Government is supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people. It isn’t. Not even close.
For example, since 2008, ALL of the gains in the economy have gone to the top 10%, all but a small fraction of those gains going to the top 1%. NOTHING for the bottom 90%! As a result, 40% of Americans do not have as much as $400 for an emergency. For most of us, the recession never ended.
Many other countries have much higher standards of living than we do, and much better health care, transportation, schools, and many other things. Why? Their citizens are more involved in their government than Americans are. This is where we come in.
What do we want? A government that:
- Is fact based, science based. What do we know and how do we know it? The Pro-Truth Pledge (Pro-Truth Pledge (https://www.protruthpledge.org/)) shows us the way.
2. Represents all of us, not just a few. Using the information we get from science, how can we make the world a better place for as many people as possible?
In addition, we need a few basic principles, such as:
- All people are equal before the law.
- All laws should be based on reducing harm that people do to others.
- All human actions must take into account costs, benefits, risks, unintended consequences, fairness, and everything else affecting the people involved.
- Different people have different values and perspectives, and these are often in conflict – for example freedom vs. safety.
- As many people as possible should be well informed on what is happening in the world and involved in decisions that affect them.
- It takes time, a really significant amount of T-I-M-E to have a good understanding of most political issues. If you think you are well informed on an issue, ask yourself how many hundreds (or thousands if it is complicated enough) of hours have you spent studying it? Have you fact checked both sides? Have you looked at the strongest arguments of each side and weighed each one against the others to see what makes the most sense? Have you looked at what experts in the field are saying? Have you considered the possibility that both sides are wrong? Or half right and half wrong?
- Because of the time and complexity involved it is not possible for anyone to understand everything. However, every one of us can understand the basic principles of skeptical thinking, know a few subjects very well, and know who to trust on other subjects.
- Many problems have no easy answers or perfect solutions. Disagreements are inevitable, and we can discuss them as rational adults. This is why skeptical thinking is so important.
In other words, DON’T DO THIS!
Pasco Activists will not support groups that engage in violence or unnecessary harassment of others.
I have something else I would like to say, and that is that I have seen huge crowds in protest movements for George Floyd, March For Our Lives, or whatever, but it is very rare for me to be with as many as a dozen people knocking on doors and talking to voters. Usually, I go alone, or with just one other person. Maybe this might have something to do with public acceptance of the progressive movement? Think about it. If all they know about you is what they see on TV news, and you are affiliated (at least in their mind) with screaming, smashing windows, and burning buildings, and at the same time their side is feeding them this kind of thing:
do you really expect them to be supportive of the candidates and policies you support?
If we want people to support our candidates and policies, we must first make sure that their understanding of them is accurate.
Bernie says again and again “Talk to people who disagree with you.” We are not doing enough of that, and we are not as concerned as we should be about how our message sounds to others. By talking, and more importantly LISTENING to people who disagree with us we can see how they are perceiving what we are saying. Knocking on doors and talking to voters is one of the most powerful ways known to do that.
From taking everything from our basic principles into consideration, what can we say about how society should be structured? What happens when we use science and careful reasoning to look at different human societies so we can find out from them how to make a society work for the benefit of the people who lives in it?
These videos explain how that very thing was done, and what we learned about how we can have a better society.
https://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/
What do we get when we sum up those videos and take a hard look at the United States? This.
If you only watch one thing, this is the one to watch. It explains it all. However, it does not explain the science and research behind its conclusions as well as the previous ones do.
This is a follow up after it came out where Reich goes through the film’s major points and answers objections from his critics:
If you look it up on YouTube, you will find many cases of Reich talking about this film and answering questions. This is a really good one. In it he talks about many practical solutions for the problems the film brings up.
More Reich videos can be found at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuDv5p8E-evaRSh542hDV5g
We now know what needs to be done to make the world a better place for everyone who lives in it. To make this happen in Pasco County, we act as a support group for many organizations that work to bring about that goal. We have a calendar where events are posted, a master mailing list where people select which issues they are interested in, and we then forward contact information to appropriate groups.
This group is open primarily to ALL FL Cong. Dist.12 residents (Pasco County, Northern Pinellas County & Northern Hillsborough County) thus encompassing dual county cities such as Spring Hill, Lutz, Dunedin, & Odessa for example.
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/FL/12#
We are also working in tandem with organizers & volunteers residing in Hernando County as some events cross over or appeal to Pasco. Given the level of “Pasco” participation in Hernando based initiatives this could even lead to a Pasco formation of a particular group.
This group is a place for activist organizers to post events. It is a place for volunteer activists who want to climb on board a particular issue. It is solely a place to become actively involved.
OUR PREMISE: When more people come together for/against an issue with an agenda to make change, change can indeed happen. The more we are aware of activities within our local area, the more likely we can or will want to participate. The more people actively engaged in an activity the better the results.
Activities within Pasco Activists are numerous! They can be in the form of physical meetups, conference call meetups, individual calls to action, small group activities/meetups, letter writing campaigns, door knocking, petition signings, movie/powerpoint watching to educate, social “for fun” activities to build recruitment, etc. The possibilities are endless.
Group Organizers (one person, per group) will automatically become part of the Leadership Committee (Event Organizers); given full access to post events (reaching all potential volunteers) and their specific group listed as a Sponsor (so that volunteers can quickly link to them to learn more) in addition to having a dedicated discussion topic thread. Individuals or Neighborhood Co-ops can also become Event Organizers once you plan an event by emailing the Group Organizer.
Volunteers are encouraged to visit & “participate” in discussions to share information, experiences & ideas with the group. This section is also your go to source for link resources. Pictures are worth a thousand words! Please remember to share them to the group as you participate in whatever capacity to choose.
WE CAN MAKE CHANGE HAPPEN
BUT ONLY IF YOU JOIN!