Nicholas Kristof gives several ideas about standing up to Trump in a New York Times article, 2017-04-13. See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/opinion/how-to-stand-up-to-trump-and-win.html.
When I forwarded the link to my wife, I added the comment "Don’t just hold a sign. Experts share how to resist and get results.”
Showing posts with label grass-roots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grass-roots. Show all posts
Friday, April 14, 2017
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Is this the time for a new major party?
In 1854, Whigs who were not happy with the party's policies formed a new party, the Republican Party. Not until 1860 did the Republicans win a presidential election. That president, Abraham Lincoln, increased the involvement of the federal government into the affairs of the United States - Homestead Act of 1862 that gave low cost land to settlers, Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864 the subsidized the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, and Morrill Act of 1862 that gave land for the land-grant colleges.
Now the Republican Party is dominated by people with a narrow understanding of the Constitution and a narrow understanding of how a vibrant economy works, an economy supported by government-provided infra-structures.
I doubt that a new party will be formed by grass-roots action, be it the Coffee Party or the Occupy Wall Street activists. I think a new party will only be formed by a dedicated group of professional politicians. I hope that there are enough "old-school, New England-type" Republicans, tired of being beholden to the corporate-sponsored Tea Party, who will form a new pragmatic party. There are plenty of Republicans who have a broader view of what needs to be done. Unfortunately, many were defeated by Tea Party candidates in 2010. These "losers" could provide a nucleus for such a party. They have small chances of fielding a popular candidate by November 2012, but who knows what could happen in 2014 and 2016.
Now the Republican Party is dominated by people with a narrow understanding of the Constitution and a narrow understanding of how a vibrant economy works, an economy supported by government-provided infra-structures.
I doubt that a new party will be formed by grass-roots action, be it the Coffee Party or the Occupy Wall Street activists. I think a new party will only be formed by a dedicated group of professional politicians. I hope that there are enough "old-school, New England-type" Republicans, tired of being beholden to the corporate-sponsored Tea Party, who will form a new pragmatic party. There are plenty of Republicans who have a broader view of what needs to be done. Unfortunately, many were defeated by Tea Party candidates in 2010. These "losers" could provide a nucleus for such a party. They have small chances of fielding a popular candidate by November 2012, but who knows what could happen in 2014 and 2016.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Free enterprise is the wrong metaphor for large corporations
We have been hoodwinked into considering large corporations as examples of free enterprise, just like many of the small businesses that keep popping up. A better way to consider large corporations is as monarchies.
Monarchies were rarely monolithic, top-down structures, but a complex arrangement of carrots and sticks. Carrots could include favors of money or position. Sticks could be actual assassination or character assassination. If all else failed, monarchies would divert people with a war elsewhere and demand patriotism from all
Corporations give carrots of campaign contributions and hire politicians into lucrative jobs later. Corporations have murdered strikers and sympathizers, but they have always financed and promulgated false information about those who disagree with their agenda. Do you really think the "birther movement" was "grass-roots"? And corporations are really "patriotic" when they support a war with all its profits from selling military equipment.
And to think that we make a big holiday of throwing off the yoke of a monarchy.
Monarchies were rarely monolithic, top-down structures, but a complex arrangement of carrots and sticks. Carrots could include favors of money or position. Sticks could be actual assassination or character assassination. If all else failed, monarchies would divert people with a war elsewhere and demand patriotism from all
Corporations give carrots of campaign contributions and hire politicians into lucrative jobs later. Corporations have murdered strikers and sympathizers, but they have always financed and promulgated false information about those who disagree with their agenda. Do you really think the "birther movement" was "grass-roots"? And corporations are really "patriotic" when they support a war with all its profits from selling military equipment.
And to think that we make a big holiday of throwing off the yoke of a monarchy.
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