Ideas for a New Conversation about Our Country

The events of the last month and a half have only served to make it clear that we are witnessing a slow motion train wreck in our national politics. Some have called for the creation of a third party, and some for a caucus withing the Democratic Party that would bring it back to the values that many of us believe in, and try to staunch the hemorrhaging of values that the fruitless pursuit of compromise has opened up in the party as a whole.

There's already a "No Labels" movement that has its own Facebook page, but it seems to be too weak-kneed and a bit too protective of the corporatist mentality to suit me. I kind of like Tom Morello (The Nightwatchman) and his new efforts like "Union Town" and his upcoming "World Wide Rebels." My Cranky Wobbly side feels good about it. But what will it accomplish in this day and age? Probably not much more than a few spirited demonstrations that won't get reported in the corporate media, except for a few put-downs on Fox News.

So what do we need? Well, we need to start talking and have some "fierce conversations," as the book that my old boss liked so much described them. So here's my list of fierce conversations that we as a nation of citizens need to have. And we should not invite the politicians, pundits, talk show hosts, journalists, Chambers of Commerce, think tanks, or anyone else who has had a hand in increasing the toxicity of our national conversation. Just us. Just people. The people, left and right, who are angry about politicians being so brazenly bought. The people, left and right, who are saddened by hate and fear. The people who are tired of seeing angry trolls commenting on every news story, no matter how removed from politics it really is, simply to try to prove their rigid political beliefs.

So here is my list of difficult but vital conversations we need to have as citizens:

1. Review our Constitution and our values as a nation. Understand the type of government we have, and how it is supposed to work. Truly understand and explore the implications of the concept that "the government" is no more and no less than us - the voice of the people.

2. Review our social compact, and the human rights that we expect ourselves and all people in the world to honor, and take measure of how we are doing in respect to those basic human rights.

3. Examine our concept of quality of life on more than just an economic or market-based level. Examine the relationship of the economy to the quality of life of citizens. Examine how our economic system fosters and/or hinders opportunity for all of us to participate meaningfully and satisfyingly in our economy. Ask the fierce questions and have the fierce conversations about the ideas of "the free market," and "economic planning" and avoid decisions to support or oppose these ideas in a rigid way. Decide what we want to set the rules to be, to assure equal opportunity, inclusive participation, and fairness, and to avoid exploitation, corruption, and exclusion in our economic life.


4. Decide on what we want our government to do for us. This includes military defense when necessary, governance, order, and justice for citizens, our role in the international community, and our support for the engines of economic operation.

5. Decide how we intend to pay for the things we want government to do. Come to an agreement on how to assure that this is fair and equitable so that hardship and deprivation for some are not the price for success for others.

6. Make a plan for sustainable operation of this process, with the awareness that money is not a fixed reality, but a social contract with myriad implications, and that the natural resources and human resources necessary for that process are finite and, fragile, and must be respected and nurtured.

7. Affirm the idea of balance. Recognize that individuals' rights and interests, and the rights and interests of groups, must stay in balance.

8. Examine power and how it is used and abused in our nation. Develop ways to empower those who lack power, and to curtail the abuse of power by those who would abuse it for their own pleasure or self-aggrandizement.

9. Rethink the idea of corporations, and clearly articulate what we as the public want corporations to be, to do, and to have. Recognize that corporations only exist by the consent of the people, just as governments only exist by the consent of the governed. Re-examine the participatory effectiveness of corporations, especially multinational corporations, and decide how we as a nation want to allow them to exist (not the other way around). Set guidelines to assure that corporations do not have the power to harm our democracy or the public good.Explore and encourage where possible alternative forms of corporate structure and governance, including worker collaboration and employee ownership. Empower shareholders and block speculators from harming shareholders.