|
Discord
Mar 24, 2020 18:35:29 GMT -6
Post by RGirtman on Mar 24, 2020 18:35:29 GMT -6
I've set up a Discord Server in an effort to make a little more headway at a quicker pace. I will host a discussion tomorrow at 8PM/7PM Central. Discord Invite (I'll update daily, as needed): discord.gg/SvggpVFeel free to share this link all over Social Media.
|
|
|
Discord
Mar 25, 2020 14:44:30 GMT -6
Post by RGirtman on Mar 25, 2020 14:44:30 GMT -6
New link, This one doesn't expire so it's useful for social media outreach: discord.gg/cuFw8q6
|
|
|
Discord
Mar 25, 2020 21:28:01 GMT -6
Post by RGirtman on Mar 25, 2020 21:28:01 GMT -6
The transcript of my introduction during tonight's discussion.
I'd like to begin by thanking everyone for showing up here tonight. I think it's pretty clear that most of us are Berniecrats. Some of us are socialists, others populists. Many are disaffected Democrats, some disillusioned Republicans, and I'm willing to bet even a few disappointed Greens and Libertarians, and more than a few independents that have been searching for a political home for a long time. We have a broad coalition of people, assembled together for a single unifying purpose.
Each of us here, without regard to past differences, who, through repeated betrayals, realize that today the power of the crooked political bosses and of the privileged classed behind them is so strong in the two old party organizations that no helpful movement in the real interests of our country can come out of either;
Who believe that the time has come for a national progressive movement -- a nationwide movement -- on non-sectional lines, so that the people may be served in sincerity and truth by an organization unfettered by obligation to conflicting interests;
Who believe in the right and capacity of the people to rule themselves, and effectively to control all the agencies of their government, and to hold that only through social, economic, and environmental justice, can honest people find permanent protection;
Who believe that government by the few tends to become, and has in fact become, government by the sordid influences that control the few;
Who believe that only through the movement proposed can we obtain in the nation and the several states the legislation demanded by the modern economic evolution; legislation which shall favor honest business and yet control the great agencies of modern business so as to insure their being used in the interest of the whole people; legislation which shall promote prosperity and at the same time secure the better and more equitable diffusion of wealth; legislation which shall promote the economic well being of the honest farmer, wage-worker, professional man, and business man alike, but which shall at the same time strike in efficient fashion -- and not pretend to strike -- at the roots of privilege in the world of industry no less than in the world of politics;
Who believe that only this type of wise economic evolution will avert economic destruction;
Who believe that wholesome party government can come only if there is wholesome party management in a spirit of service to the whole country, and who hold that the concept that "Thou shalt not steal" also applies to politics as well as business;
It doesn't matter if you are a Democratic socialist or a Social Democrat; A Populist or an Environmentalist; a native-born citizen, or an immigrant who calls this great nation home; a New Deal Democrat, an Eisenhower Republican, or a Berniecrat -- we are all, each and every one of us, Progressives. That is how we will present ourselves to the nation and the world. We cannot afford to fracture and sectionalize. We cannot say that your kind of progressive is any less or more valid than my brand of progressive or anyone else's. We are here. Now. Today. United in common cause.
Some have suggested that we should work within the Democratic Party to enact fundamental change. That idea is floated every 4 years. And every 4 years, it never works. The Democratic Party talks a good game, playing lip service to our progressive voice during election season. Then as soon as they no longer need our vote, they return to their practice of Radical centrism, silencing our voices. Punishing any who speak out against the DNC leadership, threatening progressives who dare to give primary challenges to incumbent centrist democrats, withdrawing funds from anyone who refuses to endorse the DNCs centrist agenda. The Democratic Party has made it abundantly clear that they do not value our voice -- that we are not welcome within their Establishment. Nor should we want to be.
I'm not asking you to join my party with my ideas and my rules and my regulations thrust upon you with the vague promise that I'll try to listen to your concerns and maybe think about considering changing my position to fit your needs like the Democrats and Green Party among others pretend to do.
What I AM asking is for each of us to band together and collectively declare with one voice THIS IS WHO WE ARE. All of us get to decide ALL of our platform.
All of us get to decide ALL of our rules.
All of us get to decide.
One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from the TV show The West Wing... In it, the fictional President Bartlett said "Decisions are made by those that show up."
Today. You showed up.
What do you say? Are you ready to make some decisions?
|
|