BitNation | Governance 2.0

BitNation | Governance 2.0





"

Governance 2.0: decentralize everything!


We live in dangerous and exciting times. Dangerous, because we stand to
see the monetary system as we know it collapse, and with it will fall
our social and political systems. Exciting, because the rise
of Bitcoin (“The Internet of Money”) and the blockchain technology,
alongside a whole host of recent advancements like 3D printing,
crowdfunding (-investing, -lending etc.) and widespread use of
internet-enabled mobile devices, makes it increasingly easier for the
individual to handle all aspects of their life on their own. In my own
life I have experienced the changes that this gradual shift towards
decentralised systems has brought: my endless thirst for news and
information is being quenched not by newspapers at the breakfast table
but by the Facebook posts of my friends and pages I follow; when I
travel to visit my extended family in Southern Germany I don’t go to the
train station to buy a ticket. Instead, I open the “Deutsche Bahn”-App
to download a QR-Ticket in a matter of seconds. Or, avoiding the
horrible service of this state granted transportation monopoly
altogether, I check the german version of carpooling.com for a cheap
ride to hitch with a private driver; for getting a real education I
don’t attend a state funded public university. I go to Chile and
participate in the Exosphere Bootcamp, an eight week program for
aspiring entrepreneurs.

Whenever I want good service I turn to
the private, that is voluntary, sector. With BitNation launching soon,
offering to provide all of the useful services that modern governments
claim to offer without all the hassle, I will soon be able to add
governance tools to the list of voluntary interactions enhancing my
quality of life on a daily basis. Do I want to start my own company? No
problem, just form a decentralised organisation and incorporate it via a
smart contract on the blockchain. Have I just met the love of my life
and want to announce our blissful union to the world? BitNation’s got me
covered with official marriage certification! I want to opt out of the
expensive and crushingly regulated health care system but still need and
want good medical services? I can sign up for peer-to-peer insurance,
enabling me to choose from a plethora of subscription services and
premium options at competitive prices. The options are only limited by
my imagination and BitNation has people much more imaginative than me
working on making them available.

BitNation wants to make our
times more than just dangerous and exciting. By building the digital
infrastructure to help everyone outgrow the antiquated systems of
control, BitNation wants to make them not only more beautiful, BitNation
wants to make them work.

- Moritz Bierling
BitNation Ambassador (Germany)

(More at: http://blog.bitnation.co/)



" 

Tweet from TweetCaster

@RT_America: #IceBucketChallenge leaves Scottish island without water http://t.co/2UeQpP6wKA http://t.co/p17D1PrCNJ
Shared via TweetCaster

Wikibooks

Wikibooks

Free Online Textbooks, Flashcards, Practice, Real World Examples, Simulations | CK-12 Foundation

Free Online Textbooks, Flashcards, Practice, Real World Examples, Simulations | CK-12 Foundation

Tweet from TweetCaster

@AddInfoOrg: This White House Petition For a 'Mike Brown Law' Would Require Cops to Wear a Camera On Duty http://t.co/PFKKy5SW4X
Shared via TweetCaster

Student's six-foot water and solar-powered lens purifies polluted water

http://m.phys.org/_news327303574.html

Tweet from TweetCaster

@HardwareNewz: Thousands Can Fact-Check The News With Grasswire - http://t.co/siTKgnOh2m - techCrunch
Shared via TweetCaster

Create a spreadsheet of new laws, eliminating the need for countless Washington, DC interns by sunlightfoundation - IFTTT

Create a spreadsheet of new laws, eliminating the need for countless Washington, DC interns by sunlightfoundation - IFTTT

Keep a history of U.S. Senate votes as they happen by jeff - IFTTT

Keep a history of U.S. Senate votes as they happen by jeff - IFTTT

Track every time the U.S. Senate votes via Google Calendar by nytimes - IFTTT

Track every time the U.S. Senate votes via Google Calendar by nytimes - IFTTT

Follow how the U.S. House of Representatives is voting from your inbox by nytimes - IFTTT

Follow how the U.S. House of Representatives is voting from your inbox by nytimes - IFTTT

Follow how the U.S. Senate is voting from your inbox by nytimes - IFTTT

Follow how the U.S. Senate is voting from your inbox by nytimes - IFTTT

Email me when Congress schedules a vote on a bill by sunlightfoundation - IFTTT

Email me when Congress schedules a vote on a bill by sunlightfoundation - IFTTT

Email me when the president signs a new law by sunlightfoundation - IFTTT

Email me when the president signs a new law by sunlightfoundation - IFTTT

Fwd: [MCM] Lest we forget: US shot down a civilian airliner, killing 290 people; then lied about it (and never apologized)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mark Crispin Miller <markcrispinmiller@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 3:07 PM
Subject: [MCM] Lest we forget: US shot down a civilian airliner, killing 290 people; then lied about it (and never apologized)
To: newsfromunderground <newsfromunderground@googlegroups.com>
Cc: Amin Husain <amin.husain@gmail.com>

America's Flight 17

The time the United States blew up a passenger plane—and tried to cover it up.

By Fred Kaplan

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2014/07/the_vincennes_downing_of_iran_air_flight_655_the_united_states_tried_to.html

Fury and frustration still mount over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, and justly so. But before accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of war crimes or dismissing the entire episode as a tragic fluke, it's worth looking back at another doomed passenger plane—Iran Air Flight 655—shot down on July 3, 1988, not by some scruffy rebel on contested soil but by a U.S. Navy captain in command of an Aegis-class cruiser called the Vincennes.

A quarter-century later, the Vincennes is almost completely forgotten, but it still ranks as the world's seventh deadliest air disaster (Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is the sixth) and one of the Pentagon's most inexcusable disgraces.

In several ways, the two calamities are similar. The Malaysian Boeing 777 wandered into a messy civil war in eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border; the Iranian Airbus A300 wandered into a naval skirmish—one of many clashes in the ongoing "Tanker War" (another forgotten conflict)—in the Strait of Hormuz. The likely pro-Russia rebel thought that he was shooting at a Ukrainian military-transport plane; the U.S. Navy captain, Will Rogers III, mistook the Airbus for an F-14 fighter jet. The Russian SA-11 surface-to-air missile that downed the Malaysian plane killed 298 passengers, including 80 children; the American SM-2 surface-to-air missile that downed the Iranian plane killed 290 passengers, including 66 children. After last week's incident, Russian officials told various lies to cover up their culpability and blamed the Ukrainian government; after the 1988 incident, American officials told various lies and blamed the Iranian pilot. Not until eight years later did the U.S. government compensate the victims' families, and even then expressed "deep regret," not an apology.

As the Boston Globe's defense correspondent at the time, I reported on the Vincennes shoot-down, and I have gone back over my clips, chronicling the official lies and misstatements as they unraveled. Here's the truly dismaying part of the story. On Aug. 19, 1988, nearly seven weeks after the event, the Pentagon issued a 53-page report on the incident. Though the text didn't say so directly, it found that nearly all the initial details about the shoot-down—the "facts" that senior officials cited to put all the blame on Iran Air's pilot—were wrong. And yet the August report still concluded that the captain and all the other Vincennes officers acted properly.

For example, on July 3, at the first Pentagon press conference on the incident, Adm. William Crowe, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the Iranian plane had been flying at 9,000 feet and descending at a "high speed" of 450 knots, "headed directly" for the Vincennes. In fact, however, the Aug. 19 report—written by Rear Adm. William Fogarty of U.S. Central Command—concluded (from computer tapes found inside the ship's combat information center) that the plane was "ascending through 12,000 feet" at the much slower speed of 380 knots. "At no time" did the Airbus "actually descend in altitude," the report stated.

When I pointed out this discrepancy at the press conference where the report was handed out, Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci waved me away and said, "It's really questionable whether a different reading would have affected the judgment" to shoot down the plane. (I still find this astonishing.)

There were other equally disturbing discrepancies between Crowe's July 3 press conference (which struck me as suspicious even at the time) and Fogarty's Aug. 19 report. Crowe had said the plane was flying "outside the prescribed commercial air route"; the report said it was flying "within the established air route." Crowe had said the plane's transponder was "squawking" a code over the "Mode 2" military channel; the report stated that it was squawking over the "Mode 3" civilian channel. Crowe had said the Vincennes issued several warnings; the report confirmed this, but noted, "Due to heavy pilot workload during take-off and climb-out, and the requirement to communicate with" two air traffic control centers, the pilot "probably was not monitoring" the international air-distress channel.

Adm. George B. Crist, head of U.S. Central Command, issued a "non-punitive letter of censure" to the ship's anti–air warfare officer, but Secretary of Defense Carlucci withdrew the letter. Not only that, but two years later, Capt. Rogers was issued the Legion of Merit "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service" as the Vincennes' commander "from April 1987 to May 1989."

SNIP>

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. If you'd like to donate to News From Underground, please visit http://markcrispinmiller.com/donate - we appreciate your ongoing support.
 
Ways to unsubscribe, 1) send a blank email to newsfromunderground+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. PLEASE NOTE: you must unsubscribe using the SAME email with which you subscribed; 2) go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page.
 
For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com

--

http://www.google.com/profiles/technologiclee

Official Google Blog: Little Box Challenge opens for submissions

Official Google Blog: Little Box Challenge opens for submissions

The Open Education Consortium | The Global Network for Open Education

The Open Education Consortium | The Global Network for Open Education

Fwd: Movements is live!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Movements.org <info@movements.org>
Date: Fri, Jul 18, 2014 at 5:03 AM
Subject: Movements is live!
To: Lee <technologiclee@gmail.com>

Movements is live! Movements.org is a platform that crowdsources human rights. View this email in your browser Movements is live! Do you have a desire to make a difference?  To help those who are unheard? Now you can. We have just re-launched Movements.org – the online platform that directly connects dissidents with the people who can make a real difference in their struggle. Anyone with a skill—artists, writers, journalists, translators, technologists, lawyers, PR experts, policy-makers and more—can connect directly with human rights activists in closed societies. As The Daily Beast explained it, "The dissidents of the 21st century now have a new tool to connect them instantly over the internet to hundreds if not thousands of people around the world already standing ready to pitch in." Movements puts the fight for human rights into the hands of individuals. Natan Sharansky, in his article about Movements in The Wall Street Journal, said, "Too often, leaders of the Free World have proved to be a disappointment to today's dissidents. The citizens of free nations need not be." Sign up to Movements.org and make an offer to help a dissident struggling for their freedom, or a request for help from an expert in a free society. Big, collective actions are only possible through small, individual ones. We'd love to hear what you think. If you have any ideas for improvements, don't hesitate to email us at contact@movements.org. Good luck! Movements.org Team Sign Up Now Copyright © 2014 Advancing Human Rights, All rights reserved. We're sending this to you because you signed up for email notifications via our web site, or because you were already subscribed to CyberDissidents.org's, Movements.org and/or Advancing Human Rights mailing list. Our mailing address is: Advancing Human Rights P.O. Box 85 New York, NY 10116 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

--

http://www.google.com/profiles/technologiclee

Contribution Explorer Shows Who Is Contributing to Politicians

Contribution Explorer Shows Who Is Contributing to Politicians

Fwd: Sign the petition: We need drug policy reform

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mother Jones <do_not_reply@motherjones.com>
Date: Fri, Jun 27, 2014 at 10:30 AM
Subject: Sign the petition: We need drug policy reform
To: technologiclee@gmail.com

The following sponsored message from the Drug Policy Alliance has been sent to you via Mother Jones.

 

We need drug policy reform. Sign the petition.     Dear Lee, As a Mother Jones reader, you make it a priority to stay informed on issues that mainstream new sources don't always report. That's why we thought you'd be interested in the Smarter Sentencing Act, a comprehensive piece of drug law reform legislation which would shorten federal mandatory minimum sentences for drug law violations and help thousands of people who have already served long sentences to leave prison early. In the coming weeks, the U.S. Senate could vote on this unprecedented legislation that will roll back harsh drug laws and get us closer to ending the war on drugs. Due to harsh mandatory minimum sentencing policies, tens of thousands of people are in federal prison — sometimes for life — for low-level nonviolent drug offenses. The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) seeks to roll back excessive sentencing, block new, harmful initiatives, and promote sensible drug policy reforms like the Smarter Sentencing Act. As a result of their work, hundreds of thousands of people have been diverted from incarceration to drug treatment programs, and hundreds of thousands of sick and dying patients can safely access their medicine without being considered criminals under the law. Sign DPA's petition now to support the Smarter Sentencing Act — it will be a key step in the fight to end the war on drugs. Draconian drug sentences have corrupted the criminal justice system and unfairly impacted African American and Latino communities. Although rates of drug use and selling are comparable across racial and ethnic lines, people who are black or Latino are far more likely to be arrested, convicted and sentenced more harshly for drug law violations. Like marijuana enforcement, mass criminalization of people for low-level drug offenses is a profound waste of scarce resources. It results in unfair disparities, destroys families, and creates outcomes far worse than the drugs themselves. The Smarter Sentencing Act is one of the only bipartisan efforts that is moving forward in Congress — with the Senate poised to vote as early as next month. Change won't happen unless people like you speak up. Sign the petition to Congress urging them to reform harsh mandatory minimum drug laws now. Thanks, Bill Piper Director, Office of National Affairs Drug Policy Alliance       Connect with us.

Mother Jones and its non-profit publisher, the Foundation for National Progress, does not endorse any political candidate, political organization, commercial product, process or service, and the views expressed in this communication do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation or favoring by Mother Jones. For advertising opportunities see our online media kit. This message was sent to technologiclee@gmail.com. To stop receiving Mother Jones' Offers, or to unsubscribe from all Mother Jones email newsletters, click here.

MOTHERJONES.COM Mother Jones 222 Sutter Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94108

--
http://www.google.com/profiles/technologiclee

Why bail needs a rethink - Virgin.com

Why bail needs a rethink - Virgin.com

The Collapse of The American Dream Explained in Animation

Fwd: [MCM] US pressuring El Salvador to buy Monsanto GM seeds

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Mark Crispin Miller" <newsfromunderground@gmail.com>
Date: Jun 11, 2014 6:07 AM
Subject: [MCM] US pressuring El Salvador to buy Monsanto GM seeds
To: <newsfromunderground@googlegroups.com>
Cc:

http://sustainablepulse.com/2014/06/08/u-s-government-ties-el-salvador-usd-277-m-aid-package-monsantos-gmo-seeds

U.S. Government Ties El Salvador USD 277 M Aid Package to Monsanto's GMO Seeds

Posted on Jun 8 2014 - 4:37pm by Sustainable Pulse

The President of the El Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technologies (CESTA), Ricardo Navarro, has demanded that the U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, Mari Carmen Aponte, stops pressurizing the Government of El Salvador to buy Monsanto's GM seeds rather than non-GMO seeds from domestic suppliers.

"I would like to tell the U.S. Ambassador to stop pressuring the Government (of El Salvador) to buy 'improved' GM seeds," said Navarro, which is only of benefit to U.S. multinationals and is to the detriment of local seed production, Verdad Digital reported last week.

In recent weeks, the U.S. has been pushing the El Salvadoran Government to sign the second Millennium Challenge Compact. One of the main conditions on the agreement is allegedly for the purchasing of GM seeds from Monsanto.

Support the El Salvadoran Government in their fight against Monsanto

Contact the USDA in El Salvador Directly to Make Your Voice Heard

At the end of 2013 it was announced that without 'specific' economic and environmental policy reforms, the U.S. government would not provide El Salvador with $277 million in aid money through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a U.S. foreign aid agency that was created by the U.S. Congress in January 2004. According to the MCC they "have changed the conversation on how best to deliver 'smart' U.S. foreign assistance by focusing on 'good' policies."

It is now clear that by 'specific reforms' the MCC means reforms that allow GM crops and their associated pesticides to be forced on El Salvador's Government and citizens.

Is it a coincidence that the MCC delayed its initial agreed aid payments following the announcement by the El Salvador Government that they were banning the use of Glyphosate (Roundup) and 52 other dangerous chemicals in September 2013?

Glyphosate (Roundup) herbicide sales are the main money earner for the Biotech industry worldwide and the chemical is also the base of the whole system that allows GM Crops to be grown.

The El Salvadoran Government's ban on Glyphosate came amidst a mysterious kidney disease that is killing thousands of the region's agricultural laborers. Central America's health ministries signed a declaration in March 2013 citing the ailment as a top public health priority and committing to a series of steps to combat its reach, the Center of Public Intergrity revealed.

Over the last two years, the Center for Public Integrity has examined how a rare type of chronic kidney disease (CKDu) is killing thousands of agricultural workers along Central America's Pacific Coast, as well as in Sri Lanka and India. Scientists have yet to definitively uncover the cause of the malady, although emerging evidence points to toxic heavy metals contained in pesticides as a potential culprit.

Sri Lankan scientist Dr Jayasumana recently released a study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health that proposes a link between Roundup (aka Glyphosate) and CKDu.

"There is a harmful corporation on the planet called Monsanto …  it is truly disturbing that the U.S. is trying to promote them …" concluded Navarro, who hopes that the Members of the El Salvadoran Legislative Assembly do not accept any manipulation by the U.S.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. If you'd like to donate to News From Underground, please visit http://markcrispinmiller.com/donate - we appreciate your ongoing support.
 
Ways to unsubscribe, 1) send a blank email to newsfromunderground+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. PLEASE NOTE: you must unsubscribe using the SAME email with which you subscribed; 2) go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page.
 
For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com

Fwd: A message from Edward Snowden

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Segal, DemandProgress.org <info@demandprogress.org>
Date: Thu, Jun 5, 2014 at 2:06 PM
Subject: A message from Edward Snowden
To: Lee Nelson <technologiclee@gmail.com>

Lee-

One year ago today, the first Snowden revelations made the whole world aware of the NSA's broad, suspicionless surveillance regime.  (Today he sent a message to the organizers of Reset the Net -- it appears below.)

Today we Reset the Net and begin to protect ourselves, en masse, from mass spying.

No more waiting. It's time for each and every one of us to take the first step toward a better Internet and a better world. 

Protect yourself now -- get the Reset the Net privacy pack for your computer, accounts, phones, more.

Wanting freedom from government surveillance isn't about whether we have something to hide, it's about our ability to be ourselves. It's about whether or not we want to live in a world with freedom of speech. It's about whether or not we care about the future of democracy in the world.

Privacy also isn't only for tech geeks. The free, open source apps that we're suggesting in the Reset the Net privacy pack are easy enough for everyone to use. Heck, send them to your technically challenged parents. The more of us that use these tools the safer we all are, not only from the NSA, but from any government, company, or bad actor that wants to invade our privacy.

No idea where to start? No problem. Click here learn about the easy tools we're recommending.

And here is Edward Snowden's statement in support of today's campaign, upon the one year anniversary of his first leaks:

"One year ago, we learned that the Internet is under surveillance, and our activities are being monitored to create permanent records of our private lives — no matter how innocent or ordinary those lives might be.

Today, we can begin the work of effectively shutting down the collection of our online communications, even if the US Congress fails to do the same. That's why I'm asking you to join me on June 5th for Reset the Net, when people and companies all over the world will come together to implement the technological solutions that can put an end to the mass surveillance programs of any government. This is the beginning of a moment where we the people begin to protect our universal human rights with the laws of nature rather than the laws of nations.

We have the technology, and adopting encryption is the first effective step that everyone can take to end mass surveillance. That's why I am excited for Reset the Net — it will mark the moment when we turn political expression into practical action, and protect ourselves on a large scale.

Join us on June 5th, and don't ask for your privacy. Take it back."

Please check out Reset the Net today, and begin to protect yourself from mass surveillance.

-Demand Progress

Paid for by Demand Progress (DemandProgress.org) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Contributions are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

One last thing -- Demand Progress's small, dedicated, under-paid staff relies on the generosity of members like you to support our work. Will you click here to chip in $5 or $10? Or you can become a Demand Progress monthly sustainer by clicking here. Thank you!

You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time.

http://act.demandprogress.org/cms/unsubscribe/unsubscribe/?akid=2626.1940580.8rOUss

--
http://www.google.com/profiles/technologiclee

Fwd: [MCM] American democracy--a great idea! Here's how we make it happen...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Mark Crispin Miller" <newsfromunderground@gmail.com>
Date: Jun 4, 2014 6:28 AM
Subject: [MCM] American democracy--a great idea! Here's how we make it happen...
To: <newsfromunderground@googlegroups.com>
Cc:

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/24033-a-national-call-to-link-arms-for-democracy

A National Call to Link Arms for Democracy

Saturday, 31 May 2014 16:58 By Victoria Collier and Ben-Zion Ptashnik, Truthout | Op-Ed

Moral Monday in Asheville, NC, January, 2014. (Photo: Will Thomas / Flickr)

"When I despair I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall, think of it - always!" - Mahatma Gandhi

For Americans, these are dangerous and momentous times. We have only a small window of opportunity to break the grip of moneyed interests on our government, before an advancing oligarchy consolidates power and locks in tyranny.

This article is an urgent call to organize a mass-based political movement in the coming months and through the 2016 elections. If we rise to the occasion and fight, we can reclaim democracy, regain control of our future, and preserve the dreams of our children, and for the coming generations.

Without a sweeping grassroots movement, loudly pushing and protesting for reforms, populist candidates, or coalitions in Congress will never have the power to defeat the forces of a corrupt ruling class. Robber barons have resurfaced with a vengeance in the past four decades, openly attacking our democratic system, while buying power to extend and protect their privilege in perpetuity.

The immense tide of social progress that flourished in the 20th century, from antitrust reforms and the New Deal social safety net, to environmental regulation, civil rights and women's rights, are collectively in the bull's eye of a demolition ball. As manufactured austerity and deep cuts to essential social services continue, Wall Street banks and US multinational corporations remain the true welfare queens. In 2013, corporate tax breaks amounted to $176 billion. Incredibly, companies like General Electric, Boeing, Verizon, Bank of America, and Citigroup paid no income tax at all, and some even received a refund!

Robber barons have resurfaced with a vengeance in the past four decades, openly attacking our democratic system, while buying power to extend and protect their privilege in perpetuity.

Economic disenfranchisement of working Americans has metastasized since the 1980s, when right-wing and corporatist coalitions began limiting wage growth, outsourcing, union-busting, and transferring jobs to so-called "right-to-work" states or sending them overseas.

We know we are under siege. Less clearly understood is how the oligarchs achieved their goals of privatization, a disempowered workforce and a weakened populace.

A variety of dirty strategies have been deployed to fully subvert "government of the people, by the people and for the people." All around the country, and particularly in states like North Carolina, Michigan, Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin, they have gerrymandered electoral districts, suppressed millions of votes, and outright rigged and stolen high-stakes elections. Now, they are attempting to further rig blue states by changing Electoral College rules from winner-take-all to proportional representation. Meanwhile, the activist right-wing Supreme Court's anti-democratic decisions that money equals speech and corporations are persons have ensured that voters are out-gunned by billions of corporate dollars unleashed into the bribery system known as campaign financing.

"We have to be every bit as ambitious, and every bit as holistic in seeking to defend democracy, as those who are seeking to destroy it."  This galvanizing call to action by Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, is a roadmap for our nascent democracy movement.

We cannot continue struggling separately for myriad causes, while social progress is reversed piecemeal and democracy itself dismantled. Unless we organize to preserve the ability of the people to shape public policy, it is crystal clear that there will be no justice, no peace, no ecological sustainability, no amelioration of climate change and no end to poverty and economic oppression.

Now is the time to link our formidable strengths as organizers and activists.

At this 11th hour, the corruption of the US political system is endemic and has become a global threat. All the criminals involved in Wall Street's massive Ponzi conspiracies, which crashed the world's economy, have escaped indictment. Climate change deniers are elected to Congress and financed through campaign contributions from fossil fuel billionaires. Diabolically, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) treaty provisions are being crafted in secret by lobbyists, targeting every sector of society for corporate domination, while members of Congress are kept in the dark.

"We have to be every bit as ambitious, and every bit as holistic in seeking to defend democracy, as those who are seeking to destroy it."

Our political system is now fully rigged to allow the ruling elite to permanently manipulate our economic future, while granting corporations the freedom to exploit and pollute the world at will.

The malignant strategy began in 1971 when Lewis Powell – then a corporate tobacco lawyer -- galvanized the US Chamber of Commerce. The Powell Memo was a call to arms for corporate interests to mobilize against the "frontal assault" of 1960s progressive activism. Powell recommended monitoring textbooks, infiltrating campuses, forcibly injecting "free market" propaganda into the media, stacking the courts and packing government with allies. The effort spawned theAmerican Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the Heritage Foundation, and other powerful consortiums of far-right think tanks and lobbyists. Over decades they succeeded in dramatically warping the American political and economic landscape in the image of Ayn Rand; champion of laissez-faire extremism and the deranged, sophomoric "virtue of selfishness."

The result is that not mere selfishness, but obscene greed has been elevated to virtue.

Over the past 30 years,60% of all wealthhas been funneled to the top 1% of the population.Wall Street and their lobbyists are at war with Main Street; offshore tax loopholes inflate corporate balance sheets, while creating a disincentive for investing in American factories, infrastructure and jobs. The United States is not "broke," as austerity pundits proselytize - we are being deliberately starved. Our debt, and our balance of trade would be healthy if we had not cut taxes for the wealthy and mega-corporations, while outsourcing industry. The ultimate travesty, of course, was the (fraudulently elected) Bush-Cheney administration and its accomplices using the 9/11 tragedy to orchestrate a privatized war on false evidence. Iraq has cost $2 trillion to date, and with interest may increase to $6 trillion.

Never before in American history have we simultaneously conducted a war and cut taxes.

The brutal conflict itself, and the sham economic crisis that ensued, has endangered millions of Americans' health and survival, including Iraq veterans whose suicide rate skyrockets while benefits are delayed or denied.

Barack Obama's presidency put an end to the hopes of many progressives that profound change will come through the Democratic party. Hillary Clinton certainly will not take on Wall Street. The truth is that too many Democratic politicians spent the past decades sucking up to corporate donors,  and are now trapped in a lobbyist-controlled box canyon, where bag-men for industry hold most of the cards for their elections. Moderate, progressive and populist candidates who may truly want to restore democracy are overpowered by increasingly expensive campaigns, and a ruthless cabal that doesn't hesitate to cheat and surreptitiously buy elections. In 2013, the Koch brothers spent over half a million dollars in anonymous campaign donations to derail the Wisconsin recall campaign against Tea Party favorite, Governor Scott Walker.

All together, it is a multi-pronged assault, crippling our ability to confront the barrage of regressive laws aimed at social progress and the democratic process itself - legislation often disseminated in the states by ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council).

Yes, the situation is dire. We can despair, or we can act - we choose to act. 

The story of the American people is one of unyielding struggle to make real the promise of opportunity, democracy, justice and equal rights. Our struggle may have been derailed, but it is not dead. We do have the power to pull together a political movement to stop this onslaught.

"Never before in American history have we simultaneously conducted a war and cut taxes."

Our constituency for democracy is vast and growing. Veterans who have fallen through the cracks share the outrage of victims of fraudulent home foreclosure. Working parents holding down multiple jobs share the exhaustion of students struggling under insupportable debt. The unemployed who lost skilled jobs to outsourcing, and underpaid workers without labor rights, share the anger of retirees who lost their pensions and seniors who fear for the social safety net.

The list goes on. Minorities, whose votes are suppressed, women once again fighting - and being arrested - for reproductive rights, victims of the for-profit prison industry and the "war on drugs." Millions opposed to wars of aggression, to drones, to the NSA spy network and attempted corporate domination of the internet - the last bastion of democracy.

We are a potentially massive constituency, comprised of entire cities - like Detroit and Flint - forced into bankruptcy and "emergency corporate management," whole communities threatened by fracking and extreme environmental degradation. And finally, the younger generations; millenials who know that climate change is fundamentally jeopardizing their future.

Together, we cannot fail to effect change. We must be ready to put aside parochial and ideological differences, stand together, and link arms to pass on a working democracy and a livable planet.

Growing a Mass Movement

History provides us with time-tested strategies for success. Our people's movement must be as rooted in democratic values as Gandhi's India was in its struggle against the British Empire; as morally grounded as the Civil Rights and the anti-Vietnam War movements; as indefatigable as women's suffrage activists. Imagine what these brilliant democracy warriors could have done with the power of the internet and social media to instantly reach millions.

Coalition-building is the critical first step among established organizers, recognizing that our key issues will ultimately be won only by uniting to radically rebalance the political playing field.

The fix will require nothing less than a coordinated grassroots democratic revolution, emerging from rural towns and cities, building state-by-state and initially tackling with laser-like focus:

• The issue of money and corruption in politics and elections
• Preventing vote rigging, suppression and gerrymandering of pivotal elections in 2014 and 2016 
• Economic justice reform
• Ending corporate personhood / passing campaign finance reform (CFR)
• Establishing public financing of elections in cities and states
• Requiring transparency of political contributions and contributors
• Closing the revolving door of politician-lobbyists
• Protecting voting rights and preventing suppression
• Restoring transparency of the vote count
• Taxing all Wall Street transactions up to 1%
• Ending corporate welfare tax loopholes
• Supporting cities being forced into bankruptcies
• Supporting families in bank foreclosure or auction
• Creating public financing of elections
• Organize boycotts and protests at the Wall Street banks

The exceptionally good news is that powerful democracy movement-building efforts are already gaining traction, spearheaded by organizations like the NAACP's Moral Mondays, Move to Amend, the New Hampshire Rebellion, Wolf Pac, Represent Us, and dozens of others.

Mutual respect alone will deter infiltration and prevent dissolution of our efforts.

Long-term strategies include ending "corporate personhood" by a constitutional amendment or convention, and closing Washington's corporate lobbyist revolving door through federal anti-corruption legislation. Immediate legislative victories are being won at the state level for transparency and limits of campaign contributions, and public financing of elections. Voting Rights organizations are defeating ALEC's new Jim Crow Voter ID laws in multiple state courts. Election Integrity activists are struggling to protect our ballots, but need the muscle of a real movement to secure full transparency of our voting systems, as Germany and Ireland have done by outlawing riggable electronic voting machines we still use in the US.

Meanwhile, online activist networks are exploding daily across the internet, while protests and marches are proliferating. Citizens of all ages and classes are risking arrest in nonviolent civil disobedience in frontline states like Wisconsin, North Carolina and Michigan. Activists across myriad "issue silos," are beginning to link arms, coalescing toward the inevitable movement to reclaim American democracy.

We are very near to reaching the tipping point.

In Detroit on July 24, a federal court will decide how the bankrupted city's assets - including pensions - will be carved up and privatized by banks, Koch-funded extremists and a corporate "emergency manager" appointed by right-wing governor Dick Snyder. Citizens will protest the hostile takeover. Lets join them! 

We are natural allies with the burgeoning global climate change movement. An unprecedented climate mobilization is planned for the weekend of September 20-21 in New York City, where heads of state from around the world will gather. This is an opportunity for the democracy and climate movements to converge in mutual support.

To become a more unified democracy movement, we should debate tactics and solutions, but we must avoid toxic divisiveness, unnecessary competition and negative criticisms of each other's efforts. During the 1960s' anti-war movement, many organizations fought for dominance, imagining their organization was the "vanguard of the revolution." Mutual respect alone will deter infiltration and prevent dissolution of our efforts.

However, to reach our ultimate goal - to inspire tens of millions of Americans to act boldly and in concert to save democracy - our movement must catalyze around a set of demands that will also clearly lead to economic, social and environmental justice.

Rebuilding Main Street: Taxing Wall Street and Ending Corporate Welfare

The Democracy Movement can rapidly build broad public support for a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) on all Wall Street trades of stocks, derivatives, bonds and other financial instruments, which could generate  trillions of dollars over the coming decade. A properly designed FTT (0.05% up to 1%  - depending on how risky the trade) - will not affect small individual investors, normal consumer activity, or pensions and savings. However it will impact hedge funds, casino-style speculative banking and high frequency trading - the very activity that crashed our economy in 2008 and is certain to do so again. The FTT should be designed to suppress the type of speculative gambling that led to the 2008 crash.

Ending corporate welfare by closing tax loopholes would bring trillions of tax dollars and capital back into the American economy. Of the top 100 publicly traded companies, 83 engage in pervasive tax evasion.

Why are these two essential economic reforms ideal for building a movement? Because they are already popular on both the left and the right, and they have powerful moral justification: Polls show that Americans do not believe justice was served after the financial crisis, and that Wall Street, the wealthy and corporations do not pay their fair share.

The massive derivative Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Wall Street bankrupted millions of families and homeowners. Yet in the aftermath of the bailout, Wall Street and its clients gained practically all the wealth created, while Americans lost their livelihoods, security, and trillions of dollars in home equity. As the nation drifts further into debt, the Dow is up 3,000 points from pre-crisis levels; financial markets continue producing trillions in profits for their "high-value clients" who anonymously squirrel away wealth - currently estimated to be a substantial portion of the $21 to $32 trillion hidden in Bermuda, Cayman Islands or other offshore shelters.

Most importantly, these financial reforms provide tangible hope for Main Street. Think of it: We could use the funds to rebuild our nation's decaying infrastructure, create millions of good jobs in construction and technology, including renewable and green industry, and environmental restoration projects. We could publicly finance higher education, keeping our workforce competitive, and preserve senior pensions and medical programs. Finally, we could eliminate the deadlock in Congress over how we should balance the budget and begin to reduce the national debt.

Alone, these reforms could stop our collective bleeding and reverse our feudal austerity-bound economy.

These proposals are not radical: An FTT tax is going into effect soon in 11 European Union countries. A US sales tax on Wall Street stocks and bonds existed between 1914 and 1966. Currently, a new FTT tax has been proposed by the National Nurses Union, the Robin Hood organization, and the Tax Wall Street Party.

Occupy Wall Street activists proposed a financial transaction tax, just before the police forcefully attacked their encampments in multiple cities. The demand was dropped soon after. Some suspect deliberate infiltration of Occupy squashed this brilliant organizing goal and directed the movement into a "no demand" zone.

We could publicly finance higher education, keeping our workforce competitive, and preserve senior pensions and medical programs.

Currently, Occupy-inspired groups nationwide are developing innovative ideas for democratic, social and economic change. Perhaps the Wall Street FTT will once again become a strategic rallying point for the movement that brought us the most illuminating, slogan of the 21st Century: We are the 99%.

Grassroots Organizing, Goals, Strategies and Actions

Movement building can grow quickly at the grassroots by organizing where local activists meet to build the relationships and coalitions that are the basis of a mass movement.

A strong movement builds around activists who have been involved in organizing efforts, creating local democracy assemblies. Such assemblies should embrace the positive leadership of those who are respectful and listen well, avoid male dominance and ensure diverse participation. It is absolutely necessary that we create a cohesive, optimistic common vision of democratic social change, and guard that it is not corrupted by anger or extremism. Vigilance should be maintained against disruption of meetings or campaigns by intelligence agencies or private security companies.

Community assemblies are best used to educate through readings, videos or guest speakers. They should define the negative effects that attacks on democratic institutions have had on their various constituencies. Citizens who lost their homes in the fraudulent loan modification foreclosures should be invited to share their experiences.

From these assemblies, spokespersons can be elected to attend city-wide, regional or state organizing conferences to develop legislation initiatives, coordinate protests and define overall state and regional goals.

Additional goals can be added by local organizers, based on local conditions and issues (please forgive us if your core issues are not mentioned).

Another critical area of focus is to stop the mass suppression of First Amendment rights. In all states where capitol buildings have been recently closed to speech, petition, assembly, singing and other peaceful conduct, we need to mount legal teams to eliminate the restriction of protest by "free speech zones."

Actions, Protests, Marches and Nonviolent Civil Disobedience

Like previous effective movements, ours must have its base in education and peaceful direct actions aimed at gaining mass support. Experienced activists should be welcomed to share the successful tactics and strategies employed by groups such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Civil Rights organization and the antinuclear Clamshell Alliance.

Absolute nonviolence is essential, knowing that the illegal COINTELPRO - style efforts begun in the 1960s are still underway, and that 99 percent of the time, violence is perpetrated by provocateurs sent to infiltrate and disrupt effective movements. We must follow the traditions of nonviolent resistance set forth by Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez. Always, always disassociate from violence!

Each community and individual can decide what kind of activism they are comfortable embracing, and this can change over time, and in differing circumstances.

In all states where Capitol Buildings have been recently closed to speech, petition, assembly, singing and other peaceful conduct, we need to mount legal teams to eliminate the restriction of protest by "free speech zones."

Local democracy organizing work can focus on public education, voter registration, citizen Election Day watchdog groups, ballot initiatives, legislative and regulatory reform. Each state has different electoral laws and regulations, run by a secretary of state or other officials; every county has election offices. Many officials may be sympathetic or helpful, so should not be approached as "the enemy." However, in some states, they are the enemy; deliberately obfuscating honest reform attempts or attempting to suppress voters for a partisan agenda.

When reform is resisted, demonstrations and protests may be warranted, including nonviolent civil disobedience (NVCD).

NVCD should not be taken lightly, especially in repressive states or cities. Activists need training, legal support and a fund for bail. They must isolate aggressive and violent infiltrators if they appear in the midst of a demonstration. Each assembly or network should have a nonviolence agreement that all members must sign. Discussions with local police departments before actions may keep violence by security forces to a minimum. Police departments can be approached by ministers, rabbis and priests in advance of demonstrations to set a civil tone.

All protest movements need a target that focuses public attention on a glaring injustice that is easily identifiable and channels anger toward reform. Highly effective targets today are Wall Street Banks. A primary action could be to boycott and protest at the banks that perpetrated massive fraud in mortgage modifications and illegal foreclosures. These include JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, CitiBank Group, and Wells Fargo.

JP Morgan Chase was recognized as the worst perpetrator of mortgage and foreclosure fraud following its $25 billion dollars government bailout; just Google "Chase loan modification scam" to find thousands of complaints and lawsuits. This abuse continues today. Millions of people have lost their homes or have friends and relatives who lost their homes. Chase offers more than 5,100 branches and 16,100 ATMs nationwide.  A national boycott of JP Morgan Chase, or a coordinated protest by millions of democracy movement activists at Chase bank offices in thousands of communities is recommended, at the same time demanding that Wall Street and its political allies in Congress and the White House pass the Financial Transaction Tax and corporate-welfare reform legislation.

A focused protest movement targeting Chase can - and almost certainly will - go viral nationally and internationally. Chase operates in more than 85 countries. When President Nixon derailed the United Farm Workers grape boycott by shipping grapes to Europe, Cesar Chavez convinced European unions to take up the boycott, ensuring the grapes could not be unloaded in Europe's docks by union members. Think about a Chase boycott by our pro-democracy, anti-austerity allies in Europe.

Si, Se Puede!

Yes, we can. And, we must.

We know that the coming years are critical to the well-being and survival of our communities, our society and our environment. In our hearts, and in our guts, we know that we must birth this democracy movement now. We owe nothing less to the coming generations. The elders of past movements must contribute and pass the baton of dedicated, nonviolent resistance. We must teach our children by example how to fight for freedom and justice. Only in this way will we fulfill the dream of opportunity for millions of Americans, and in the spirit of Martin Luther King, bend the moral arc of the universe back toward justice.

Will you join us?

Without you, we can't win. With you, we can't lose.

Suggested Democracy Movement Organizing Goals for 2014-2016: Legislation and Action

● Corporate Personhood / Campaign Finance Reform (CFR)
A long-term strategy is already underway to end corporate personhood by means of a Constitutional Amendment (or Convention). Our short-term strategy should be to promulgate state-by-state legislation or ballot initiatives for limiting the corruption of special interest contributions to political candidates and parties. Despite Citizens United and McCutcheon, strong reforms are possible; it's still legal to limit direct corporate or individual contributions to candidates or political parties both at the State and Federal level, and public financing of elections is a viable, constitutional alternative.

● Public Financing of Elections
Every state democracy movement should promote public financing of state-wide political candidate and legislative races. Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, Arizona and a number of other states have various laws allowing candidates to raise small contributions from voters, which are then matched exponentially with public funds.

● Transparency of Political Contributions and Contributors
Any donation over $200 dollars to any political campaign or issue advertisement during the election campaigns must be posted, and contributors identified. Vermont proposed legislation requiring any donor contributing more than 50% of a Super PAC's revenue must appear in any electronic advertisements purchased. If the donor is a corporation, then the chief executive is required to appear in the ads.

● Close the Revolving Door of Politician-Lobbyists
The suggested reforms vary, but no politician or legislative staff should be allowed to lobby the governmental body in which they worked for a number of years after they leave their office or government staff position. A three-year moratorium is supported by many groups.

● Protect Voting Rights and Prevent Suppression
Though the Supreme Court has undermined the Voting Rights Act, we can ensure that every eligible citizen can vote by joining the successful state-by-state fight against discriminatory Voter ID laws, purging of voter roles, and to promote fair citizen-controlled redistricting. We can mobilize citizen watchdog efforts to expose and prevent attempts to restrict voting (the Tea Party Secretary of State in Ohio recently shut down Sunday voting, which will predominantly affect African-American church-goers), place insufficient voting machines in minority districts (creating up to 11 hour lines), and myriad other Election Day "dirty tricks."

● Restore Transparency of the Vote Count
Nationwide, secretly programmed corporate electronic voting machines have undermined the integrity of our elections and trust in democracy. Touchscreen machines in 17 states currently provide no paper ballot. Paperless Internet voting is now being proposed despite the inevitability of rigging, hacking, loss of voter privacy and intimidation. In counties where voting systems are being replaced, we have the immediate opportunity to demand paper-based systems, so that hand counts, audits, and recounts can be conducted transparently, with full public oversight – the requirement of democratic self-governance.

● Tax all Wall Street Transactions Up to 1%
Most Wall Street transactions are trades or investment purchases that the wealthy (and corporations) recycle into the financial markets to grow their nest egg of tax- exempt earnings. We can exempt pension plans, 401Ks, and health savings accounts. Small investors will not be unduly affected.

● End Corporate Welfare Tax Loopholes
A grassroots campaign could focus on all candidates running for Federal office in 2014 and 2016, demanding they pledge to end all corporate welfare and off-shore tax avoidance.

● Organize Boycotts and Protests at the Wall Street Banks
Focus on the banks that perpetrated massive fraud in mortgage modifications and illegal foreclosures. The Democracy Movement will work to organize a Boycott against JP Morgan Chase starting with protests at the 5100 Chase offices nationwide.

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. If you'd like to donate to News From Underground, please visit http://markcrispinmiller.com/donate - we appreciate your ongoing support.
 
Ways to unsubscribe, 1) send a blank email to newsfromunderground+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. PLEASE NOTE: you must unsubscribe using the SAME email with which you subscribed; 2) go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page.
 
For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com