Also, I've just created a Facebook Page that anyone can 'fan' to receive updates on your NewsFeed. I promise, the updates will not dominate your wall!
Showing posts with label hope. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hope. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Later this week... 10 Best Congresspeople: Dennis Kucinich
Stay tuned for my second entry of 10 Worst, 10 Best: Your United States Congress. This time: Representative Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland, Ohio. Will be up by Thursday.
Also, I've just created a Facebook Page that anyone can 'fan' to receive updates on your NewsFeed. I promise, the updates will not dominate your wall!
Also, I've just created a Facebook Page that anyone can 'fan' to receive updates on your NewsFeed. I promise, the updates will not dominate your wall! 
Friday, November 7, 2008
Change.gov: Your Administration?
I know that I just posted something new, but something ELSE has just come up that ties in very nicely to what I was saying!
My post-election theme is grassroots organization and how important it is that we form a progressive coalition for true change. Well, there is already a massive coalition in place--that being the Barack Obama campaign. What I have just seen is change.gov-- a President-elect Obama site dedicated to citizen involvement and transparency on the transition. This is extremely promising.
Here are some of the site's objectives:
- up-to-the-minute updates and information about all aspects of the transition
- offers an opportunity to be heard about the challenges our country faces and your ideas for tackling them
- people united around a common purpose can achieve great things
- innovative approaches to challenge the status quo in Washington and to bring about the kind of change America needs
- The story of bringing this country together as a healed and united nation will be led by President-Elect Obama, but written by you
The potential this has to truly change the face of democracy is staggering... I'm very excited. We must keep a careful eye on this form of communication, and see how it develops. Could this be the end of government secrecy? Will this be the medium for progressives to push our vital agendas? Will this be a way for the people to overpower the lobbyists and corporate power-hold on government? Is this the next revolutionary step to create our perfect union?
We shall see. The SkyeWire is on the case.
Friday, October 31, 2008
I believe in Barack Obama, and I hope you can too
Today I want to specifically speak to those voters who are undecided or who feel fearful of an Obama presidency.
First of all, I do not know what will happen if Barack Obama becomes the next President of the United States. I do not know what his agenda will become, and I cannot tell you how his administration will unfold. As I wait for the impending day of final decision, the anticipation is incredible--the butterflies are swarming. How will the next President be able to set a new course for America? Renew the economy. Improve our moral standing in the world. Ensure domestic and human rights. Civil Liberties and safety. Inspiration and hope. The American Dream.
The American people have a mountain to climb as we attempt to find our place in this 21st Century. We must come to accept the fact that we will not forever be the global superpower. Concessions will have to be made. The world is getting smaller, and we must adjust. How will will rally to convert our carbon-based economy into a renewable green one? How will we bring a hault to U.S. aggression in foreign lands? And how can we make these changes while still maintaining our strength as a nation?
It is clear to most that a new direction is necessary. I cannot promise that Barack Obama is the one, but I will attempt to put this into somewhat of a historical perspective. People keep saying that "this election is the most important election of any of our lives." Is this true? Perhaps it is. I tend to believe it is. The costs have never been higher. The economic crisis, the climate crisis, and the foreign policy crisis have come together to create a desperate climate. But as the great leaders of the past have told us time and time again during desperate times: fear not. And the man telling us to have courage happens to be a skinny black man named Barack Obama.
On November 4, 2008, the American people will make the decision, and will determine the next chapter in the Amercan Legacy. People will look back on that date as a turning point--for better or for worse. I ask you all to consider: who is the man most likely to take us safely into the future? What side of history will you be on when this is all over and done with?
First of all, I do not know what will happen if Barack Obama becomes the next President of the United States. I do not know what his agenda will become, and I cannot tell you how his administration will unfold. As I wait for the impending day of final decision, the anticipation is incredible--the butterflies are swarming. How will the next President be able to set a new course for America? Renew the economy. Improve our moral standing in the world. Ensure domestic and human rights. Civil Liberties and safety. Inspiration and hope. The American Dream.
The American people have a mountain to climb as we attempt to find our place in this 21st Century. We must come to accept the fact that we will not forever be the global superpower. Concessions will have to be made. The world is getting smaller, and we must adjust. How will will rally to convert our carbon-based economy into a renewable green one? How will we bring a hault to U.S. aggression in foreign lands? And how can we make these changes while still maintaining our strength as a nation?
It is clear to most that a new direction is necessary. I cannot promise that Barack Obama is the one, but I will attempt to put this into somewhat of a historical perspective. People keep saying that "this election is the most important election of any of our lives." Is this true? Perhaps it is. I tend to believe it is. The costs have never been higher. The economic crisis, the climate crisis, and the foreign policy crisis have come together to create a desperate climate. But as the great leaders of the past have told us time and time again during desperate times: fear not. And the man telling us to have courage happens to be a skinny black man named Barack Obama.
On November 4, 2008, the American people will make the decision, and will determine the next chapter in the Amercan Legacy. People will look back on that date as a turning point--for better or for worse. I ask you all to consider: who is the man most likely to take us safely into the future? What side of history will you be on when this is all over and done with?
Americans are a conservative people, in general. By this I do not characterize a political persuasion, but more of an unwillingness to change unless change is truly necessary. 92% of the American people believe the country is on the wrong track. Ron Paul ran on the platform of the "anti-Empire" and sparked a Revolution. People are angry and ashamed. They know we have gone off-course. We have the desire. We have the drive. The candidate we need may be in front of our very eyes.
Now we must take the leap of faith.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
The Choice
I'm going to let y'all in on a little secret of mine; it's the thing that keeps me going ... keeps me positive ... but above all, keeps me working to, for lack of better cliché, make a difference. It is the idea that no matter how messed up things are, many things have been improving. It's the essential belief that society makes a lot of mistakes, but that people learn and evolve in their sense of humanity.
Take, for instance, the idea that just less than fifty years ago segregation was an accepted aspect of American society. For those individuals who were born after that era, the idea of having a 'black' drinking fountain and a 'white' drinking fountain is absolutely inconceivable. It was just 88 years ago that women were granted the right to vote in this country, and only 55 years before that, people legally owned slaves. Your great or at least great great grandparents lived through that. Our social evolution has seen us change from individuals who kill for gain, to ones who view the act of murder with utter disdain; though I should point out that we still have a ways to go. We continue to kill as punishment for killing—as we justify killing in the ‘just’ wars; perhaps the distinction between people and governments ought to be made in this respect.
Of course I am generalizing to an extent. Many societies--primitive, advanced, and industrialized—have displayed desires to be more humane and tolerant communities, but the social advances of developed nations in the 21st Century are astronomical in comparison to the ways of yesteryear. To use the obvious examples: a black man may be President this year, and a woman may be Vice President. There will be a woman President, and soon there will be a gay President of the United States. And with the revolutionary development of the Internet, people everywhere are connecting and learning about each other and their plights like never before in all known history. The Internet will continue to grow, the world will continue to shrink, and tolerance will spread faster than we are able to conceptualize.
However, we must not constrain ourselves to the promises of tomorrow. A large part of the world does not have the wealth and prosperity that citizens of developed nations have been blessed with. Will Africa ever be able to catch up with the rest of the world? Or will there forever be a continent of suffering masses? Even more important are the negative implications that have come along with our advanced technology--the prime one being the ability to split the atom.
The world is now in a position where one false move and a series of bad decisions will obliterate all that we know. This unfathomable potential for doom is the one thing that could undo all of the progress humanity has made, and will prevent us from ever discovering what kind of people we could have become. Humanity will one day be faced with the choice: we will either continue the traditional route of aggression and nuclear politics, or we will realize that this struggle can be overcome. The day we realize that having enemies (and thereby making enemies) is no longer an acceptable or survivable threat, will be a great day.
How will the world change? What will the status of the traditional nation-states be? How will we fix broken government? Will world government become a reality?
It will likely take a true disaster for us to reach that point…
…but then again, humans have been known to be unpredictable buggers.
Take, for instance, the idea that just less than fifty years ago segregation was an accepted aspect of American society. For those individuals who were born after that era, the idea of having a 'black' drinking fountain and a 'white' drinking fountain is absolutely inconceivable. It was just 88 years ago that women were granted the right to vote in this country, and only 55 years before that, people legally owned slaves. Your great or at least great great grandparents lived through that. Our social evolution has seen us change from individuals who kill for gain, to ones who view the act of murder with utter disdain; though I should point out that we still have a ways to go. We continue to kill as punishment for killing—as we justify killing in the ‘just’ wars; perhaps the distinction between people and governments ought to be made in this respect.
Of course I am generalizing to an extent. Many societies--primitive, advanced, and industrialized—have displayed desires to be more humane and tolerant communities, but the social advances of developed nations in the 21st Century are astronomical in comparison to the ways of yesteryear. To use the obvious examples: a black man may be President this year, and a woman may be Vice President. There will be a woman President, and soon there will be a gay President of the United States. And with the revolutionary development of the Internet, people everywhere are connecting and learning about each other and their plights like never before in all known history. The Internet will continue to grow, the world will continue to shrink, and tolerance will spread faster than we are able to conceptualize.
However, we must not constrain ourselves to the promises of tomorrow. A large part of the world does not have the wealth and prosperity that citizens of developed nations have been blessed with. Will Africa ever be able to catch up with the rest of the world? Or will there forever be a continent of suffering masses? Even more important are the negative implications that have come along with our advanced technology--the prime one being the ability to split the atom.
The world is now in a position where one false move and a series of bad decisions will obliterate all that we know. This unfathomable potential for doom is the one thing that could undo all of the progress humanity has made, and will prevent us from ever discovering what kind of people we could have become. Humanity will one day be faced with the choice: we will either continue the traditional route of aggression and nuclear politics, or we will realize that this struggle can be overcome. The day we realize that having enemies (and thereby making enemies) is no longer an acceptable or survivable threat, will be a great day.
How will the world change? What will the status of the traditional nation-states be? How will we fix broken government? Will world government become a reality?
It will likely take a true disaster for us to reach that point…
…but then again, humans have been known to be unpredictable buggers.
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