OurFuture.org Blogs: Greg Colvin

You Want Reform? Will You Take Revolution?

Greg Colvin — Wed, 20 May 2009 22:37:55 -0700

We have been told this is our moment
And so we come to the table
With our pent-up agenda,
Eager to load our cafeteria trays,
While the raging, wounded bull
Standing in the doorway
Could be ours for the taking
And all our people could be fed.

It is time to ask ourselves,
Are we progressives for
Sentimental and marketing reasons?
Or do we deeply understand
The world’s present predicament
And our opportunity to fix it?

Friends, there are words we need to know
And use openly, fearlessly:
Finance capital, oligarchy,
And revolution.

Progressive means having the undaunted character
To pursue reform through the existing system,
But to be willing and able
When a crisis gives us the chance,
Perhaps once in our lifetimes,
To be revolutionaries and change things utterly.

Revolution could mean a fundamental shift
In the balance of power between the people,
Represented by our democratically-elected government,
And the oligarchy of wealth led by the finance capitalists.

Without it, leaving the oligarchy in place,
Our reforms are at best mild and temporary,
At worst dead on arrival.

With it, the heavy hand of finance capital in check,
The prospects for reform for the rest of us
Are vastly improved.

Sons born after Japan surrendered,
Daughters born after Nixon resigned,
Our country is ready for you
To take this matter in hand.

The finance capitalists:

Also known as Wall Street,
The big banks,
The economic royalists,
The elite of the power elite.

Titans whose money is made
From money itself.

These are the people that Bill Moyers,
Simon Johnson, Dean Baker,
Naomi Klein, and Richard Posner
Have been trying to tell us about.

They sit astride the global business system,
The dominant institution
On the planet
In this century.

They form an oligarchy of wealth
More powerful than any nation
Or government.

They shape the choices and
Dictate the terms that
Mere public servants must follow.

They blackmail us with threats
Of worse financial ruin
If they don’t get their way.

Claim to be too big to fail.
Do what they can get away with.

They demand to be protected from
The dynamics of free enterprise and competition,
That would reward honesty and care with success,
Recklessness and fraud with failure.

They have angered the public
On all sides,
With their bailouts and
Bonuses and attitude of
Entitlement to hard-earned
Taxpayer money.

These titans caused this economic meltdown,
Yet expect to remain in charge of the recovery.

They expect -- and get --
Supreme deference.

They have committed crimes
For which they should be prosecuted.

They have built a financial sector in our country
Twice as big as it ought to be,
As Kevin Phillips, George Soros, and others have told us.

They are planning, even now,
To re-enrich themselves,
Buy up the devalued assets,
Of those they frightened
Out of the marketplace.

These oligarchs are the largest bloc of donors
To congressional election campaigns.

With the power to block most of the reforms
Obama has proposed for
Student loans,
Foreclosure relief,
Individual bankruptcy,
And anything else that touches their empire.

They “own this place,”
Says Senator Richard Durbin.

They have us hooked on borrowing and spending
On things,
When we should be saving and sustaining
Our spirits.

Today, they are in the news,
Their sins and stupidities
For all to see.

We will learn their dismal science.
Take them on. Pull out all the stops.

Break them up into smaller units,
Under new and stronger anti-trust laws
To curb their monopoly power.

Hold them accountable
To their own stockholders, and
To the republic that gave them life.

Make them prove their drugs aren’t toxic
Before they go to market.

Regulate them down to their socks.
Bring them to heel.

Revolution, according to Gary Hart, requires
1. a crisis (yep),
2. a charismatic leader (uh huh), and
3. a manifesto (uh….working on that).

Don’t worry, Aunt Betty. It will not mean
A violent overthrow of the government.
We will prove Marx wrong on that.
It will be a peaceful uprising of democratic power
That breaks the grip of the dictatorship of wealth
And lets our freely-elected officials
Govern our republic.

This time, the pitchforks are symbolic.
The anger and commitment is real.
The weapons are the ones we’ve used
Since Montgomery and Selma,
Since McCarthy in New Hampshire,
Since Watergate,
Since Obama in Iowa.

The revolution will not be televised
as Gil Scott-Heron sang,
(before Al Gore invented the internet).

Don’t start it without me
Says Jesse Ventura, surfing,
Living off the grid in Baja.

Revolution is about remaking our social contract
For the twenty-first century.

It is a word many of us
Grew up believing in
And do not fear.

Progressive is not a station on the political dial
Between liberal and conservative,
Left and right, but
A restless voice calling us
To transform our society.

Progressive is not a substitute for the word liberal.
We answer to liberal because we are inclined
To trust in the goodness of human nature.
We differ with the conservative doctrine
That mistrusts and fears the people,
As Jefferson said.

They say, “Sink or swim.”
We say, “We are all in this together.”

We are liberal, and more.
We are here to resolve the paradoxes of left and right.
We are for the upward movement of bold policies
To resolve old partisan debates
About immigration,
Global warming,
How we get our energy,
Health care,
Progressive taxation,
Foreign affairs,
All of that,
And place our nation on a new footing
With the consent of the governed
And a decent respect for the rest of the world.

A joinder of people of good faith,
Broader than we ever imagined,
Liberals to trust,
Conservatives to verify.

We are linked by history to
Our brave progressive ancestors
At the dawn of the twentieth century,
Who busted the trusts,
Ended child labor,
Enacted the 8-hour day,
Established national parks,
Gave women the right to vote,
And tried to institute a mixed system of government
That the industrial class could not always dominate.

Now, it is our turn to talk and make
Our revolution.

It may escape our grasp, though,
If we do not start to seize it
Before the Dow hits 10,000 again.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
About a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
Bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

-- Gil Scott-Heron, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Ten Sacrifices We, and the Next President, Will Face

Greg Colvin — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:44:12 -0700

At Tuesday night’s debate, the presidential candidates were asked a question that I believe deserves much more attention.

"BROKAW: Sen. McCain, for you, we have our first question from the Internet tonight. A child of the Depression, 78-year-old Fiora from Chicago.
Since World War II, we have never been asked to sacrifice anything to help our country, except the blood of our heroic men and women. As president, what sacrifices -- sacrifices will you ask every American to make to help restore the American dream and to get out of the economic morass that we're now in?"

In my 2006 essay The Progressive Trinity http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0606.colvin.html, I wrote:

"Because Public Service is fundamentally based upon unselfish efforts for the benefit of all of us, that quality must be embodied in the public leader. Especially so for political leaders because we have no choice but to be ruled by them until they leave office.

We have seen people become leaders because they are master manipulators, or sheer opportunists, or charismatic salesmen, or anointed by the oligarchy of wealth and influence that works behind the scenes. We try, as best we can, to project our desires for statesmanship and compassion and wisdom onto the presidents and governors we elect, but we are too often severely disappointed by their behavior.

The paramount criterion for candidates to the highest offices in Public Service should be: is this person able, by their own example, to inspire sacrifices for the common good? "

How did Senators McCain and Obama answer?

John McCain fumbled around with a riff on eliminating government programs, earmarks, an across-the-board freeze on spending except for defense, veterans, and “other vital programs.” He didn’t say exactly which programs would be cut, but I suppose bailing out Wall Street is a vital program now, and so is continuing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, because he didn’t offer to give them up.

Disappointing for a man who brought his acceptance speech to a climax by saying:

"My friends, if you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our armed forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself."

Barack Obama gave a better answer, but it seemed like he still does not recognize the tremendous potential that a fully honest and prophetic answer could have. He said:

"I think the American people are hungry for the kind of leadership that is going to tackle these problems not just in government, but outside of government. … There is going to be the need for each and every one of us to start thinking about how we use energy. … [E]ach and every one of us can start thinking about how can we save energy in our homes, in our buildings….

I think the young people of America are especially interested in how they can serve, and that's one of the reasons why I'm interested in doubling the Peace Corps, making sure that we are creating a volunteer corps all across this country that can be involved in their community, involved in military service, so that military families and our troops are not the only ones bearing the burden of renewing America."

A truly great leader, with the leadership character of a Lincoln or a Kennedy, would have to look into the next decade and call out those challenges that can only be met by inspiring Americans to set aside their personal comforts and make deep sacrifices for the common good.

This is the essence of progressive political philosophy: We are all in this together. “Every man for himself” and “do what you can get away with” has led us into this mess. We can only pull together to solve the enormous problems that face our country if we can trust and respect each other. And we can only do that if we have an unselfish leader who deserves our trust and respect.

Is there any doubt that universal health care, for those who need it most, will need to be paid for by the young and healthy?

Is there any doubt that we will not stop the polar ice caps from melting and the oceans from rising unless we can stop burning fossil fuels at the rate we have been?

The 78-year-old caller from Chicago no doubt remembers, as fewer and fewer of us alive today do, that World War Two required incredible sacrifices. Detroit was ordered to stop making cars and build only tanks and airplanes. Gasoline was rationed. You couldn’t buy sliced bread because steel was needed for the war effort. Does any conscientious person truly doubt that the same level of sacrifice will be needed to stop global warming? Perhaps the Greatest Generation is yet to come.

So, let’s start a list of the sacrifices that the candidates should share with us:

1. Energy conservation. By every reasonable voluntary and mandatory means, we will need to curtail our wasteful use of fossil fuels and conserve our oil resources. Now. Not after we have converted to electric cars and hydrogen fuel cells and the other technological breakthroughs we hope for. We need to keep our remaining offshore oil and Alaskan oil in the ground if our grandchildren will be able to fly on airplanes and have an Air Force to protect them. Come to think of it, climate change also means conserving other resources, too, like water and fisheries.

2. Paying for the war in real time. We cannot keep fighting the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere without paying for it now. To pay for the war in Vietnam at the time it was happening, the rich in America paid an income tax surcharge and Lyndon Johnson sold off Fannie Mae. George Bush, incredibly, has reduced taxes for the wealthy and paid for the war with deficit spending.

3. The rich will be called upon to sacrifice. Obama should highlight that he is asking those who make over $250,000 a year to pay more in taxes. They can afford it, and should be contributing more to the common good, especially in hard times. If the tax burden paid by the wealthy during the Reagan years can be restored, that will go a long way toward paying for the war on terror, the Wall Street bailout, the cost of taking care of our veterans, health care and educational reform, and the cost of new green technology.

4. We all will need to keep supporting our government with our taxes. Bill Clinton, when he was running for president in 1992, promised middle-class tax relief. He couldn’t deliver, because economic realities required him to reduce the federal deficit. After Obama proposed a tax reduction for 95% of households, the government committed us to a $700 billion expenditure to rescue the financial system. Hello? It should surprise no one if Obama’s middle-class tax cut were to be reduced or delayed.

5. Delaying retirement. All signs point to the fact that my generation, born after 1945, will have to keep working longer and retire later, due to the drop in value of our 401(k) and other retirement plans. There are too many of us to stop being productive and live off of Social Security, diminishing home equity and investments. Things will get worse before they get better, and it may take another 10 years for the country to pull out of this financial crisis.

6. No more easy money. Wealth did not trickle down during the years of Republican administration, but lots of credit did—subprime mortgages, credit cards, companies issuing junk bonds, states and counties borrowing, bizarre unregulated derivatives and hedge funds. A house of cards, collapsing on us now. We will have to spend less and save more, and the financial self-discipline will be a painful adjustment.

7. Yes, there will be more government regulation. Isn’t that the lesson of the financial meltdown? There won’t be as many ways to get rich quick on Wall Street. If Obama is elected, unions may have more rights to organize, companies may be forced to pay women equally, fuel efficiency standards for automobiles may be raised. Maybe even price controls on prescription drugs. The business world will be called upon to sacrifice for the common good. About time.

8. Social Security and Medicare reforms. Of course, the rich should pay a greater share of the payroll taxes. As Obama has proposed, those making over $250,000, who don’t pay a dime more right now, can afford it. That’s progressive taxation, long overdue. If that were done as a first step, then it might be reasonable to ask others to sacrifice by making other small adjustments, to the eligible retirement age, for example.

9. Civil preparedness. After September 11th, the most visible change in our daily lives was the increase in airport security measures. In the seven years since then, many other steps that could protect us have been neglected. A suitcase nuclear device could be driven or walked into almost any office building in America. As a society, we don’t practice emergency procedures for earthquakes, floods, fires, or terrorist attacks. And at no level of government do we have well-organized, practical ways to enlist ordinary citizens in rescue, recovery, and cleanup operations. A flotilla of small boats could have saved many lives in Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina, but we just left those poor people on their rooftops.

10. The Ugly American, revisited. In 1960, John F. Kennedy inspired a new generation of Americans to care about our relationship with the rest of the world by joining the Peace Corps. He spoke German in Berlin and Jackie spoke French in Paris. Senator Obama wants to double the Peace Corps and has lamented Americans’ lack of fluency in foreign languages. Recently, a group of former Secretaries of State convened and agreed that our most serious international problem is the low level of respect for America in the rest of the world. We could set aside a bit of our arrogance about being “the best country in the world,” take the time and trouble to understand other people’s cultures, religions, and problem, and win back our allies and friends.

Our presidential candidates have sought to win this election by telling their personal stories, by trying to relate to the average person’s needs, by attacking the failures and lies of their adversaries, by mobilizing thousands of grassroots supporters, and by offering new policies and benefits. They have tried to outdo each other with the promise of better government service at no additional cost.

When JFK, in his inaugural speech, said “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” he prepared an entire nation, the G.I. Generation and the Baby Boomers alike, to do amazing things for the benefit of all humanity, from sending a man to the moon to overcoming racial inequalities at home.

There is no other appeal to the voter that is more powerful, more courageous, more uplifting, than the bare-headed image of an American president who is able, by his or her own example, to inspire sacrifices for the common good.

Still Needed: An Elevator Pitch

Greg Colvin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:00:16 -0700

At the Denver convention, Sen. Barack Obama gave a very fine acceptance speech, but not a great one. His speech after winning the Iowa caucuses lifted you up and carried you along with the historical significance of the moment: “They said, this day would never come. They said…. But you said….” Goosebumps.

This speech felt programmed to hit all the right buttons: he introduced himself to those who didn’t know him, he connected to the plight of the undecided working class voter, he talked tough against McCain and he turned many good phrases along the way. But he did not sound a memorable theme, like Kennedy’s “New Frontier.”

Not only did he fail to name his vision, he failed to crystallize the change he stands for in a few key phrases that could be repeated, emphasized, and imbued with meaning by his supporters, by others running for office, by all of us with an undecided Uncle Fred.

In less than 20 words, he could have done it.

Paul Waldman, in The American Prospect, hoped he would. David Sirota proclaimed that Obama’s speech "(finally) signaled that progressive economic populism is going to be the central thrust” of his campaign. Too abstract. How do you explain economic populism in a short elevator ride?

To win, progressives must go beyond personality and empathy. They must clearly—and extremely briefly—state the case for progressive reform. What we will get if progressive-minded candidates take the White House and a 60-vote majority in the Senate?

Distilled from his acceptance speech, this is what I believe Obama is telling us he stands for:

Rebuild middle-class America
Universal health care
Clean energy
Respect our diversity
Smart government
Humane foreign policy

Rebuild middle-class America. Talking about how “we measure progress” in America, Obama spoke of “an economy that honors the dignity of work.” He defined the American promise: “through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.” The threats to this promise reside in the class stratification that has imperiled the well-being of most Americans and worsened under eight years of Republican rule and neglect, causing us to watch “a major American city drown before our eyes.” Obama wants to restore dignity and prosperity to the middle class, and help the poor climb up into it. He cited specific ways to accomplish that: cutting taxes for 95% of working families, giving our children a world-class education, equal pay for equal work.

Universal health care. Senator Obama called for “affordable, accessible health care for every single American.” There is no doubt, this is a popular Democratic reform promised by the Clintons in 1992 and still unfulfilled. It will take a Democratic president, a filibuster proof majority in the Senate, and a huge grassroots effort to do this, but it must be done.

Clean energy. This short phrase stands for what must be our top environmental priority if we have any hope to stop global warming and climate change. Obama spoke of a 10-year investment in “affordable, renewable sources of energy” (not quite as bold or explicit as Al Gore’s challenge). He said that drilling is a stopgap measure (but he didn’t say whether he would or wouldn’t drill or where). And he wants to “safely harness nuclear power” (doesn’t that make you a little nervous?) Despite these equivocations, there is no doubt that human abuse of the Earth’s biosphere is likely to cause an environmental crisis within the next eight years, and the new president will have to rise to meet it.

Respect our diversity. Obama barely mentioned race in his speech, and he didn’t need to. Throughout the talk, there was an awareness that America needs to achieve a level of tolerance and inclusiveness that it has not yet. He spoke of the “the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect,” and repeated the sense of unity in the American promise, “the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.” On social issues, such as choice, gay marriage, and guns, he seemed to speak of making compromises, finding the “strength and grace to bridge divides.” Let’s hope that means official government respect for our diversity, allowing women reproductive choice and everyone freedom to marry the love of one’s life.

Smart government. I liked hearing him say, “Our government should work for us, not against us.” The things our government does are so frequently and obviously stupid that we have become schizophrenic patriots--we love our country but hate our government, the only one we have. We complain but we don't fix it. It's time we did. Replacing the big-business dominated party in power gives us our best chance.

Humane foreign policy. As expected, Senator Obama said that he would “never hesitate to defend this nation” and would only send troops into combat with “a clear mission.” He also spoke of restoring a legacy of American leadership and moral standing in the world. He intends to use “tough, direct diplomacy” and “build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease.” We have more musicians in our military bands than diplomats in the State Department, as Nick Kristof has said. Pursuing a humane, intelligent, culturally-literate foreign policy would be the best thing Obama could do for our national security.

For the last two years, many of us have been working on our elevator pitch, the essential elements of the progressive vision, reduced to as few words as possible.

Linguist George Lakoff pointed out that a strength of the conservative Republican ascendancy was its ability to communicate its political case in five short phrases: lower taxes, less government, strong defense, free markets, and family values.

Professor Lakoff's own nomination for a ten-word philosophy was: “stronger America, broad prosperity, better future, effective government, mutual responsibility.” One reporter called these the least objectionable words in American life.

Recently, Bernie Horn at OurFuture.org offered these twelve words as progressive principles consistent with the 2008 Democratic platform: fair wages, fair markets, health security, retirement security, equal justice for all. All related to economic justice in some way, but ignoring the environment and international relations.

In 2006, in a piece on progressive political philosophy on the Washington Monthly website, I proposed these five principles: one America, wise use of force, stewardship of the Earth, culture of respect, smart government. I still like them, but the reality in 2008 is that the phrasing needs to match the issues and debates of the day and tie as directly as possible to the campaign of the most progressive candidate for president.

We are not asking for the best slogans that Madison Avenue admen can contrive. Just simple words that name the reforms we need. A short sword for the foot soldiers of the progressive movement to use in everyday conversation.

So, I urge Obama and his speechwriters, at the next opportunity, to articulate the essence of what he stands for in as few words as possible. I suggest “rebuild middle-class America, universal health care, clean energy, respect our diversity, smart government, and humane foreign policy.” If they can say it better, I hope they will.

Greg Colvin is a San Francisco nonprofit lawyer who also writes political philosophy and hikes the Pacific Crest Trail with his sons.