State of Our World: Open_Notes 14

"the evil of two lessers" [Republicans, Democrats] - America must vote their hopes NOT their fears -- the invisible and ignored homeless must be made visible -- [corporate welfare is the ultimate blight on our landscape] -- merchants initially opposed the American revolution, they opposed anti-slavery, they opposed women/children (workers) rights, the agrarian reform movement [they only had their head, heart, feet; walking from farm to farm, person to person]; the industrial worker unions, the environmental movement vs. accumulated violence -- the corporate stand in the way of our basic human rights !! - the US is a republic run as a plutocracy NOT as a democracy !! - CEO's today claim [they don't earn] 416x an entry level worker, 1M$+/mo, 40-50T$/day; social values undermined [CEO's 12x in 1940, 40x in 1980] -- the White House is a corporate prison [golden hand-cuffs] !! - corporate power and abuse is the *singular issue* in politics today !! - deconcentration of corporate power is absolutely and fundamentally necessary for a free social environment; we have to regain and keep our right to voice, to speak !!

GREED is defined as INFINITY by the corporate !! [AGAPE LOVE is defined as ETERNITY by the God Family] -- our government kneels before corporate power; complex legal privileges, immunities given; the top 01% has built enormous wealth; DEMOCRACY SURRENDERED = 20% child poverty, 25% pre-school child poverty; workers making less money than 25 years ago; the richest 400 families each increased their wealth 1.2M$/day during the last 04 years; the top 01% are equal in wealth to the bottom 95% of Americans; 47M workers making less than 10$ hour, 1/2 minimum wage of 05$/hr; the US has some of the worst, most draconian laws against trade unions; public and corporate prisons increasing at an alarming rate; the US is 37th in the world in health care [universal health care anathema to the corporate; 47M Americans without any health care] -- solutions include: 1. public financing of public elections NOT the private financing of private campaigns; 2. we must unleash the power of trade unionism, the freedom of association vs. corporate power [ie., Taft-Hartly]; 3. we must increase legal means, force vs. corporate crime, immunity [our legal rights suppressed due to corporate wealth, power of litigation]; 4. a self-empowering *civic culture* must be developed; 5. a new mainstream progressive politics must be developed -- the inheritance of our children is at risk !!

the pursuit of justice is part of our pursuit of happiness - swallowing injustice [BITTER] is unAmerican - WE MUST PERFORM OUR CIVIC DUTIES !! vs. corporate imposition(s); the corporate is planning, imposing *our* future !! - "everything is for sale" is the corporate mantra - citizens "up against the odds" is an American tradition; a deeper and stronger democracy will produce a deeper and stronger economy vs. domination by fewer and fewer corporations; the corporate charter must be a mechanism for corporate responsibility as it was in the last century - a perpetuation of the [evil] systemic existent must be opposed !! -- [NPR, Alternative Radio, Ralph Nader, "Towards A Green White House", Sep.23.00, with [inserts]]

State of Our World: Open_Notes 14