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Change the World |
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by Matt Bennett
Email: mkbnett (nospam) bu.edu (unverified!) |
05 Nov 2004
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Now, more than ever, we need to organize a national, if not worldwide, Progressive Summit. We need everybody there: non-profits, green builders, alternative energy providers, organic food producers, innovative peaceful researchers, the independent media, forward thinking musicians, artists, professionals, and the young dedicated collegiate individuals ...all the good, decent folk in this country, and the world.
We need to come together and do something BIG. We need to talk about the current state of affairs, what we'd like to see, and how to get there. |
Now, more than ever, we need to organize a national, if not worldwide, Progressive Summit. We need everybody there: non-profits, green builders, alternative energy providers, organic food producers, innovative peaceful researchers, the independent media, forward thinking musicians, artists, professionals, and the young dedicated collegiate individuals ...all the good, decent folk in this country, and the world.
We need to come together and do something BIG. We need to talk about the current state of affairs, what we'd like to see, and how to get there.
We have all witnessed the incredible fund-raising powers of the internet in the hands of Progressives spread across the country and the globe.
We must harness this incredible power to physically Build a better world.
Instead of spending millions on ephemeral advertising campaigns, imagine using the internet to pull together organizations and individuals to raise money and actually build and operate a solar power plant in Nevada, all with five to ten dollar donations from each of us.
Instead of trying in vain to sway the hard headed, non-intellectually curious populous into electing candidates to create change within the government, let's just do it ourselves.
With the power of the internet, we don't need the Federal Government to collect taxes and decide which projects are best for us anymore. Sure, we still need a neutral Police force and Judiciary Body, but we can become the Executive & Legislative branches.
We can create positive change ourselves, spending a few minutes after work, or school checking a website and voting on initiatives or donating money to specific projects that we'd like to support.
While this may seem too ideal, we are really not that far off. Since we can't legitimately expect much positive change to come from this administration, we have to do it ourselves.
I will be 25 at the time of the next Presidential election, and frankly, I refuse to wait that long to start building a better future.
Let's do this. Let's start now.
Before a nation-wide Progressive Summit can even take place, we need to figure out where we all stand locally.
To this end, there will be a Summit For Sanity this Saturday here in Boston for Boston University Students. It will be a non-partisan, open forum for everyone to just talk about our hopes, fears, feelings, & ideas about what's going on in our America - with an emphasis on where we are now and what we steps we can take to create a better future.
Sure, it’s a small time summit hastily organized after the election results, but it’s a start. Nothing beats an idea whose time has come.
Let's pull together and figure this out - locally first, then globally.
Matt Bennett
Boston University Mechanical Engineering Student
Class of 2006
Phone: 856 278 9404 |
Copyright by the author. All rights reserved. |
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Re: Change the World |
by Will
wjason (nospam) malibuonline.com (unverified) |
05 Nov 2004
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A group of us will hopefully be meeting in Allston tonight (Fri, Nov 5 at 7PM) to discuss strategies--nothing concrete yet, just some people getting together. If you are interested, email me and I will let you know where we are meeting.
The important thing is that we have some focus. The problem with well-intentioned protests like "ANSWER Boston" is that with such a broad agenda (troops home from all around the world, end racism, end global exploitation, etc.) it is hard to gain momentum.
Pushing for withdrawal from Iraq might be a good start. Although I am an atheist, I acknowledge that Christianity might have an important tool. Americans expressed at the polls that they are not ready for a secular state. Maybe we can convince people that our Iraq war contradicts Christian values (and later, with momentum, show how the gov'ts other foreign and domestic policies also do so). BE CLEAR: I do not support school prayer, the Pledge of Allegience, or any other manifestation of our theocracy. I just think that right now, to get the heartland on our side, we need to fight preachers with preachers. |
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Re: Change the World |
by Will
wjason (nospam) malibuonline.com (unverified) |
05 Nov 2004
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An example of bad grammar: "Christianity might have an important tool." My bad--that's exactly the kind of minute carelessness that is used to discredit grassroots leftists. Let's all be on point, see you tonight. |
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Re: Change the World |
by um...
(No verified email address) |
07 Nov 2004
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"Instead of trying in vain to sway the hard headed, non-intellectually curious populous..."
That sounds a lot like... Alexander Hamilton. I really hate to break it to you, but changing the world is something that can only done by those dumb ol' working slobs that you so casually brush off. You can have as many worldwide progressive summit social forum workshop conference events as you want, but that shit isn't a substitute for the force that causes revolutions.
I'm talking about CLASS WAR, fellas. |
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Re: Change the World |
by 'matt
mkbnett (nospam) bu.edu (unverified) |
14 Nov 2004
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but you don't need a class war - that's not what's called for. what you need to do is change the way the system works - change business to work as essentially all non-profits
a big corporation by definition can't compete with a small, highly dedicated non-profit company with a higher quality product at an equal or cheaper price.
for example: if you could get the price of organic foods down to be roughly the same price of other produce, industrial, corporate, mono-culture farming would die - not by some class war revolution, but by the 'invisible hand of the market'
use capitalism as a tool for bringing about social change.
it's not impossible.
if they won't buy into the ideas necessary to change the world, we'll have them literally buy a better world. |
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