Progressive
Society Manifesto
Economic
Development as if People Mattered
Copyright
2000-6 by Andrew Homer
The progressive
agenda is the only political and economic agenda that brushes up against spiritual
values.
Considering mental health:
1 - You can't respect others if you don't respect yourself. 2 - You can't love
others if you don't love yourself.
Sharing
is a desire which springs forth from a SENSE of abundance. That's how the socialist
(spelled with a small "s") mindset shows up.
People
who feel deprived - people who sense lack - are the classic greedy, self-serving
Republicans who, rather than want to share, want to manipulate and control, because
of the chronic fear that the world is a dangerous place.
As
an American revolutionary said, "Either we hang together or assuredly, we'll
hang separately."
The paranoids
who subscribe to the capitalist religion have their siege mindset and circle their
wagons. They have their country club, yacht club, Chamber of Commerce, Rotary
Club, the Business Roundtable, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberger Group,
the Davos Conference, their industry association, and their corporate board.
What
does the hard working shmuck have? They have their churches, synagogues, saloons,
neighborhood watch, public education, conservation groups, VFW halls, the AARP,
Social Security, the VA Hospital, a military career, civil service, neighborhood
associations, Public Citizen, the Gray Panthers, Common Cause, limp labor unions,
and police review boards.
Gee,
I wonder which group has the real financial and political clout in the western
world?
Progressive economic
development requires a spiritual mindset of abundance and a caring for others.
It's a mindset that says, "How can I enjoy the good things in life when I
see others suffer?"
The
capitalist asks, "How can us 1% of the population exploit the others?"
The
progressive considers labor more precious than the shareholders and asks the question,
"How can we formulate a society free of unnecessary deprivation; a society
of caring and sharing; a society where the ambitious can earn what they want but
not at someone else's disadvantage?"
One
of the ways our economy is manipulated by the capitalists is to seize the political
process and orchestrate sham senarios duping the voters into believing that they
have some say, some clout in selecting office holders.
In
America, only 55% of the adults are registered to vote. On the best of election
days, at most, 20% of the registered voters bother to cast their vote. So, out
of the 11% of American adults who attempt to select office holders, only 6%, at
best, choose the winning candidates.
Is
that representational government?
Both
the political process and economic policy decision making needs to become more
inclusive.
But as long as the
capitalists love this bogus two-party system, as long as the corporatists continue
to sabotage legislation that would allow viable third party impact, things wont
change. The 1% will stay in control.
We
need both political reform and economic reform. But we can't have one without
the other. The financial mavens are in bed with the political gurus. And they
don't like being interrupted. They don't appreciate us progressive gadflys pointing
out that the emperor isn't wearing clothes. They don't want their scam to be exposed.
Their
dog-and-pony show only works as long as they own and control the media - as long
as the hard working shmucks are wasting their time drinking beer and watching
TV.
We'll take the moral high
road and follow the role models of Jesus and Gandhi - we'll lead by example.
To
priortize priorities
Progressives
are for economic development, but NOT to the detriment of quality of life, nor
violation of civil rights, nor endangering public health, nor having political/economic
power being consolidated to a few, nor having self-determination be diminished.
Decentralization is often considered prudent.
If You're not Angry, You're NOT Paying Attention.
