It's Democracy Day today, and Massachusetts voters have a clear choice before them. They can support the one candidate who refuses to take corporate money to fuel her campaign, or the 3 candidates who swim through lobbyist-fueled campaign coffers like Scrooge McDuck. They can support the one candidate who unequivocally stands up for justice and sustainability, or the 3 candidates who treat ill-fated and harmful get-rich-quick schemes as though they were sensible, thoughtful, and helpful policy. They can support the one candidate who is standing up for real democracy -- clean elections, open meeting and public records laws that apply to the legislature, and meaningful transparency and oversight of government spending -- or the 3 candidates who laugh at real democracy as though it were a joke.
With the Green-Rainbow Party putting 3 candidates for statewide office on the ballot November 2nd -- Jill Stein for Governor, Rick Purcell for Lt. Governor, and Nat Fortune for Auditor -- Massachusetts voters have some real choices. These candidates will unwaveringly support, and fight for, government of, by, and for the people. They have great ideas to strengthen the Commonwealth and a compelling vision of our common future. While Bill McKibben laments the shameful collapse of the mainstream environmental movement's ability to push climate legislation, the Green-Rainbow Party's leadership never held out hope that our government -- nearly entirely beholden to corporate interests -- would have the answers.
Which brings me to Democracy Day. Real democracy means participatory democracy. While upstart candidate Deval Patrick managed an impressive grassroots campaign in 2006, it would have been nice to see him carry that kind of participation into the halls of power. Oh well. The same can be said for Barack Obama's campaign in 2008. Disappointed? You were had. Plain and simple. You projected your dreams and your hopes onto the blank slates that they put out there for you -- never publicly committing to any sort of progressive vision for the Commonwealth or the country. They inspired people for sure... to VOTE for them, to DONATE to them, and to tell their friends to do the same.
Well, Democracy Day is just like that, only it's about We The People insisting upon much higher standards for the candidates we support.
Here's one MA citizen showing why he's supporting Jill Stein on Democracy Day:
And here's another:
If we don't demand this from the people we give money to and ultimately vote for, then we're undercutting our own vision for the Commonwealth and our common well-being.
But if we work our butts off, we can build a citizen-led clean elections infrastructure, pooling together small contributions from thousands of people who refuse to support candidates who will take lobbyist money.
Some of you will point out the spoiler argument in this election, but real democracy doesn't happen on election day -- it happens between elections, every day. What are you building? What are you working for? Where are you throwing your money?
The Green-Rainbow Party candidates are building THE independent political alternative for Massachusetts, and supporting them now and on November 2nd is a step towards real democracy, regardless of who becomes the next governor of Massachusetts. They got the 10,000 certified signatures they need, and you'll have that choice.
Now if 10,000 people gave just $10 to Jill Stein by mid-September, it would help her secure $125,000 in state matching funds. And while she received over 75,000 votes when she ran in 2002, if 75,000 people from across the Commonwealth and beyond gave her $10 by mid-October, we'd be talking about $750,000 in clean-money donations, another $750,000 in state matching funds, and a $1.5 million campaign for Jill, which could propel We, The People into the corner office.
Green Mass Group is an online forum for Green thought and collective action in Massachusetts. It is a community forum for justice, sustainability, democracy and health in the Commonwealth and beyond.
Read more
Quotes
"Now, is this the deal I would have preferred? No. I believe that we could have made the tough choices required - on entitlement reform and tax reform - right now, rather than through a special congressional committee process. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year. Most importantly, it will allow us to avoid default and end the crisis that Washington imposed on the rest of America."
--President Barack Obama on the debt ceiling "deal"
"Despite Democratic control over the White House, despite Democratic control over the Senate, despite overwhelming opposition from the American people, a small minority of the members of the Republican-controlled House have successfully pushed an extreme right-wing agenda onto the American political landscape. It is an ideology which believes that despite the fact that the rich are getting richer, the middle class is shrinking, and poverty is increasing, all - all of the burden for deficit reduction should rest on working people."
--Independent Senator Bernie Sanders on the debt ceiling "deal"
"Last year Evergreen, a Massachusetts company, agreed to establish their first-ever United States based manufacturing facility here in Massachusetts. They did so, or are doing so, at Devens. They have now agreed and chosen to triple their size at Devens. Their next phase of expansion, right here in Massachusetts, a signature company in a signature sector, and we congratulate all of the folks at Evergreen and look forward to continuing to work with you...
We made a personal commitment to Evergreen for the sake of Evergreen, but also because we wanted to show that there are ways in which state government, in working together with private industry and with the utility companies, could begin to create a different kind of environment, a different kind of business climate here, to grow that sector, and it is happening. It's happening. Evergreen is one of the most prominent examples, but there are a whole host of examples."
--Governor Deval Patrick, April 7, 2008, boasting about state investment in Evergreen.
and Now...
"Evergreen Solar Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, completing a stunning reversal of fortune for a high-flying alternative-energy company that once seemed to herald a new era for the Massachusetts economy... At its peak, Evergreen employed roughly 900 people locally and attracted more than $50 million in state support, as its stock price soared above $100 a share.
Yesterday, Evergreen's stock closed at 18 cents. The company shuttered its manufacturing plant in Devens earlier this year and now has only 85 employees left. Massachusetts is one of its top creditors, owed $1.5 million in rent."
--Erin Ailworth, Boston Globe, August 16, 2011
