Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson today spent nearly two and a half hours at a weekly town hall Zoom of the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) expressing her views and answering numerous audience questions.
Her political campaign is like a long job interview, she said; last time (2020) it was "a visceral experience of the belly of the beast."
Her conception of presiding over this country is modeled on FDR's: "Democracy must deliver on its blessings." When it doesn't, fascism results.
Quoting Thom Hartmann, she recalled how fifty years ago American workers were living the American Dream. Since then, no Democratic president has stopped the massive transfer of money engineered by Republican corporatists. A Republican presidency in 2024 would generate "unimaginable trouble."
Poverty and human suffering are her bottom-line concerns--that's why she chose to run again. "This country needs a chiropractic adjustment." 64 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck; 39 percent skip meals to pay their housing expenses, as do 44 percent of millennials. 20 percent live well; one percent are killing us. Six hundred thousand American are homeless and there are five hundred thousand vacant homes; they must be turned into available housing, and it's up to the government to accomplish this.
People here have been trained to expect too little. It is outrageous that we have neither healthcare for all nor free higher education. She can't imagine what it would be like if she were in her twenties, shouldering tens of thousands of dollars in student debt, an American Nightmare.
We can't allow Biden to go unchallenged by other Democrats for Election 2024. So far RFK Jr. is the only other declared opponent. Her largest support is from women over fifty and young people. She has built a powerful movement on TikTok. She said not at all to underestimate the influence wielded by generation Z.
When asked what she'd to to combat inflation, Williamson blamed price gouging by union-busting transportation and food companies. "The people are powerless." She also gives them far more credit for their grip on reality than do others. She said that the majority favor a Progressive agenda. They realize that the Iraq war was a "failure and a criminal act." People are anxious and angry. "The system is as rigged as you fear." The people must be present and active at all levels of government and they are honored to be engaged in mature adult conversation.
"We are six inches from the cliff" in terms of crisis. Violence is rampant not just at the level of gun policies but with food, the economy, the environment, media, and politics. Of course there should be an assault weapon ban along with other regulations. "We must decide to be nonviolent," she said, a unique combination of spirituality and politics.
She called Congress a system of legalized bribery, a government of/by/for corporations. Our SCOTUS Justices are a bunch of "corporate hacks."
"We can begin a season of repair." There is a "softening" brought about through all of the harrowing gun violence as well as the Covid pandemic. "We have a moment here. Let's rush through it."
She believes in reparations for African Americans and recommends a bipartisan bill on police reform. We should avoid antagonizing China with delegations sent to Taiwan--"China is not our enemy." We must work together.
She supports a negotiated settlement of the war in Ukraine, "not a pacifist," calling Putin dangerous, and believes that financing should not be "outside of the budget." A Department of Peace is a pillar of her campaign, to proactively cultivate domestic and international well being.
Williamson said that one hundred million people staying away from the polls is a big "F you" to the powers that be.
She credits her activism to Bernie Sanders""Without him I wouldn't be here," she said.
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