Move To Amend Conference

This is a synopsis from my first day at the Madison Democracy Convention that Move To Amend organized, along with affiliates.  Working together we can address the following “Hurts”.  I am including what I learned from experts in each of the following areas:  the environment, finance, voting , education, local government elected official, the military, and energy.  When they were asked:  What do you see as the biggest “Hurt” from your prospective?:  These were their responses:

1.       Young people do not see that their vote matters.  They are the key. Young people are the most powerful group at the ballot box but they do not feel that that is the case.

2.      There is an overwhelming feeling among public school teachers and administrators that they are losing the battle to save public education.  Educators feel beaten down by the mega-corporate message to privatize, monetize and kill the public schools of America.

3.       The economic agenda that has taken over the economy of the United States is being applied around the world.  The result is a loss of opportunity for our children, and for children around the world.

4.      The fragmentation of the movement through the denial of the public that our lives, our economy, our elections, our legal system, and our political system has been co-opted by mega-corporations.  It is hard to work in alliance when mega-corporations are spending so much time and effort to encourage groups to work individually instead of as a group.

5.      Too many people feel discouraged.  Too many people no longer feel they are living in a representative democracy and do feel that their government is working against “We the People” and in favor of “We the Corporations”.  Young people, in particular must be shown (convinced) that they matter, that their vote matters.

6.      There is too much of a disparity of wealth.  1% of the people have 50% of the wealth.  If we were dealing with food, bread for instance, 1 person gets 50 loaves of bread while 50 people share 1 loaf of bread.

7.      Global Climate change is changing our world but the mega-corporate energy companies have convinced too many that it not a problem to concern themselves with.

8.      Our government is participating in a total take over from the people to mega-corporations.  Financial mobility is nearly extinct in the United States.

9.      The United States military-Industrial complex is the biggest purveyor of hurt in the history of the world.  Our arms, our bombs, our wars hurt many directly, and hurt many more, indirectly.  We now have an economic draft that replaced the draft that was in place during the Viet Nam war.

10.   Too many of our children no longer have hope.  They see no future in a fix by their government, their politicians, nor at the ballot box, which is ever increasingly being taken over by corporate money, corporate interests.

Tomorrow, I will detail what our Move To Amend can do, with affiliates, to reclaim our democracy.