A lot of people have political power. They just don't realize that they have it. Power means you have to have a lot of education about the issue that you're deeply interested in. Power means that you have to exercise leadership, a rare elusive quality. You have to be a catalyst, reaching out to a whole bunch of different interest groups with different memberships, skills, and abilities -- and you have to activate them.
Power means developing a long term working relationship with a variety of elected officials. You have to have a very detailed, analytical understanding of the details, and you have to be current on all of their details. You have to be a rabid political fan with knowledge crammed in your head the way a sports fanatic has an attic full of statistics on ballplayers. It helps if you're Irish or Jewish. In any case you have to have a definite identity. People who don't know who they are are followers, not leaders. And you have to focuse on your trade like a monomaniac. It's strongly recommended that you have an endless fountain of energy, and you don't mind existing on six hours sleep or less for an indefinite period.
Political power is important, because that's the only way you can fight the bad guys. And did I tell you that the bad guys are not only out there, but they're already implementing all of the strategy and tactics that you should already be doing because they have a virtually unlimited supply of money, and you don't?
When you have political power you're not Adolf Hitler. You're more like a football coach. There are a whole bunch of specialists who need co-ordination. That's your job, and remember-- you can't make anybody do anything they don't want to do. Humanity above all, my friend! And don't be a goddamned liar! That will sink you faster than anyone, unless you're in South Carolina or some other rat-infested hellhole. Having power means being honest. Don't be afraid of whispering in your congressman's ear that he's full of shit if he deserves it. The trick of course, is to get to the position of whispering in the congressman's ear in the first place. That is the R-E-L-A-T-I-O-N-S-H-I-P word.
More than anything, political power means love. You have to love your community and be a part of it as much as you possibly can. You have to spend nights poring over 100 page policy papers looking for that nugget buried in one sentence on page 76 if that's what it means. You have to sit on far too many folding chairs for anything that's good for you. You will practice pizza aversion therapy.
And you will have to do this because you love your community. You love your co-workers. You are a team player. And we are all in this fight together.
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What comes to mind is a rhetorical question, "Let he among you who is without sin cast the first stone?"
Political power does not come from love, it comes from sheer, brutal force.
And cats.
Otherwise, good post.
"For twelve years this Nation was afflicted with hear-nothing, see-nothing, do-nothing Government. The Nation looked to Government but the Government looked away. Nine mocking years with the golden calf and three long years of the scourge! Nine crazy years at the ticker and three long years in the breadlines! Nine mad years of mirage and three long years of despair! Powerful influences strive today to restore that kind of government with its doctrine that that Government is best which is most indifferent.
For nearly four years you have had an Administration which instead of twirling its thumbs has rolled up its sleeves. We will keep our sleeves rolled up.
We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace‹business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.
They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.
Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me‹and I welcome their hatred."
This is why people who really understand--I mean really know how to manipulate--corporations from the inside always win the argument. They know. They really do. They're not stupid about that at all.
When the banking crisis hit in 2008 there was all kinds of talk about reforming the institutions, but the fact is that almost all the people most enthusiastic about that project didn't know anything about how those organizations work or what types of acitivities they're engaged in. They had a vague notion, yes, but there were several awful mistakes they made: that transparency is what counts, that regulations could solve anything, that there is some kind of magic combination of political clout and public shaming that would result in everything being solved.
Nothing happened. Transparency is something the industry loves to put on display, it's the favorite scam of truly opaque businesses, the regulations were always ineffectual and the regulators themselves are part of the system, and of course bankers have no shame--it's a job requirement.
So nothing was done. The Dodd-Frank Act is a joke, regulators are still helping banks rig the system, the predatory practices continued only they moved up in scale to include whole regions, whole countries, instead of just blocs of home owners in poor neighborhoods.
And once again, all the attention on the personal relationships, the perks and bonuses, the small fry (and Bernie Madoff, believe it or not, was always a small fry), that's what sidetracked these well meaning wannabe reformers who never got off the ground. Meanwhile they poo-pooed the advice of people who talked about structural change.
Again, unserious.
Our 99% need to be protected from our 1%. The collateral damage with be the rest of the Planet's 99%.