Web Log Purpose

A web log based on the principle that a civilized society deserves democratic government based on integrity. The premise here is the U.S. democracy has effectively been subverted by oligarchical forces which must be opposed with facts and rational thought. (An RSS feed is recommended.)

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Curtis Roosevelt De-bunks "Socialist" as an Epithet

Discrimination because of class difference was bad enough, but our present inequalities have a new, quite sinister origin. Money means power. Super money means super power. It's not just that the top 1 percent -- and the top 0.1 percent -- skims their money off the top. What is more important is that power is concentrated in a very few hands, which is a disaster for our democracy.
In clear tones, not unlike those of Franklin Roosevelt, Curtis Roosevelt encourages the Democratic Party to seize the moment and propose plans and programs which would really help the country now. This is a policy I have advocated for over twenty years. While the names might be different from the "Alphabet" programs of the 30's, new organized efforts to address our deep problems must be made. Programs such as Teach for America can be expanded, too. But under-lying all this must be a deeper discussion about just what kind of country we are to be. Let us re-examine the lyrics of Woody Guthrie who reminded us that this land is your land, it is my land. It is ever so much more than a land of opportunity to get filthy rich. As a matter of fact, it is qualitatively different. Or at least it should be. As Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann have pointed out today's Republican Party has become a political outlier -- extreme and worse than useless to the normal functioning of good government. So, in encapsulated form, this article by Mr. Roosevelt is a useful description of our current state and what needs to be done on the programmatic level to set things on the right path. Let us be about the task! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/curtis-roosevelt/fixing-gross-inequality-i_b_1502708.html

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