For sometime I have advanced the notion that many parts of our government no longer work. They no longer work, that is, for the average citizen. They work just fine for the wealthiest and for corporations, but not for the rest of us. Congress works for corporations and the rich; the Supreme Court works for corporations and the rich; #45 is a corporation and a wealthy oligarch.
When government no longer works for citizens, then citizens must act. After all, government exist to serve citizens. At no point should citizens serve a government that is serving anybody other than the majority.
What can citizens do when their government stops working for them?
Historically, citizens have revolted and overthrown failing governments. In other cases, representatives are voted out and different representatives are elected. Unfortunately, the new representatives often become corrupted and the cycle starts again.
One solution, as in the case of the Chicago Police Department officer that massacred a teenager with 16 bullets, is to use the legal system to seek justice. Sometimes that works, most often it does not.
In this week's episode of "The TED Radio Hour" called "Hacking The Law" (the podcast is issued on Friday's and then airs on Sundays on NPR stations), the show producers introduced a variety of ways to hack governments to make them work for the majority of the citizens. Two of the examples presented:
The Bail Fund
In the United States, those of limited economical means are often jailed, sometimes for years, because they cannot make bail. A group of public defenders started a program to provide bail for defendants, thus substantially reducing incarceration time and also allowing many of the accused to go free when their cases were thrown out or they were acquitted. The statistics provided were astonishing and well worth investigating. This program has been so successful that is now expanding into 40 cities. It is bringing justice where justice did not exist because justice is not cheap, and many poor people cannot afford justice in our country.
In Ireland, there is an experiment to eliminate the archaic institution of elections for public office. Instead, focus groups are asked to serve to solve problems. The concept is simple (but difficult to implement). Essentially, common citizens would take over jobs currently held by politicians. There are established term limits, an attractive salary, elimination of long term corruption, etc.
It is definitely time to hack our governments everywhere, do away with the old, corrupted methods, and try something new. There will be mistakes, there will be failures, and there also will be successes and real progress. It is certainly a better alternative that the stench of incompetent, corrupted governments that serve the masters and oppress the people.
Partisan politics in the USA has reached ridiculous levels. Please read my thoughts below under "POLITICS."
Today is "World Cheese Pizza Day." Does that mean that toppings are outlawed today?
Speaking of outlaws, Jesse James was born on this date in 1847. I bet he would kill for one of those cheese pizzas.
Tonight dinner will consist of cheese pizza to conform with today's celebration, and we will also have pizza with toppings, to push back against the expected, to be a rebel, to be different; mostly, just because pizza is great with or without toppings!
PERSONAL GROWTH
Here are seven things you can control that can make a huge difference in your life:
FINANCES
On my drive to work I realized that some of the knowledge that comes from budgeting and expense tracking can lead us to believe that being over-budget on one or more categories is a horrible thing. While it is not the best idea to over-spend, knowing that we are over-spending is the first step in making changes that will, eventually, bring us to the point where we can live within our means and stop over-spending. This is especially true in the first few months of us taking responsibility for our finances. It is during this time that we discover where money is going that we did not even realize was a factor. It is this process of discovery that brings control to our spending habits. With knowledge comes the power to make adjustments. If we over-spend one month, then we can strive to under-spend the next month to make things balance out. Knowledge is the key to self-control.
POLITICS
Partisan politics in the USA has reached ridiculous levels. Yesterday's Supreme Court confirmation hearings on Judge Kavanaugh's nomination were a pathetic display of useless partisan politics. As a liberal, I was dismayed by the ridiculous waste of time and effort in what we all suspect is public posturing for the cameras. Democrats do not have the votes to prevent the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh. I understand that there are many things not to like about how the process is going. It is not fair that thousands of pages of related documents were received just hours before the hearings were scheduled to start. It is unfair that twice as many pages were excluded from the disclosure. It is sad that there is no time to digest all this material to make an informed decision on Judge Kavanaugh. On the other hand, Judge Kavanaugh has an extensive public life and Democrats have had lots of time to investigate and they did not have to wait until the day of the hearing to begin the process. And, from what I heard in an NPR report a few months ago, Judge Kavanaugh is the least worrisome candidate amongst the list of candidates originally proposed by #45. Is Roe V. Wade in jeopardy if Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed? Perhaps it is. However, considering the erosion to the pro-choice movement at the state level over the last few years, it would not be surprising if Roe gets overturned. Many liberal leaders have allowed this to happen. Change is inevitable, even if we do not like the change that is happening. And change can go the other way if we liberals get our act together.
Here is my manifesto for true change in the United States of America:
1. Congress must pass an amendment limiting the number of terms a Senator and Representative can serve. Senators must be limited to two terms, Representatives to three terms.
2. The salary for members of Congress shall be set to the average wages received in their district. If the average wage in a congressional district is $26,000 per year, then that would be the salary for that member of Congress. There shall be no additional perks or bonuses allowed; the majority of Americans do not get perks nor bonuses.
3. The benefits given to a member of Congress shall match the lowest benefits available in their congressional district. If there are citizens that lack health or other benefits, then the Congress member shall have none.
4. Neither Members of Congress nor the President shall have lifetime benefits after finishing their term. They shall be eligible to receive a one-time payment equal to their previous year's salary to assist them in transitioning back to private life; their health benefits shall also be extended by one year after the end of their term.
5. Congress shall not pass any law that affects the citizenship but to which Congress is exempted.
6. It shall be illegal for Congress to pass any expenditure resolution which contains unrelated amendments that thus increase the expenditure. For example, a resolution to authorize the funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs shall not contain amendments of any kind unless they directly affect programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
7. Congress shall pass a balanced budget amendment and shall submit and approve an annual budget at least 120 days in advance of the end of the current fiscal year. Failure to do so would result in disciplinary action, potentially including loss of salary and termination for failure to perform.
8. Any Bill/Resolution brought for a vote must be presented to Congress with a minimum of 30 days prior to the scheduled vote. All such items for voting must be publicly available for at least 30 days so that citizens can voice concerns to their representatives.
9. All citizens shall receive basic health benefits at no cost.
10. All citizens shall receive education benefits, including access to college and universities, at no cost.
11. The criminal justice system shall be reformed to help rehabilitate, not punish, those that commit a crime. We shall implement a system based not on revenge but on compassion. Humankind's history shows us that the more pain we inflict, the more pain we suffer; the more love we give, the more love we receive.
12. We shall strive to end poverty, ignorance and disease; we must dedicate our resources to improve conditions on Earth for all planet inhabitants by focusing all our efforts to ensure we live in peace, and that everyone has enough food, water and shelter, and excellent free health care and education.
TIPS & TRICKS
Should I Answer That Call? If you are bombarded by phone calls at home or on your cell from numbers you do not recognize, you may appreciate the website "Should I Answer?" Not only can you look up numbers, you can also report scammers and telemarketers.
On my way home yesterday I listened to a report on NPR about how the American Red Cross raised $500 million after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and how Haitians are still living in horrible conditions five years after the disaster.
This is an example of an organization that has grown to the point of being poisoned by corruption and inefficiency. I have seen this in the Red Cross since the 1970s in my native Mexico. I saw a little of it in my dealings with it in Upstate NY as a member of the EMS community. And now these reports show that the magnitude of problems with the Red Cross are enormous.
Personally, this reinforces my hesitation to contribute to this organization. I will not send money to them, and I am questioning my commitment to donate blood. I know they sell my blood and platelets (to the highest bidder?). How much of that money goes to serve the community or help the poor and those in need? The more I read on that the more doubts I have about their operational model.
Perhaps it is time for all of us to research the Red Cross and demand much more accountability and transparency. They need to do the right thing at the right time, not the things that look right but solve none of the problems at hand.
