- Americans
should have a livable minimum wage and/or minimum guaranteed income.
Due to automation, robotics, and computers, worker productivity has
skyrocketed over the past four decades. At the same time, inflation has
devalued the dollar and wages have been flat. All of the profits for the
increase in productivity has gone to the wealthiest .1%, producing a
tiny incomprehensibly wealthy elite and unprecedented levels of poverty.
While the U.S. was never intended to be a classless society, the
current extreme of stratification has undermined the most basic aspects
of our society. We are fast approaching neo-feudalism, coupled with the
authoritarianism that grows out of such a concentration of wealth and
power in the hands of so few. This is not socialism, communism, or any
other -ism. It’s just common decency and respect for the value of each
person in a modern, affluent, pluralistic society.
- No
money in politics. Zero! First, people should stand up and declare
unequivocally they will not vote for anyone who takes ANY money from
corporations, lobbyists and PACs. Then, further down the road, by having
elections 100% financed out of public funds, we can build a democracy
where our legislators might actually have some time to legislate, and
not beholden to the feeding trough of deep-pocketed corporations and the
ultra-wealthy, they will be free to make laws which serve the needs of
all Americans, not just the wealthy elite.
- We
need to reverse privatization and re-establish a commons. So much of
what constitutes the foundation for a functioning society has been
privatized — prisons, education, utilities, mail, roads, bridges. And it
hasn’t worked out well, has it? The nation’s infrastructure is a
shambles. With the concentration of wealth and power that is a corollary
to privatization, poverty is on the rise and the quality of life for
huge sectors of the American population in decline. For the richest
nation in history, this is both an embarrassment and a profound tragedy.
There are some basic things we should all be able to have free and open
access to, facilities and services which should not be at the mercy of
the so-called free market: education, clean air and water, energy,
health care, retirement security, the internet, police, fire and
ambulance services, nutrition and mental health counseling. This is not
socialism. It’s having a country that works and serves the needs of all
of its citizens.
- The
control and issuance of currency must be returned to the federal
government. The Federal Reserve is no more “federal” than Federal
Express, and as a result America is now hostage to private banks and we
are rapidly becoming their serf-slaves. Either nationalize or abolish
the Federal Reserve and return creation of our fiat currency to the
people of America, regulated by a legitimate, functioning system of
representative government.
- We
are long overdue to again respect the law, apply it equally and fairly
across the board, both at home and around the world. We have a
two-tiered legal system, a gentle one for the privileged, a brutal one
for the rest of us. The oligarchs do what they want unfettered by pesky
legal restraints. Sometimes the same laws which should apply are used to
oppress and incarcerate the rest of us. Same thing on an international
level. Two tiers. The U.S. bullies the world, ignoring treaty
obligations and international law, treating other countries as vassal
states. But it uses the same legal instruments as a bludgeon, holding
every other nation’s feet to the fire with sanctions, UN resolutions,
trade agreements — whatever — when it serves our interests, or more
accurately, the interests of corporations and Wall Street banks, which
are really setting the agenda. This gross hypocrisy is creating enemies
everywhere.
- We
mostly tend to agree that capitalism provides a powerful engine to
drive development and progress. But too much of it and societies are
crushed, democracies destroyed, vast numbers of people are relegated to
serf status. Other countries have strict regulation and state control to
check the ravaging effects of unfettered capitalism. Now it’s America’s
turn. Either we rein it in or we can kiss good-bye our once-great
country as it descends into the dustbin of history, ravaged by greed and
destroyed from within by shortsightedness.
- The
whole bogus concept of corporate personhood must be expunged. Totally
voided. It was put in place by devious methods and now must be rooted
out. This may require a constitutional amendment. More broadly, it’s way
past time to drastically restrict the charters of corporations, such
that the interests of people are balanced with the pursuit of profit. It
is entirely legal to dictate that corporations act responsibly and take
into account the needs of the community they serve, especially the
communities where they reside. Ultimately this will not harm the
economy, it will create a society which is healthy and prosperous for everyone.
A vital component of changing the systemic role corporations play in
the overall economy will be encouraging and incentivizing via tax policy
and start-up funding employee-owned-and-operated enterprises.
- America
must be taken off of a war footing. The high-alert status both at home
and around the world is nothing more than highly destructive
fear-mongering. It is used to promote a belligerent self-sabotaging
approach to international relations. It’s the product of a grossly
delusional neocon imperialistic agenda which Americans, when they
understand what’s going on, don’t support. This”exceptionalist”
chest-beating only fills the coffers of the defense contractors and
bankrupts the rest of us both financially and spiritually. We’ve meddled
and bombed enough. Time to try peace and cooperation instead of threats
and bullying.
- Climate
change is real. It’s happening. It could ultimately destroy the human
race. Without a doubt if not reversed, it will reduce civilization to a
shell of its former glory and sophistication. Let’s get to work. Global
warming and resource depletion represent the greatest threats to mankind
in recorded history. Responsible use of resources and creation of
sustainable sources of energy are not only necessary, but could be the
greatest unifying force ever! This represents a historic opportunity for
a massive global initiative — one of renewal and fellowship.
- Massive
tax reform across the board is in order, closing of all loopholes,
penalizing off-shoring of profits, and the complete elimination of
corporate welfare. The wealthy should start paying back the country
which gave birth to their monumental success. Inherited wealth does not
give back to the community, the social and political environment that
supported the accumulation of all that money. Tax it at 95% above $5
million. The heirs of the Koch brothers will just have to squeak by on
their $5.2 billion. Capital gains? Capital gains is income. Tax
it at the same rate as personal income. Speaking of which, it’s time to
return to the progressive tax rates of the 60s and 70s. You know them.
The ones which resulted in a thriving economy!
- We
need instant recall and term limits. Expertise and experience are both
good things. That’s why elected officials have budgets to hire a staff.
They also have complete access to the vast resources of the federal
bureaucracy, which provides data collection and analysis, sociological
studies, creative input at all levels on both the policy shaping and
technical sides of creating productive and sensible legislation.
However, our system is fraught with cronyism, revolving doors, legalized
bribery, all of which are a product of a lack of transparency,
unlimited tenure, and lack of accountability. There should be a
mechanism which allows voters to recall their elected officials if they
turn out to be turncoats or grossly incompetent. And just as the
presidency now has a term limit, all elected offices should benefit from
the variety of input inherent by rotating office holders on a regular
basis. A president gets two terms. It seems reasonable that legislators,
both in the House and the Senate be restricted similarly to two terms.
- Democratize
America. With computers, the internet, instant communications,
participatory democracy is more possible than ever before in history.
Issues important to the public could be decided with national electronic
referendums. Gerrymandering could be eliminated with randomized drawing
of voting districts. Abolish the Electoral College. It may have made
sense two hundred years ago but it now distorts the process of choosing
the nation’s chief executive. Finally, it’s time to institute instant
run-off, approval or range voting. This will allow minor party
candidates to run at all levels of government without the onerous fear
that a voter is throwing away her or his vote.
- Real
health care reform which takes profit out of the system and sets up
genuine competition for products and services is the next crucial step
to having a viable health care system. This will reduce the chance that
spiraling health care costs will bankrupt the country and nullify the
other economic reforms which should be in place. Emphasis also needs to
be shifted to preventive medicine. This means instituting
educational programs on nutrition and healthy living choices, targeting
all levels of society, not just in schools, but in homes, communities,
in the media. It also means stricter regulations on the quality of our
food, air and water, complete transparency about food additives,
potential sources of toxins in the environment, and anything else which
compromises the ability of humans to live healthy, productive,
satisfying lives. All government agencies responsible for food,
environment, product, and workplace safety must start doing their jobs,
or heads should role. Corporations must no longer write the rules,
provide the research data, or be allowed friendly access to the agencies
charged with regulating them. And most certainly, industry insiders
must no longer be appointed to head up government agencies which are
overseeing the industries which pose a threat to the health and
well-being of American citizens.
- The
neoliberal economic regime must be dissembled and replaced with a
system which balances the needs and aspirations of all citizens against
the greedy, unfettered pursuit of profit. The vast majority of
Americans are barred from having any say in establishing the economic
priorities of the country. Neoliberalism has exacerbated wealth
inequality to frightening levels and has undermined the social,
political, and moral fiber of the nation. It defines stakeholders as
only those with pecuniary commitments and resource control, yet we are
all stakeholders on many different levels in the society we shape for
ourselves and our children. Neoliberalism is tyranny with a Ronald
McDonald smile. Time to end its hammerlock and release the real
potential of the U.S. economy, which resides in its most valuable
resource … the American people.
- The
Federal Reserve should be nationalized, a network of state-owned banks
instituted, Glass-Steagall reinstated, the too-big-to-fail banks broken
up into smaller business entities, the failure of such would in no way
jeopardize the integrity or solvency of the national economy. Americans
have seen trillions of their hard-earned tax dollars wasted on rescuing
the behemoth banks, and rewarding the incompetence and recklessness of
their executives. The Federal Reserve is a private club of high-rolling
banksters masquerading as a public-service institution, and fronting the
class war waged by the ultra-wealthy against America and its citizens.
The entire current mega-bank regime it represents is looting the U.S.
Treasury and burglarizing the U.S. economy. The wealth of our nation
belongs to all of us. It’s time everyone got their fair share. It’s time
to put a system in place that respects the birthright of every American
citizen, that of participating in and fully benefiting from the
enormous riches and resources we have been blessed with.
- A
massive conversion of an unprecedented scale must be implemented in
redirecting the energy and innovative potential of the
military-industrial complex toward projects which are non-military and
address the mounting technological and environmental challenges facing
the U.S. and the rest of the world. We can do this. When we needed to
re-tool our vast industrial resources to fight World War II, within
months we did it. Now that we are facing existential threats worldwide —
many of them the direct result of the military-industrial complex
itself — we need to re-tool our industrial and creative capacities to
meet these challenges. There are many others but among the immediate
priorities would be developing real solutions — not smiley face band
aids — to the mounting crises of climate change, resource exhaustion,
dependency on fossil fuels, arable land and potable water depletion,
ocean pollution and overfishing, infrastructure deterioration, the
threats of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, the potential for nuclear
reactor malfunctions.
Pretty impressive, eh?
How
often was any of this even mentioned in passing, much less explored in
detail, during any of the presidential debates thus far?
I'll give you a hint . . . about as often as we see geraniums sprouting out of Bill Cosby's nappy head.
On the other hand, the debates are getting some outstanding ratings!
Which is what counts when discussing the future of our country is reduced to entertainment spectacle and gotcha questions.
I
guess the message is forget about political reform, forget about peace,
forget about good jobs, forget about having everyone share in the
enormous wealth of America, forget about clean air and water, healthy
food, good schools, safe and prosperous communities.
Just
keep borrowing more money to buy a new car, and keep topping out those
credit cards for iPhones and designer sneakers made in China.
You saw the ads. Now buy something, dammit!
[ She has got nice lips, wouldn't you agree? ]
[ This originated at the author's personal web page . . .
http://jdrachel.com ]
NEAR agenda . . . does not include hypoallergenic lipstick.
