One of the complaints heard most often about the Occupy political movement is that the demands and goals of the protestors are too vague, the messages too broad and unfocused. It's hard to know what to DO to enact meaningful change if you can't tell others exactly what you WANT, right? Fair enough. It's important to let people state that they are unhappy with how things are going in the United States, that they feel disenfranchised and hopeless, and that they don't know how or why things got so bad...they just want and need change NOW. But that change can only occur when enough citizens from across all economic levels and political leanings can agree on some basic ideas of what a democracy should be. The constant tug-of-war between right and left, Republicans and Democrats, unions and Big Biz, has made us all losers. Well, enough. Let's focus in like a hungry seagull on a lone potato chip sitting on a park bench, NOW.
Wherever you may sit on the political spectrum, take a few minutes to watch this clever video from The Story Of Stuff, which very clearly, without rancor, and in common-sense language explains why a national united effort to amend the Constitution is needed to overcome the democracy-killing effect of the 2010 SCOTUS 5-4 Citizens United v. FEC ruling. It's actually kinda fun to watch, too.
The Story of Citizens United v. FEC by The Story of Stuff
Unlimited corporate dollars flooding into our political system is unfair and unwise. This infects our government with deep corruption, and advances only one set of interests for the nation: whatever it is that makes those corporations more profit, by whatever means necessary. In other words, you (and I) are screwed.
I don't think it's an overstatement to say that our futures depend on our concentrated efforts to end Big Biz's ability to buy control over our shared resources and our very lives. The five Supreme Court justices who decided that corporations had a First Amendment right to use money to effectively crush all political opposition were wrong, and we need to take action to correct this as quickly as we can. I know -- a Constitutional amendment sounds radical and reactionary and impossible, right? But that's what has to happen, sadly, so that's what we need to focus upon. Then perhaps we can move forward as the Founding Fathers surely intended for Americans...with all of us fairly participating in our government and not living our our lives as the marginalized, pitiful pawns of King Corporate.
Click here at The Story Of Stuff for several suggestions (with links) on to get involved (because YOU have to get involved, yes, YOU), from signing a petition to registering your own business in an organization that supports clean elections.
Will a Constitution amendment solve all our nation's problems? Of course not, but it will go a long, long way into restoring basic functionality to our broken government. Occupy members should provide amendment details at all gatherings and focus on getting people registered to vote. Everyone else, please share the video and the info here as much as you can, and get people talking!
© Copyright 2008- Marianne Spellman