Is it possible to replace the “money bomb” with a “Democracy Day?” Can we stem the tide of unjust, profit-driven policy, controlled by big-money corporations and their lobbyists? What would it take in Massachusetts to build a viable political alternative that is NOT beholden to special interests, and is instead truly accountable to the people of the Commonwealth, driven by the needs and desires of ordinary citizens across the state?
As Carl Davidson said at a Majority Agenda Project event, we need to organize our money, our votes, and our ideas. I think one way to do all 3 together is through the Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts.
One mechanism I’ve been working on to help us organize our money is a remix of Ron Paul’s “money bomb.” Hating that term, we’ve been cooking up a more positive spin, called “Democracy Day”:
Democracy Days are about pooling together $10 contributions from ordinary people who can’t ordinarily compete with corporate lobbyists… Through a series of Democracy Days, we can build the clean money tidal wave we need to have an equal voice in the debates that are so vital for the Commonwealth and our common future.
Today is Democracy Day #2. Help us reach our goal of 232 small-money donations to a truly grassroots, independent, and progressive clean-green democracy machine. Give $10 today to Dr. Jill Stein and make a small but important investment in democracy for Massachusetts.
Then help us spread the word.
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Another D-Day, another ride.
Funny how democracy works. I started my day in court, finding out that Boston wouldn’t be charging the Leadership Campaign’s climate sleep-out participants with trespassing on the Boston COMMON. For $100 apiece we are off scot-free.
Then it was on to my laptop to find the reassuring trickle of small-money donations piling up from across the Commonwealth. Once again the numbers surprised… trying to emphasize the number of donations rather than the size of the donation, we ended up with an average contribution of about $27. Clearly we’re still talking grassroots fundraising, reaching $2800 the hard way. But where Deval Patrick might rake in $2800 from one family… we’re talking about 104 people who raised their voices together to ante up… demanding to be heard at least as loudly as that one corporate executive’s family. Joining hands and working together will be the equalizer in this struggle for justice and representation.
Some other numbers – over 1600 people were invited to our Facebook event; we had over 440 page views; and our 3 YouTube videos were viewed nearly 200 times. Taking the two Democracy Days together, we’ve now raised over $6400 in small donations. While that won’t buy TV ads, it does provide critical infrastructure for a truly grassroots operation.
But more importantly, we’re putting ourselves out there, and experimenting with the tools we’ve got accessible to us. While we can’t force the corporate media to include our candidate in their exclusionary debates, or to mention her views on healthcare issues as though the opinions of a medical doctor and longtime single-payer advocate are relevant, we can use the readily available world wide web and countless social media tools to break the stranglehold of big money.
Most importantly, we’re doing this together. Democracy demands participation. And so does Democracy Days.
We invite you to join us in the days and weeks ahead in our little experiment in democracy. We’ve got some exciting changes ahead. We’ll be moving on to a new website that will allow for more and better participation. For now, please use the comments here and on Facebook to drop us your ideas, insights, and inspiration. We hope you’ll work with us to forge more effective Democracy Days, and eventually take our democracy back.
Stay tuned.
And THANK YOU for all you’re doing to turn the tide and build the clean money tidal wave we need to overcome the big-money forces that rule Beacon Hill and government at all levels.