Tag: community empowerment

Well-Situated Between New York City and Maine on Primary Day

Wherein I discuss certain warriors in the current struggle for Democracy in America

Up in the north and east from where I’m tap tap tapping away drafting this blog post, they put forward Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee for Senator from Maine two weeks ago on June 9th. The opposition besmirching that happened during the final months of the primary campaign and then immediately after the primary from his opponents’ campaigns seems not to be affecting Platner’s strong following significantly.

Graham Platner on a boat
Oyster Farmer and Senate Candidate Graham Platner

I’m sensitive about this, because I see him as crucial to any chance this country has of defeating the fascist oligarchy currently trying to “revolutionize” this country into oblivion. I keep seeing substanceless attacks pointed at his character, some of which have validity, but only in the context of the history of a man who has had some relatable and entirely understandable struggles.

Nothing in his background can compare to things Donald Trump’s administration does in a typical week. His opponent in the coming general election this November, incumbent Republican Susal Collins, has voted with Trump 95% of the time over the course of their concurrent terms in office. Collins’ close association with the Trump regime renders her far less credible in my estimation than the relatively unknown quantity that Graham Platner represents.

I hope to see Platner sworn in as Senator from Maine when the next Congress convenes this coming January.

To the south and west, it’s primary day today in New York. There are 2 Democratic Socialists of America candidates running for US Congress, and I wish them both the best of luck. It’s great to see leftist candidates making headway in these times of rising fascism. Zohran Mamdani‘s win in New York last year still feels like a bellwether event, and I hope it’s enough of a turning point to actually be a mark on the path towards saving us.

Good luck to Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier today. I dare say that their good luck would extend to the country at large.

I checked the map at the DSA site linked to above, and there is definitely a chapter in my neighborhood, which makes me happy. I’m probably going to check them out. They seem to be on about the same page as the Greens policy-wise, and they’re having a bit more success, because they’re working within the framework of one of the “legitimate” facets of the country’s two-party system.

In fact, it looks like every one of the contiguous states has at least a chapter or two, with the possible exception of West Virginia. I would suggest checking them out, if you’re like-minded. It’s a nexus for grass roots leftism, and since we’re in a fight for the life of this democracy, it might be worth remembering that the USA was always a leftist populist project, and that when working people wake up to the need to fight, and when we align with these left-populist impulses, we’re pretty much unstoppable.

Here in my area, we have a fairly good congressperson in Jim McGovern, and I’ll be supporting his re-election bid. I’ll never forget him mentioning the possibility of a general strike at the town hall he did here in Greenfield last year. The impetus towards that strike has long since dissipated, but it was nice to hear it mentioned by someone with the position, power, and influence to actually help with that project mention the possibility.

Of course, at the same time, he said supportive things about Hakeem Jeffries, who I see as a major part of the problem the Democrats have with their elected officials, but I think it would be very difficult to come up with a better candidate than McGovern for my disctrict right now. We’ve got a long struggle ahead of us. We’re not going to restore American Democracy tomorrow. So as we travel this long, uphill road, we need to pick leaders who can help us get where we’re trying to go.

People who I see as being helpful leaders on the path, I’ve linked to their websites. You can tell who I see as obstructionists by the lack of any such link.

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More Controversial Beliefs: I am a Libertarian Socialist

If you’re going to categorize my politics, this is the stuff I believe society should be organized around.

I am a libertarian socialist. I believe that societies should be organized at as close to ground level as they can possibly be. Centralized power is anathema to human happiness.

In fact, Capitalism never considers the need for people to be whole, healthy, and happy a priority at all. One only has to look at the current state of the world to see that this is so.

Capitalism is a good servant but a poor master. Commerce and trade offer crucial support to a community, but they must be held in check, and carefully managed with the larger context of sustainability and human happiness in mind.

Large corporations should not be allowed, and capitalists should not be allowed to earn more than 50 times the basic income rate, which should be defined in relation to how much it takes to meet basic necessities such as enough good, nutritious food, adequate housing, all other basic expenses met, and enough extra money to save against emergencies and for education and amusement.

Billionaires in general should not exist. I agree with the idea that if you somehow manage to amass a billion dollars, everything over 900 million of those dollars should be taxed at a marginal rate of 100%.

Centralized power should be avoided at all costs. Large concerns should be organized by cooperating communities and/or worker’s coöps. Large concentrations of power cause suffering in the best circumstances. Power should be balanced and distributed into as many different hands as possible. People caught abusing their power should have it taken away.

Administrative tasks should be handled on the most local and small level possible, and larger projects should be organized across boundaries between communities if necessary. Once projects of a larger size are completed, the authorities that created them should be either disbanded or minimized in size to conduct reasonable maintenance of any particular ongoing project. Such authorities should be under the aegis of all impacted communities.

Communities themselves should be organized along two axes: geography and affinity. Society should be as free as it can be made to be, but people should be able to organize based on what they need, like, and want as well as where they exist on the map. Communities should have different sizes and shapes and should have porous borders in some ways and firm ones in others. The power of the collective will always outstrip the power of any individual. By the same token, the power of the collective should only be exercised out of necessity.

There is more to say on these topics, and at some point, I may come back to this.

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