We the People

Do Some GOOD Today

Two Items from Jen Hofmann’s
Americans of Conscience Action List

 

resist_1.pngIt has been more than a year since the current person occupying the White House along with a curiously right leaning Congress began implementing changes which have altered and at times threatened the lives and wellbeing of common people.  Even those who support the person whom some call “45” have begun to realize the People are not his primary interest.

Last year, many began flying a banner with the essential sentiment “Resist!”.  When a perceived wrong is being committed by anyone—an individual, a collection of individuals or a government—resistance represents the bare minimum activity for people of conscience.  But resistance is not enough.  We who truly do seek the wellbeing of the People should be focused primarily on proactive behavior that seeks to enhance or at least maintain the rights and privileges Americans have come to expect.

Jennifer-Hofmann-image-1.jpg

In this light, for well over a year, Jen Hofmann has been faithfully posting both opportunities for various types of action and thanks to those who have acted on behalf of others.  Although we have posted several links to Jen’s Action List in the past, we have not yet passed on anything from her list this year.  Today, we correct that.  Take a look at a couple entries from Jen’s list.  Better yet, go over to her page and choose something to do this week. (more…)

Inside-Outside II

Introduction to Part II

journey 3 - Part II

We began this journey with the Sophia Burns article on the movie, The Last Jedi.  Uncharacteristic for the Star Wars series, the general message was curiously populist—that people cannot rely on leaders or grand heroic figures to “fix things”.  We must rely on ourselves. In this second segment of Inside-Outside, we consider the driving forces within us and our collective experience as these forces impact our ability to choose.  Toward the end of the article, a simple exercise is presented—an exercise which, if employed diligently, could revolutionize our daily lives. (more…)

Free Tea in the South

“Human freedom is not freedom from conditions,
but freedom to take a stand and to face whatever conditions
might confront [us]” ~ Viktor Frankl

Tea Man in Selma_5881-1024x768

Remember the nomadic Giusepi Spadafora, the Tea Man? Instead of going west last fall, it turns out, the Tea Man and Edna Lu (the traveling Tea Bus) went south.  You can read a detailed account of what he has been up to the last few months on his blog.

(more…)

What is Democracy?

Death of Democracy

Part IV: What is Democracy

Demacracy is a Fraud.PNGClasos/CON/Getty

What is this thing we call “democracy”.  Just as once there was some general consensus about the nature of truth—facts in the public sphere—we once believed we shared a relatively common meaning of the word “democracy”.  One of the reasons we (both in the U.S. and internationally) do not agree on how our governments should operate is that while we might call our form of government “democratic”, that is, reflecting the basic principles of democracy, we do not necessarily agree on the set of principles that constitute such an idea.  When we use the phrase “death of democracy”, we might not be talking about the demise of actual “democracy” at all.  In fact, we might be talking about something considerably more pervasive, profound and, if lost, catastrophic for American society.

(more…)