RSN Fundraising Banner
FB Share
Email This Page
add comment
Print

Galindez writes: "This does not go out to those of you who are actively fighting every day against the corporate oligarchy that is running America. This is to those of you who know we are being fleeced and are waiting for others to do something."

If we don’t organize we can’t complain about our choices in November. (illustration: Scott Galindez/Shutterstock)
If we don’t organize we can’t complain about our choices in November. (illustration: Scott Galindez/Shutterstock)


If We Don't Start Fighting Now, We Will Get What We Deserve

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

05 December 14

 

his does not go out to those of you who are actively fighting every day against the corporate oligarchy that is running America. This is to those of you who know we are being fleeced and are waiting for others to do something.

The Tea Party, as much as we believe it is a cancer on our politics, is an example of what we need to do to take our country back. Sure, the corporate elite bought them out and used their anger with the system to their advantage. That does not mean that organizing an alternative within the Democratic Party can’t be done. Of course it has been tried before, but I don’t believe we have ever had the unifying issue that the Tea Party had.

Let’s face it, a black man as President of the United States unified those crackpots into a political force. A political force that the Koch brothers and others steered in the direction they wanted it to go. Even a co-opted Tea Party has more political power today than progressives, who are far too often spectators. We complain that the system is corrupt and controlled by the one percent. Many of us talk about it but offer no solutions. Then we complain in November every four years that the choices are between bad and worse.

As long as we watch the process from the sidelines that will continue to be the case. Our political system needs reform, but to make the kind of reforms we need, progressives need to be in power. To take power we need participate in the system.

President Obama has been a disappointment, but his election was a sign that there are enough of us, fed up with the powers that be, to win elections. Obama chose Wall street and the big banks once he took office, but they didn’t elect him. Romney was their man. No doubt they knew Obama wouldn’t be bad for them either.

Obama fired up young people like never before and tapped into the American people’s desire for change. That desire is still out there. We didn’t get the change we believed in.

We can’t wait until next January and leave our future up to the caucus goers in Iowa or the voters in New Hampshire to decide who will represent the left side of the political spectrum like we do every election cycle. If we do, we will get Hillary and Goldman Sachs as our candidate. Oh and I guess whoever the Greens run … probably a great candidate the system will swallow up and hide from the majority of Americans.

In our system, we have to take the ballot line the process gives a chance to win. If we sit at home and watch, the corporate oligarchy will present us with two candidates they are happy with. They will prefer the Republican who fleeces the treasury for them, but as long as the Democrat is someone like Hillary, Joe Biden, or Martin O’Malley they won’t lose either way.

So with the 2014 disaster behind us it’s time to start fighting. The one percent has become a punchline on late night TV. So what unites the people that we need to join us to wrestle power away from the ruling class?

I believe a majority of Americans don’t vote because they believe the system is rigged. I believe the message that will resonate with the American people is the one that carried Elizabeth Warren into the United States Senate. I believe that message could carry her to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue if progressives begin to fight right now.

Elizabeth Warren may not run, but we must rise up and tell the American people that the system is rigged and we won’t take it anymore. We must not settled for polished products of the system like Hillary, Joe, or their new flavor, Martin.

Don’t wait for the candidate – start building an organization in your community now that will run candidates in the Democratic primaries, and organize for the presidential candidate that will move us closest to a truly democratic system. Choose your own name for now and if a movement surfaces we will all recognize it, then join together to change the system. This article won’t lead a movement, but I do believe that every spark helps build the fire.


Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.

e-max.it: your social media marketing partner
Email This Page

 

THE NEW STREAMLINED RSN LOGIN PROCESS: Register once, then login and you are ready to comment. All you need is a Username and a Password of your choosing and you are free to comment whenever you like! Welcome to the Reader Supported News community.

RSNRSN