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From: Butler Crittenden <•••@••.•••>
Date: Sun, 9 Jul 1995 14:27:31 -0700
To: •••@••.•••
Subject: 5-point program
Prepared for 100 Days, but perhaps of interest and I think it stands on its
own:
--------------------------------
July 9, 1995
The question was, is, and sadly probably will continue to be: Where do
we go from here?
Perhaps "sadly" is the wrong word, after Paul Rosenberg's insightful
critique of my friend's response to "Rational Thinking" -- itself an
anonymous post. Paul reminds us of being-needs as opposed to
deficiency-needs -- those based on deficiencies that must be satisfied.
Being-needs don't sadden me -- at least not in terms of their open-ended
and unknowable future meaning: they are exciting and pierce straight to the
nobler side of humankind. Of course to the extent that being-needs are
abridged, lament we must.
I take being-needs as a given. Humans will change and evolve, enjoy
and celebrate, these needs for as long as we survive as a species on this
or any other planet. But this post isn't about being-needs, for I see
deficiency-needs as either the block to or liberator of being-needs. Again,
Where do we go from here?
1. Accept and harp upon the U.S. Constitution as the framework for
change, governance, and guarantee of our rights as citizens. Remember that
the Constitution includes provision for modification of our sovereignty
through treaties, which primarily means our relationship with the United
Nations, but extends broadly to other treaties and obligations. Of course
some are highly dubious, such as GATT and NAFTA, and probably should be
retracted.
2. Focus on jobs and universal healthcare as the ~sine qua non~ for
all who reside in America, indeed across the globe. Set $15 per hour plus
benefits as the minimum definition of a "job" (right livelihood) in the
U.S.. The "plus benefits" part could take on a new meaning if we achieve
national healthcare and a unified social security system. If we cannot find
enough "jobs" for all that require 40 hours per week, then of course the
hourly wage will have to go up as the work-week goes down.
3. Insist on the maxim that "money is the universal social, cultural,
and political solvent." Defy anyone to name a socio-cultural problem that
cannot be solved with the proper application of resources, which cost
money.
4. Stop railing against technology; accept the concept of "progress"
-- social, cultural, material, and individual. But of course demand that
society -- "we the people" -- have control of the fruits of progress,
especially technology. There simply is no point in jumping into the
Mississippi river intending to stop its flow; there's plenty of point in
deciding how to maintain and use it.
5. End secrecy. Everywhere. In everything.
---------------------------
I intend these five not as the insulting KISS formula, but as KISF --
keep it simple fellow-citizens. Feel free to amend and add items I've
missed. The general logic behind my thinking is a strategy to put
antagonists on the defensive and require them to answer their own
questions. Other: "Yea, but automation and down-sizing are eliminating
jobs." You: "So what do you propose, other than what I've said, to solve
this problem?" Other: "But $15 per hour would make us non-competitive."
You: "What are your assumptions, and which would have to change in order to
pay everyone a living wage?" Other: "Yea, but what about spies and national
security?" You: "Do you know the history of what's been done in the name of
'national security', and by whom? Do you accept that a handful of people do
things in your name that have led to the deaths of hundreds of millions of
human beings -- people just like you and your loved ones? Couldn't we have
resolved these issues differently?"
--
Butler Crittenden -- •••@••.•••
2040 Ellis Street, S.F., CA 94115 -- 415/346-9321
"Imagine the impact of 50,000,000 new voters! Act toward this end! Pass
it on!"
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Posted by Richard K. Moore (•••@••.•••) Wexford, Ireland (USA citizen)
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