a Democrat because he thinks that?s the only way he can win. But if he betrays his own beliefs in doing so, does the end justify the means? What will he have if he wins? Will he have to cater to the Democratic Party leadership because he owes them a debt for their support in his campaign? Of course. A rather pyrrhic victory if you ask me.
I ran for office once myself, in a nonpartisan city council race. I didn?t expect to win and my sole purpose in running was to get some media attention for my anti-nuke message. But there was an unexpected benefit. I voted for myself and I felt really good about being able to vote for someone I could trust for a change. I was a low-income person living in a rather wealthy town and I only knew about a dozen people there personally, most of whom weren?t even registered to vote. I ended up with 189 votes. These were all people who didn?t know me but agreed with my message. They knew I couldn?t win, but they also opposed building a nuclear waste dump in their town, and I was the only candidate who was against it. That was quite a few years ago. People are much angrier now and much more aware. But we have to start thinking positively. We can take our country back. We can elect candidates who will actually represent us. We can vote our conscience.
Winning isn?t everything. If you have to sell your soul and compromise your principles in order to win, it isn?t even anything at all but just another name for losing. And if you have to compromise your own principles just to win, how can you blame your elected representatives for doing the same thing? Our system is corrupt and compromised because we are corrupt and compromised. And if we want to change it, first we have to change ourselves. We can do it. Si se puede! Yes we can!
2) When you vote for a little devil because their opponent is Satan himself, you've forgotten who that little devil works for.
The millions who are marching for immigrant rights have an apt saying: Si se puede! Yes we can! It is time for all liberals, progressives, and whatever else you might call yourself if you care about others, to stop being so negative. If you keep saying that we can?t win, we probably can?t. The idea behind positive psychology is to be positive. Those people outside your window may not all have college degrees, but listen to what they?re saying: Si se puede! Yes we can! I can?t think of a better example of positive psychology, can you?
I have some concrete suggestions for those who want to make the world a better place and take our country back:
1. Join the nearest election reform group you can find and help them gather signatures for ballot initiatives and lobby your representatives for election reform. Yes, it does seem a bit futile to try to vote for election reform when the reason for election reform is because our elections are rigged. But we?ve been making progress anyway, so if you want to see things change for the better, put your shoulder to the wheel.
2. Reregister Green and become active in the Green Party. Go to meetings, help out, and run for office. You?ll probably find it a very pleasant surprise to be around others who believe the same things you do. You won?t have to cater to the right on grounds of political expediency, and your voice will be heard. Make your vote count. A Green Party vote isn?t a wasted vote, it is a vote against war, against the Bush (mis)administration, for impeachment, for the environment, for justice, and for your own interests. It is a way to tell the powers that be that you will no longer compromise your anti-war beliefs and vote for a pro-war candidate because they?re the only ones who can win. I?m not asking you to break into defense plants and pour blood on missiles, or to chain yourself to the Pentagon, I?m just saying that if you want peace, the very least you can do is vote peace. Try it. I think you?ll like it and I know you?ll sleep better having done it.
3. Honor the May 1st General Strike: A Day Without An Immigrant. No work, no school, don?t buy, don?t sell. Get out in the streets and join the marches and rallies. If you?ve been waiting for leaders, here they are. Millions of people taking to the streets and demanding justice. Join us! Except for Native Americans, we are all immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. We owe a huge debt to those who came here fleeing U.S.-sponsored totalitarian governments, U.S.-trained death squads, and U.S. economic policies that wreaked havoc in their native lands. Immigrants aren?t to blame for job loss. Any CEO can outsource ten or twenty thousand jobs at a time, no immigrant has the same power. Members of Congress who spend most of their time asking for, begging, borrowing, stealing, or conning people out of money, have no right to attack people who actually work for a living. Immigrants contribute over $100 billion more to our economy every year than they receive in benefits and government services. Do you know who picks your fruit and vegetables, cleans your schools and offices, and works in the stock rooms of every large store and supermarket? On May 1st, you?re going to find out. So stock up on everything you might need by April 30th, and on May 1st join us in the streets. There won?t be much else you can do anyway.
A few weeks ago I attended a meeting of a local election reform coalition that happened to be held at the home of a Democratic senatorial candidate. I was the only Green there and all the rest were Democratic Party activists, the kind who have either run for or held office themselves as Democrats, or who are movers and shakers in Democratic Clubs and hold fundraisers for candidates. At one point my host said something about how terrible it is that the Republicans control everything. I responded that I held the Democrats equally to blame because they didn?t support the Congressional Black Caucus in protesting the fraudulent Florida electoral vote in 2000, and have consistently conceded early, voted with the Republicans, and caved in to the Republicans every step of the way.
My host responded angrily in an attempt to defend his political party. But everyone else there agreed with me. So a few minutes later I asked him if there was anything in the Ten Key Values of the Green Party that he disagreed with, and he said there wasn?t. He?s not running as a Democrat because the Democratic Party represents his beliefs -- it doesn?t. He is running as a Democrat because he thinks that?s the only way he can win. But if he betrays his own beliefs in doing so, does the end justify the means? What will he have if he wins? Will he have to cater to the Democratic Party leadership because he owes them a debt for their support in his campaign? Of course. A rather pyrrhic victory if you ask me.
I ran for office once myself, in a nonpartisan city council race. I didn?t expect to win and my sole purpose in running was to get some media attention for my anti-nuke message. But there was an unexpected benefit. I voted for myself and I felt really good about being able to vote for someone I could trust for a change. I was a low-income person living in a rather wealthy town and I only knew about a dozen people there personally, most of whom weren?t even registered to vote. I ended up with 189 votes. These were all people who didn?t know me but agreed with my message. They knew I couldn?t win, but they also opposed building a nuclear waste dump in their town, and I was the only candidate who was against it. That was quite a few years ago. People are much angrier now and much more aware. But we have to start thinking positively. We can take our country back. We can elect candidates who will actually represent us. We can vote our conscience.
Winning isn?t everything. If you have to sell your soul and compromise your principles in order to win, it isn?t even anything at all but just another name for losing. And if you have to compromise your own principles just to win, how can you blame your elected representatives for doing the same thing? Our system is corrupt and compromised because we are corrupt and compromised. And if we want to change it, first we have to change ourselves. We can do it. Si se puede! Yes we can!
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