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How to Get Stupid White Men out of Office
un article par Joe
How did a 24-year-old progressive black woman win a seat in the state legislature in the heart of Newt Gingrich country? How did University of Michigan students change the tide in the national debate on affirmative action? How did a 25-year-old Green become mayor of a city in New York? How-and I kid you not-did a young Latina help topple the mighty Daley political machine in Chicago?
The answer to all these questions and more comes in a brand new book from The League of Pissed-Off Voters. The book, entitled How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office, is a collection of inspirational stories chronicling how young people have reclaimed political power and used it to change their world. These youth activists, most with no previous political experience, tell us about their victories in a lively and entertaining way. Reading about their grassroots campaigns is like having a conversation with your best friend:
"So what did you do yesterday, man?"
"Oh not much. Just took on the most powerful developer in the state and helped put three progressives on the city council."
"What!? How'd you do that?"
"Well, man, let me tell you..."
The best part is that the people in these stories are not superheroes; they have no magic powers. They are just normal kids who got together and made a stand-and won big time.
The authors of this book are part of a rising youth culture that is fighting for power in order to make the world a more tolerable place. As one of the book's editors states: "I want to live in peace...[and] peace is a result of good decisions in every realm of life. We must have the power to make those good decisions, or to choose people we trust to make those decisions for us." This book is a manual for asserting that power. It tells us how to defeat Bush and his coterie of "chicken-hawks" in November, how to reclaim democracy at the grassroots, how to forge effective coalitions on a large scale, and how these victories relate to the long-term struggle for a better world.
Everyone-the young, the old, the cynical, the hard-core revolutionary, the average American, frustrated and disempowered-should read this book. In fact, what are you waiting for!? Check out this book, get psyched, and start taking charge of your world right now.
By the way, if you live in a swing state this book is free!
For more info: www.indyvoter.org.
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) liée(s) à cet article:
Can peace be promoted through national elections?,
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Commentaire le plus récent:
Recently there was an election in Wisconsin which failed to recall (replace) the governor who attacked the trade union movement. How should this be interpreted? Here is an excellent analysis which I just received from the Tikkun Network of Spiritual Progressives:
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It is election night in Madison, Wis., and I am standing where it all began, in front of the state Capitol here in the heart of America’s rebel dairyland.
Earlier today was the recall election against Gov. Scott Walker, the viciously right-wing governor whose legislative attacks on public workers and unions sparked a grassroots rebellion in early 2011 involving hundreds of thousands of angry Wisconsinites. The Wisconsin uprising, through its occupation of the Capitol and its sheer massive numbers, inspired people across America and beyond to fight for economic justice in bold new ways, paving the way for Occupy Wall Street in the fall.
For me, the movement was as beautiful as it was personal — I’d gone to college in Madison, taught in the Milwaukee public schools, and organized events in Green Bay. Scott Walker was attacking my old teachers, my students, and my friends. But they fought back, and ####, it looked like they – we! – might actually turn the tide against decades of corporate rule. Standing here outside the Capitol on election day, amidst the glorious Solidarity Singers leading 1,000 people in rousing versions of “Eyes on the Prize” and “Union Maid,” the smell of hope was strong in the summer air.
And then the results came in.
Walker 53%, Barrett 46%.
I saw the blood drain from a thousand faces all at the same time. It wasn’t pretty. . ... continuation.
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