The Challenge We Face
Simon Rosenberg from the NDN has a run-down of the legacy of George W. Bush:
a drop in the standard of living for average Americans; the creation of structural budget deficits coming right before the fiscal time bomb of the retirement of the boomers; a decline in our rates of broadband penetration relative to the rest of the world; more without health insurance, in poverty and with dangerous levels of household debt; rising crimes rates; an education reform approach underfunded by tens of billions of dollars; a weakening of our support for trade liberalization; a shifting of the tax burden from the wealthy to the middle class; an era of what has been perhaps unmatched corruption, lying and betrayal of the public trust; a weakening of our long-cherished civil liberties, including the suspension of habeas corpus for non US citizens; the publicly sanctioned demonization of Hispanics, the fastest growing part of the American family; and of course there is the great one, Iraq, and our incredible tossing away of the opportunity to remake the world in a way true to our values after 9/11 when the whole world was with us.
This is the challenge we face as Americans. Senator Kerry is working in the Senate to grapple with this enormous task of rebuilding the country, but, as he often says when he encourages activism, it is a job for all of us. We have a unique situation in our history: never has one administration left such an enormous mess for Americans, but, also, never have we had so much potential to empower citizens to help clean up this mess.
With the continued growth of the Internet as an organizing tool, we have awesome tools at our disposal that still have not reached near their potential. And we have a Senator like Senator Kerry who is willing to take on the tough fights and lead us in this effort.
It’s hard to describe the idealism and potential I’ve seen since I started working for Senator Kerry without sounding grandiose, but there it is … we truly are at an important moment in American history, and we really do have the power to shape the 21st century. And by “we” I mean all of us: Senator Kerry, me, you, everyone who is willing to fight and work for a new America.
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Thanks for the shot in the arm, Brian. It’s easy to think of politics as something totally outside ourselves, but as Simon Rosenberg points out, if we get lazy with our activism, we can become too dependent on leaders who aren’t interested in our quality of life.
You’re right, Brian. We need to use the internet because it’s about all we have left.
I switched between four news channels today and couldn’t find anything except coverage of Paris Hilton’s return to jail or Bush’s tummy ache.
Someone has to do something about the msm. There is no news for those who don’t read the blogs or the newspapers.
The internet and print media are our only hope.
Let’s get to work!
Absolutely right, Brian! This Administration has left our country and our world in a shambles but there is enormous energy out here if it can only be organized and inspired. And Senator Kerry is just the leader to do it!
I agree Brian, and I am thrilled that Senator Kerry is leading the way in his usage of the internet to organize and encourage activisim. (He always seems to be one step ahead of the rest, doesn’t he?)
The fact that the internet can bring together people from around the world (with varying talents) and allows them to work toward a common goal, is priceless. No other medium allows for that degree of interaction.
Also, while even well intentioned folks on the internet are sometimes distracted by bright shinny objects, it’s really (at this time in history) the only place to go for actual news, rather than a cooperate viewpoint.
I am so happy that JK realizes all of this too.
Amen to that, Brian.
I find myself traveling the blogospheres quite a bit, reading many progressive blogs and posting regularly to some. In those other venues I’ve become somewhat known for spreading basically that same message of hope, not just fear, for what can happen over the next few years to rebuild America the way it’s supposed to be.
I see the same groundswell of enthusiasm for what we can make happen if we work together really building across the whole spectrum of political blogs these days. And it’s a very inspiring thing to be part of.
People are becoming every more aware that we’ve got a historically unique opportunity to change history here. The power of online communication technologies to bring people together and to help them coalesce around shared principles and ideas has led to an unprecedented level of citizen empowerment, and at an especially critical time.
All of the things that have happened over the course of the last several years have changed our country immensely and, in many case, irrevocably. But at the same time, this has also brought us to the point where everything we do over the course of the next several years matters—and it all matters a lot.
These are the times that try men’s souls, the classic quote says. These are the times that try womens’ souls too, of course—truth be told, these are the times that try all of humanity’s souls. We’re in the middle of a maelstrom right now that will define the history of this country and this planet for the rest of this century.
The tumultuous ‘60’s with their civil rights actions, anti-war activism, and renewed awareness of peace, liberty and justice for all helped to define the cumulative history of the 20th century for many generations to come. We’re living in the center of just such a watershed period of history now, too. What we do over the next several years—each of us individually, but more especially, all of us working collectively—will define the 21st century from here on out.
That may sound like fancy rhetoric, but I honestly believe it’s true. We are at a critical crossroads in the history of America and of the world right now. The internet has given us an incredibly powerful set of tools to work with. We can, and we should—and hell, we must—use those tools to effect positive change on a sweeping but fundamentally citizen-driven level that could never have happened at any other time in history.
Scholars will be spending the next hundred years writing textbooks about this unique era of unprecedented opportunity for positive social change in the face of global madness. I, for one, intend to do my part to help make sure the stories in those textbooks have happy endings. And it’s committed communities of citizen activists like this one that really make me believe that they will.