If the so-called original founding fathers took heed of the Original Instructions of the Haudensaunee Native peoples and their system of Democracy, whose lands they stole, when actually including our shared planet, Mother Earth and All Living Beings to begin with then we would not be in the mess we are in…and it continues to this day that we Native peoples of Great Turtle Island (aka the Americas) are silenced!
Helena. Thank you so much! Your people have spoken up and out for centuries. New comers refused and now their desendants continue to rape and pillage Mother Earth and her creatures and allow their actions to fly in the face of justice.
Thank you for speaking out. Many care and listen.!
The Separation Mindset has been the basis of Exclusively self-serving power and greed for as long as we know, and it still is the root of devaluing, dishonoring, and disrespecting "others," which leads to abuse, harm, and destruction.
Marianne - great article! Thank you! Those DNC elites who looked at you as if you “had two heads” when you suggested they get insights from the servers at the event - they ARE the problem. A recent expose of the DNC explained it is run by elite consultants and lawyers. The DNC board members have little to no say. The elites ruin organizations - I’ve seen the pattern repeated many times. A change must be made in the power structure with people who believe in key principles. Elites have few to zero principles. Throw the bums out!
We'll see if the Democratic Party truly decides to ignite a philosophy that embraces ethics, fairness, justice, and, most importantly, represents the people instead of fostering their own self interests!
You covered the water-front with grace and gumption. Bravo! Joan
Well said, good points. Some more ideas to consider about both main Parties:
Why have the political parties been allowed to actually run the elections?
Why have the political parties been allowed to run the government?
Who else knows that, in order for a congressperson to get on one of the committees where things get done, they have to pay the Party... and it's in the hundreds of thousands!
Where do they get this kind of money? I think you know!
Who else knows that to get continued support by the Party, Congresspeople have to continuously raise money for the Party, above what they raise for their own next campaigns?
So, the result is a system where even the most well-meaning individual getting into Congress gets sucked into the "pay-to-play" money game if they hope to get their well-intentioned ideas even looked at.
Both political parties and money should have nothing to do with the election or the operation of the government.
A political party should only be allowed to recommend candidates and ideas before elections and votes, and not have anything to do with interacting with anyone in the government.
Will we need strict monitoring to ensure money does not get funneled to people in government... Yes! Corruption needs to have a very stiff penalty.
And voting... is there no reason today with the level of technology that we can't have direct voting where all individual votes are tabulated? Or some variation of fractional voting so that the public winnows down the final vote in stages?
The Democrat party is just as mired in the current system as the Republican party, so even if the Democrats have ideas that are more humanistic, they still cater to the party and money influence and manipulation.
Will enough politicians in the Democratic party step up to challenge the overall status quo that keeps us mired in the current game?
Remember, Trump has gotten elected based on saying he will change the game... the problem is, not enough people who were eager for a change paid enough attention to what Trump wanted to change it into. They were too mesmerized by his blame game to pay attention.
I am really happy to see people writing on the issue of party. When I left off before Thnxgiving, the.conventional wisdom was that many Congressional Republicans were considering leaving. It would be wonderful to think that honest men and women in Congress would make a move to begin to move away from the sugar daddies of the parties.
That would be a lot.
Let's see how long it takes before the "never gonna happen," comment posts!
This is what my son articulated to me a few years back and it really opened my eyes. Children and adult children are wonderful teachers. When set out this way, clear-eyed and thoughtful, it's pretty easy to understand where we went wrong and how to get back on track. It isn't rocket science, after all. There's an unfortunate tendency we humans have of slipping off the horse, so to speak. We degrade our projects and principles as time goes by. The Catholic Church had many eras of "fixes" for this reason during its heyday in the Middle Ages. The generation after the founding generation complained that the spirit of '76 was missing. It isn't unusual that things fall apart. However, it is our job to create new iterations of what we value - like democracy and the rule of law - and not allow them to perish. (My opinion.)
Correct, again! I have been aware that if we were merely weak, that would be one thing but as a party we were also complicit! Both party's and the individuals in them. Now that the money has started rolling in via donations they are revealing their complicity. I am now receiving an average of 12 donation requests daily for 'deadlines' to Beat the Republican Candidate.' It wasn't only the Republicans who were bought by the lobbyists, Democrats were also beguiled by the 'insider information' they were privy to, Lobbyists influence, and influence in the market place, All wanted a piece of the pie. They sold themselves into it, are selling themselves, as it turned out. The downpour of "Donation Requests" by Democrats confirmed what I already had realized...We were initially complicit in feeding the pig, and now, in the interim, many democrats who started as novices, were fast becoming members of a more attractive community, and a new constituency; money makers. I have contributed as much as I will ever again! I have neglected those charities that fed people, created opportunities, built homes, cured diseases, saved people, things some other countries do naturally and as we could too if we had chosen to. We fear letting Republicans take over. duh! I feel I've been manipulated and used. I'm seeing now that the new goal seems to be, let them all die off and help them do it if they aren't willing to work for us for free.
Barbara, This is very powerful. I love you naming the important causes, "fed people, created opportunities, built home, cured diseases. Saved people."
Pres. Jimmy Carter spoke about that. I can't remember if it was his inauguration or his speech accepting the Dem. nomination for president. But he said it was important to end poverty and ignorance.
It is very frustrating to constantly receive the politicians' fund raising pleas, over and over, every day.
We know better now. Our contributions will go farther and do more in the hands of the organizations on the ground helping people!
We keep telling ourselves the line, if the people lead eventually the leaders will follow!
Our government is not about democracy. It is about money.
I would love to see you and Robert Reich together discussing all this.
I left the Dems way back when Ralph Nader first ran for president.
My preference is no parties, but if we must, count me Green.
My husband and I change long enough to vote in Presidential primaries when warranted. We changed first.for Bernie Sanders and for you. Then we changed back.
It is time for a 21st Century New Deal. The health care issue is ripe for change. Dems don't blow it!!!!
In my view, the over zealous capitalists at the insurance companies have managed to arouse the ire of the Republicans, even. DEMS DON'T BLOW IT!!!!
We need not just Medicare For All, but Medicare For All that offers full coverage for ALL USAMERICANS WITHOUT INSURANCE COMPANIES COLLUDING WITH THE HOSPITAL LOBBY, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars of out-of-pocket costs depending on which insurance policy one is able to secure based on income and geographic area!!!!
AND, WE NEED POLITICIANS WHO WILL.STAND UP TO THE. $$$$ AMONG THE TECH BROS AND TAKE DOWN THIS SURVEILLANCE AND POLICE STATE BEFORE IT PROCEEDS ONE INCH FURTHER!!!
OK. I Am done yelling now. God bless everybody. Let's take this (damn) nation back. ( Sorry, Lord!).
Clinton. Now silent. And his foundation. Sold whatever soul he had and nudged the country over a cliff. Also technology. I live in a ball of sweat and fear. Just to share
The primary enabler of Larry Summers. Barack Obama was the second. In both policies Summers was doing the actual governance, and the resulting destruction dwarfed that done by all of Donald Trump's bankruptcies combined.
It was near impossible for Obama to work across the aisle to get anything done. Republicans hated him and refused to work with him. In fact there was less support for him from Republicans than any other Democratic president. I definitely have my ideas of why that was the case and I am not naive. Check out some of things he tried to do that were opposed.
Huge. Powerful indictment. Unfortunately falling in deaf ears. Democrats have few Powerful speakers. Even the words democrats and liberal have been tarnished. America is fundamentally centrist and there are few who appeal to them. Good republicans have fallen silent. A bizarre Alice in Wonderland world where words mean whatever the mad hatter wants them to mea. Terrifying. PS I saw you speak in NY last year
The idea Dems vs Rep is part of the old egoic paradigm .
The opposition political party State system, Us vs them , including how the the State use party ideology, ideology which the party promptly abandons with election promises when it becomes the State administrator .
For clarity I dont think you would have Marianne as you spoke truth to State while running.
Amen sister! Nailed it! FDR is dead long live FDR.
Dems are like the beaten wife, "no, he loves me and he wants this to work." No he don't.
So articulate and poignant. Thank you for your clarity.
If the so-called original founding fathers took heed of the Original Instructions of the Haudensaunee Native peoples and their system of Democracy, whose lands they stole, when actually including our shared planet, Mother Earth and All Living Beings to begin with then we would not be in the mess we are in…and it continues to this day that we Native peoples of Great Turtle Island (aka the Americas) are silenced!
Helena. Thank you so much! Your people have spoken up and out for centuries. New comers refused and now their desendants continue to rape and pillage Mother Earth and her creatures and allow their actions to fly in the face of justice.
Thank you for speaking out. Many care and listen.!
Very much appreciate ur comment!
Ding bat.
The Separation Mindset has been the basis of Exclusively self-serving power and greed for as long as we know, and it still is the root of devaluing, dishonoring, and disrespecting "others," which leads to abuse, harm, and destruction.
Marianne - great article! Thank you! Those DNC elites who looked at you as if you “had two heads” when you suggested they get insights from the servers at the event - they ARE the problem. A recent expose of the DNC explained it is run by elite consultants and lawyers. The DNC board members have little to no say. The elites ruin organizations - I’ve seen the pattern repeated many times. A change must be made in the power structure with people who believe in key principles. Elites have few to zero principles. Throw the bums out!
Excellent assessment Marianne.
We'll see if the Democratic Party truly decides to ignite a philosophy that embraces ethics, fairness, justice, and, most importantly, represents the people instead of fostering their own self interests!
You covered the water-front with grace and gumption. Bravo! Joan
Well said, good points. Some more ideas to consider about both main Parties:
Why have the political parties been allowed to actually run the elections?
Why have the political parties been allowed to run the government?
Who else knows that, in order for a congressperson to get on one of the committees where things get done, they have to pay the Party... and it's in the hundreds of thousands!
Where do they get this kind of money? I think you know!
Who else knows that to get continued support by the Party, Congresspeople have to continuously raise money for the Party, above what they raise for their own next campaigns?
So, the result is a system where even the most well-meaning individual getting into Congress gets sucked into the "pay-to-play" money game if they hope to get their well-intentioned ideas even looked at.
Both political parties and money should have nothing to do with the election or the operation of the government.
A political party should only be allowed to recommend candidates and ideas before elections and votes, and not have anything to do with interacting with anyone in the government.
Will we need strict monitoring to ensure money does not get funneled to people in government... Yes! Corruption needs to have a very stiff penalty.
And voting... is there no reason today with the level of technology that we can't have direct voting where all individual votes are tabulated? Or some variation of fractional voting so that the public winnows down the final vote in stages?
The Democrat party is just as mired in the current system as the Republican party, so even if the Democrats have ideas that are more humanistic, they still cater to the party and money influence and manipulation.
Will enough politicians in the Democratic party step up to challenge the overall status quo that keeps us mired in the current game?
Remember, Trump has gotten elected based on saying he will change the game... the problem is, not enough people who were eager for a change paid enough attention to what Trump wanted to change it into. They were too mesmerized by his blame game to pay attention.
I am really happy to see people writing on the issue of party. When I left off before Thnxgiving, the.conventional wisdom was that many Congressional Republicans were considering leaving. It would be wonderful to think that honest men and women in Congress would make a move to begin to move away from the sugar daddies of the parties.
That would be a lot.
Let's see how long it takes before the "never gonna happen," comment posts!
This is what my son articulated to me a few years back and it really opened my eyes. Children and adult children are wonderful teachers. When set out this way, clear-eyed and thoughtful, it's pretty easy to understand where we went wrong and how to get back on track. It isn't rocket science, after all. There's an unfortunate tendency we humans have of slipping off the horse, so to speak. We degrade our projects and principles as time goes by. The Catholic Church had many eras of "fixes" for this reason during its heyday in the Middle Ages. The generation after the founding generation complained that the spirit of '76 was missing. It isn't unusual that things fall apart. However, it is our job to create new iterations of what we value - like democracy and the rule of law - and not allow them to perish. (My opinion.)
So grateful for your voice - excellent piece
Correct, again! I have been aware that if we were merely weak, that would be one thing but as a party we were also complicit! Both party's and the individuals in them. Now that the money has started rolling in via donations they are revealing their complicity. I am now receiving an average of 12 donation requests daily for 'deadlines' to Beat the Republican Candidate.' It wasn't only the Republicans who were bought by the lobbyists, Democrats were also beguiled by the 'insider information' they were privy to, Lobbyists influence, and influence in the market place, All wanted a piece of the pie. They sold themselves into it, are selling themselves, as it turned out. The downpour of "Donation Requests" by Democrats confirmed what I already had realized...We were initially complicit in feeding the pig, and now, in the interim, many democrats who started as novices, were fast becoming members of a more attractive community, and a new constituency; money makers. I have contributed as much as I will ever again! I have neglected those charities that fed people, created opportunities, built homes, cured diseases, saved people, things some other countries do naturally and as we could too if we had chosen to. We fear letting Republicans take over. duh! I feel I've been manipulated and used. I'm seeing now that the new goal seems to be, let them all die off and help them do it if they aren't willing to work for us for free.
Barbara, This is very powerful. I love you naming the important causes, "fed people, created opportunities, built home, cured diseases. Saved people."
Pres. Jimmy Carter spoke about that. I can't remember if it was his inauguration or his speech accepting the Dem. nomination for president. But he said it was important to end poverty and ignorance.
It is very frustrating to constantly receive the politicians' fund raising pleas, over and over, every day.
We know better now. Our contributions will go farther and do more in the hands of the organizations on the ground helping people!
We keep telling ourselves the line, if the people lead eventually the leaders will follow!
Whoa!!!! There's a lot here, Marianne.
Our government is not about democracy. It is about money.
I would love to see you and Robert Reich together discussing all this.
I left the Dems way back when Ralph Nader first ran for president.
My preference is no parties, but if we must, count me Green.
My husband and I change long enough to vote in Presidential primaries when warranted. We changed first.for Bernie Sanders and for you. Then we changed back.
It is time for a 21st Century New Deal. The health care issue is ripe for change. Dems don't blow it!!!!
In my view, the over zealous capitalists at the insurance companies have managed to arouse the ire of the Republicans, even. DEMS DON'T BLOW IT!!!!
We need not just Medicare For All, but Medicare For All that offers full coverage for ALL USAMERICANS WITHOUT INSURANCE COMPANIES COLLUDING WITH THE HOSPITAL LOBBY, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars of out-of-pocket costs depending on which insurance policy one is able to secure based on income and geographic area!!!!
AND, WE NEED POLITICIANS WHO WILL.STAND UP TO THE. $$$$ AMONG THE TECH BROS AND TAKE DOWN THIS SURVEILLANCE AND POLICE STATE BEFORE IT PROCEEDS ONE INCH FURTHER!!!
OK. I Am done yelling now. God bless everybody. Let's take this (damn) nation back. ( Sorry, Lord!).
Rebekkah Suzanne, This is what I was also trying to say but you did it better! Thanks! Barb
Thanks, Barbara!
They can’t, for structural reasons that lie beyond the reach of politics.
All the more reason I’m grateful for voices like yours. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/why-democrats-cant-learn-lessons
Clinton. Now silent. And his foundation. Sold whatever soul he had and nudged the country over a cliff. Also technology. I live in a ball of sweat and fear. Just to share
The primary enabler of Larry Summers. Barack Obama was the second. In both policies Summers was doing the actual governance, and the resulting destruction dwarfed that done by all of Donald Trump's bankruptcies combined.
Heart wrenching. Obama was so distant and afraid to rock any boats. He was a disaster
That’s rich of you to say…when so much of what he tried to do was blocked. 🤦🏾♀️
My answer such as it is was that they had so much power and could have accomplished more. Maybe I'm naive.
It was near impossible for Obama to work across the aisle to get anything done. Republicans hated him and refused to work with him. In fact there was less support for him from Republicans than any other Democratic president. I definitely have my ideas of why that was the case and I am not naive. Check out some of things he tried to do that were opposed.
Huge. Powerful indictment. Unfortunately falling in deaf ears. Democrats have few Powerful speakers. Even the words democrats and liberal have been tarnished. America is fundamentally centrist and there are few who appeal to them. Good republicans have fallen silent. A bizarre Alice in Wonderland world where words mean whatever the mad hatter wants them to mea. Terrifying. PS I saw you speak in NY last year
I don't want a Democrat or a Republican to win. How about an Independent?????
The parties are the problem!!!!
"Vision or Judgement" ACIM
The idea Dems vs Rep is part of the old egoic paradigm .
The opposition political party State system, Us vs them , including how the the State use party ideology, ideology which the party promptly abandons with election promises when it becomes the State administrator .
For clarity I dont think you would have Marianne as you spoke truth to State while running.