So, all the things that we talk about in the Green New Deal are the
things that we have been promoting here at the state level in Massachusetts
through a variety of programs; through public referendums, through local bills,
through legislation and through regulation. So, while I haven't been in
government, although I've been elected as a member of town meeting and served
for five years in local community government. But most of my time and effort
has been spent in broader coalitions, building those coalitions, informing and
empowering them to actually change legislation and regulation to advance the
public interest. And that is, I think a model for how government needs to work.
It should not be the slave of big business or of the oil companies or of the
other things that it currently is.
We need a whole new model here for reviving and reenacting democracy. As
I've often said, "Instead of just being the commander and chief, the President
needs to be the organizer and chief," who should be informing and empowering
everyday citizens to be weighing in with their elected officials. Like we did
with the SOAPA Bill, for example; when people got wind which was going to be a
slam dunk and which was going to censure the internet. When word got out people
stopped it on the dime. We've done that here in Massachusetts, my home state. We've
used a similar model of organizing. Basically to blow the whistle on what our
legislature was about to do and to stop it in a heartbeat, because when people
are informed and engaged, we are the drivers of our government. Our
representatives should be instructed so that they are representing us. Right
now it's designed to keep us in the dark. We do not have open meeting laws,
public record laws and a responsible and accountable press with the exception
of independent media like yourself. We don't have the reporting from the press
that we need to have an informed and engaged electorate.
So, the President can play a huge role in kicking off the reforms that we
need in order to reengage our democracy. So, for example, the President can
make it known that there's a bill coming up, say, next week on Medicare for
all. Here are three reasons why you really need that and why you need to call
your congressmen and women and your Senators right now, so that they are hearing
from us by the hundreds of thousands and millions, so that we are in fact
informing their vote and they are properly representing or facing a recall
campaign and getting booted out of office.
Rob: Now,
kind of a next to last open ended question. I tried to hit you as devil's
advocate, asking you some of the hard questions and trying to give you a chance
to answer the objections that people have to vote for third party candidates,
to vote for the Green Party. Are there any other ones that I've left out? Answers
that you have to common objections?
Jill: Yes,
right. And I think the Supreme Court thing, the important thing to remember
there is that the Supreme Court is a symptom. It is not the disease. The
disease is much bigger than the Supreme Court and we need to fight the disease
pervasively by restoring our political voice and our political courage and that
includes in the voting booth.
So, you don't want to give up your political courage and your political
voice. You don't want to silence yourself, so that you can maybe get a Supreme
Court appointment. And besides, the things that this Supreme Court will do are
not up to the task, even if they were Obama appointments, they are not going to
reverse Citizens United. The problem began long before Citizen United as well.
That just took it to the next step. They are not going to reverse a corporate
personhood. Let me put it that way. They're not going to reverse corporate
personhood and restore our rights and really solve the desperate problem that
we're facing, where money is essentially defined as free speech and
corporations have the rights of persons.
The
big solutions that we need will not be solved by an Obama court. We saw that
even in their approval of the worst piece of the Arizona SB 1070, where they
left a piece of it intact and didn't fix it. And on a much broader level, the
Supreme Court is not the driver of democracy. It reflects democracy. We have to
exert democracy and that includes standing up and voting for what we deserve
and voting our vision.
So, if you're waiting for the Supreme Court to fix the climate crisis,
we're going to go up in flames. We need much more than what the Supreme Court
is going to be willing to do. That public will and the public power is out
there. As Alice Walker says, "The biggest way people give up power is by not
knowing they have it." The public already agrees on the components of our
agenda, which are the things that our campaign supports. The public supports
these by large majorities. If we start to stand up, we can achieve it. We don't
get that by selling out, because we think we're going to get a Supreme Court
appointment or two. And Supreme Court appointments often don't turn out the way
they did. Witnessed that one of the most progressive members of the Supreme had
been an appointment of--who was it? Ronald Regan, I think. So, it's us. We are
the solution. The Supreme Court is not the solution. We will change the Supreme
Court as we become more powerful.
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