Wealth Bondage

Why I Blog Still

Posted by The Happy Tutor

A collection of "Why I Blog" essays, including mine, from Reconstructions.  In the rule of men, that has supplanted the rule of law, in the state of exception that follow 9/11 that changed everything, I blog to keep our President informed.  God forbid, as The Decider that he should err. Imagine how terrible it would be if he were to suspect someone, have that person tortured, and then find out that the accused was completely innocent. He would have to personally apologize, in public. And he might be tried for War Crimes. Better that I should keep The Decider humble, as did Fools in days of old. 'Tis hard and thankless work, but the precedents (not the Presidents necessarily) are honorable. The net result for the Fools varied from case to case, but as the President's most loyal servant, I can see no other responsible course.  Now, if they start rounding up citizens, particularly those of us with white skins, on the orders of the Decider, I may take another tack. For the time being, though, I blog as a  matter of public responsibility. I can be intimidated. But a couple of drinks, a few emails from friends, and here I am back at it.

Node 57 Under WealthBondage

Posted by The Happy Tutor

At node 57 wealthbondage, thanks to Debbie and friends, something is happening. 

Citizenspeak

Posted by The Happy Tutor

Citizenspeak allows community organizers to create a moveon style email advocacy campaign at no cost. The developers are currently looking for funding to port the system over to Civicspace, the open source tool in which under.wealthbondage.com is built. The funding proposal and others are listed at the New Progressive Coalition website, which was funded by Deborah Rappoport for, I believe, one million dollars. Kos, among other bloggers, is involved with NPC, as is Jethro Heiko of Action Mill and Turn your Back on Bush. Action Mill helps grassroots orgs set up Civicspace websites. Promising, isn't it? Jethro and Citizenspeak are looking for funding through New Progressive Coalition. Meanwhile, not exactly related, but not too far away, Tracy G has just launched Inspired Legacies to help families, including progressives, create meaningful legacy plans to advance their vision of a good life, a successful family, and a just society. I can sense a network forming whose mesh is still so loose that nothing much is being caught. But as the mesh tigthens we may have a distributed, open source counterpoint to the bastions of the hard right and their concentrated corporate and wealthy-person funding. (The last link, by the way, was to Commonweal Institute. They too are listing a proposal for funding at New Progressive Coalition. You see, the mesh is beginning to close. Stinking of garbage, and of the decay in the Catacombs, will Dumspter Dwellers be welcome? Well, why not? We do have professional skills and a uniquely repellant "value proposition." )

As a learning lab, in the Catacombs under.wealthbondage, does anyone see a use, in earnest or in fun, for Civicspeak?

Caring for Dementia Patients at Whose Cost?

Posted by The Happy Tutor

Speaking of race, class, politics and new alliances, let me speak from a specific experience yesterday afternoon. Dick and I talked on philanthropy to an organization in West Palm Beach, a very wealthy area. The organization provides assistance to the aged who can no longer care for themselves. We toured the facility and saw people, some of whom are no older than Dick and I, with dementia. They shook our hands, hugged us, and wandered around the room, or sat and played with crayons under the kindly direction of volunteer care givers. The organization gets over 50% of its funding from government agencies, and feared that it will lose all that with budget cuts. They raise only 1% from donations. So, we talked strategy. At one point an entrepreneur in the group of board members assembled for the talk went off on a quiet rant. He said, "I voted for these people. But they are turning this country into a banana republic. We are all going to be riding around in bullet proof Mercedes with armed guards. You can't treat the poor like that. They are human beings. Something has to change. It can't go on like this." He was madder than any lefty I have talked to in years. What infuriated him was seeing the cuts coming, and the rhetoric about self-reliance and capital formation, and job creation, all of which was totally irrelevant to the dementia stricken mothers and fathers in the room downstairs who might soon be tossed out on the street. What sticks also in my mind was a statistic. The elders with dementia more often than not outlive the care givers they drive into an early grave. Left alone the demented then wander out into the streets, no longer even able to remember their own name. Who will pay for their care? Or should we just shoot them and put them out of their misery? When they go into a coma, then "the culture of life" kicks in and they get a free ride. Until then they can fend for themselves.

I want to say that people of conscience have had enough. Screw the politics. This is our country and we want it back. Giving is great. Some give, some don't. What do we do with the wealthy free loaders? I say we dress them in rags, inject them with drugs inducing dementia, and send them into the streets. As the drugs wear off and their sanity returns, may they find they have a human heart. If not, repeat until they do. Or, if they prefer we will increase their taxes by 1%.

Taxes, Freedom, and Philanthropy

Posted by The Happy Tutor

Now here from Hedgehog is an original thought,

I'd like to see a group of us start to pay taxes into an alternative government where we hash out a more democratic constitution, overtly protect all the rights we think need protecting, and then start electing leaders with free and fair elections. The taxes can go toward public services, maybe starting with education and criminal justice.

Included is a link to the funniest and saddest philanthropy appeal of all time, Bush to the American People to fund the conquest and rebuilding of Iraq - less than $1,000 raised to date. There is indeed a role for taxes - even Bush must see that now, if only to give to Halliburton, lest freedom fail.

Why not indeed a shadow government funded with voluntary taxes providing if nothing else pomp and circumstance, photo ops, phony bigshots with rolled up sleeves, and calls daily for prayer? Harder than Iraq or Iran will be San Francisco to conquer by the Occupation Forces of The WB Freedom Brigade.

Democracy in Action: Technology for the Masses

Posted by The Happy Tutor

From Democracy in Action,

It's not only development people who'll love Wealth Bondage's literate, subversive, omnivorous take on the philanthropic world and beyond.

Grassroots organizers may want to check out Democracy in Action's web based campaign management tools.

Researching Hate Groups

Posted by The Happy Tutor

Four researchers offer tips on researching hate groups:

Paul de Armond, Research Director
Public Good Project
Bellingham, WA

Chip Berlet
Political Research Associates
Somerville, MA

Devin Burghart, Director,
Building Democracy Initiative
Center for New Community
Chicago, IL

Tarso Luis Ramos, Director
RACE and Environment Programs
Western States Center
Portland, OR

Drew Dellinger: Poet for Global Justice

From Yes! Speakers Bureau,

Drew Dellinger, speaker, poet, teacher, and activist, has rocked mics and inspired minds at hundreds of conferences, colleges, rallies, and protests across the U.S., addressing issues of justice, ecology, democracy, and anti-racism. His poems have been published widely and in 1997 he received Common Boundary Magazine's national Green Dove Award for his work. Drew has studied cosmology with Thomas Berry since 1990 and currently teaches at Naropa University in Oakland and Prescott College in Arizona. He is founder of Poets for Global Justice, a project building movements for social and ecological change by unleashing the poetry in everyone. Drew recently released his first collection of poems, Love Letter to the Milky Way. He lives in Oakland, CA.

Here, from "Democracy @ a Crossroads," is Drew rapping for justice from the Justices in their black robes,

Democracy's at a crossroads of lost dreams and lost votes! So yes, I'm contesting the election requesting the rejection of invalid blocks at the ballot box. Weakass leaders speak as cheaters seek to eke out victory; bend the laws in their favor and reality bites like the jaws of a gator. And, the corporate, right-wing, pathetic, mainstream media tries to confound it when the issue at hand is thousands of votes that couldn't be cast or haven't been counted The combination of this and the lies meant disenfranchisement!

Are bloggers poets? Rappers? Activists? Much more interesting a set of issues than whether they are pundits, or part of the perception management industry. Maybe it is a matter of what we choose to do with words.