I know what we appear to be fighting against.
Trump. We dislike him and his politics. His racism. His destruction of our ecology. His destruction of our belief in who we are and what we stand for. His distortion and denial of any understandable truth and so much more.
So today, I was watching a retro view of the gigantic march on Washington, a march staged by tens of thousands of people. Even after Dr. Martin Luther King died, people continued marching. White people and black people and yellow people and red people were marching together. We had a reason to be there, an affirmative reason. Something constructive. We had a cause. A plan. We could see the future.
That’s what we do not have now. We are seriously lacking a positive, healthy reason to get out there into the world. If we don’t stitch together a concrete and progressive plan, we will fail.
NBC News — MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM 1968 — Pictured: Crowds gather at the National Mall during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom political rally in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963 — (Photo by: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
The people — us — need more than hatred, shame, anger, and fear. We need a map and a direction. A goal with a potentially positive outcome. It would be a really great thing if we also had candidates who we believed might be able to put their heart and soul into making these things happen. For real. In this lifetime.
We need a plan. A good plan. Soon.
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Categories: #American-history, Election, Government, Politics
TERM LIMITS ARE A REALLY BAD IDEA – Marilyn Armstrong 
TERM LIMITS: A REALLY TERRIBLE IDEA – Marilyn Armstrong 
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Personally, i see the growing decline, and eventual replacement, of our current forms of government. The era of two main political parties is finally coming to an end(see what happened to the ‘majors’ in the recent French elections). Some might think it was good while it lasted, i have strong doubts it was the best we could have come up with and that it was kept in power through the lobbyists and the money of those who control most of our country’s wealth.
Modern forms of communication/social media mean the common people are now able to talk to one another without (so much of the) the control of media moguls and can inform themselves and decide for themselves what and who they listen to (which i agree is not always a good thing, but if it means we are no longer brainwashed by the rich to keep making them richer while we the people get increasingly poorer then i say go with it!)
The world is changing in ways we cannot imagine, or in ways which we refuse to look closely at because were all too busy looking backwards longing for the good old days – you know – back when America (Britain/France/Australia) was Great.
Adapt and get with the future program or get out of the way – the Changes are coming!
I plan to get out of the way and watch the show. (Enjoying it might be problematic as i’m a grouch and a lot of the stuff i see from my perspective annoys me greatly – it’s generally easier to change your perspective on life than to change life to suit your perspective.) 😉
love
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Parties evolve, but I doubt they will disappear. They will have new names, new faces, but eventually, it’ll turn out to be the same old thing. I’ve been reading history my whole life and there have been political parties forever. As long as there are governments, there have been parties. They probably had them in caves.
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How is it that people in the middle and to the left looked at Trump and decided to stay home on election day? They were discouraged then? How do they feel now?
Marching might make people feel better but we have lost the state legislatures, governorships and the entire Federal Government.
Stop marching. Find qualified people to run for office and help them.
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Yup. That’s what I keep saying. We need a plan. We need CANDIDATES. Good candidates.
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There are a few in congress who are starting to speak out. The only hope we have is that more become emboldened.
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Me too. I am worried. We need some movers and shakers.
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I SO agree with you. Looks to me as if we need a really bad bad event to rally. Sad but truth is most people (me included) must go on with so many mundane things that we keep going. But your are so right: no real change will happen if we don’t make a plan, common to most of us. Wish I could contribute with a concrete idea.
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We also need some leaders. Movers. Shakers. Idea people who know how to speak to a crowd. I am not seeing that and in the mean time, life just goes on.
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YES!
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Good point and well said.
Leslie
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Thanks! I hope I see some progress soon.
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We all do, Marilyn.
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Quite right. You must know what you want to replace what needs replacing. It can’t be all negative. The world needs more Dr King’s.
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We need people with vision. And strong, younger people who have it in them to fight back and bring their generation with them. I’m not seeing that. It’s a big country and maybe I’m missing something obvious, but I’m certainly not seeing it locally or in New England.
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I think people just feel paralyzed. Any wrong moves and we, collectively, will be zapped. Is there no limit to the authority of old Orange Hair? He seems above everything.
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I understand why you feel that way, but our paralysis pre-dated the election. Old people running things who had great ideas, but who are really … tired. One of the things that got Obama into office was his youth and charisma … and we don’t have anyone like that right now. Elizabeth Warren is about as close as you get and she is 68 and by election, she’ll be 72. SHE thinks she’s too old and love her though I do, I agree. Where are the youngsters? Where are they? I don’t think it’s the present climate. I think they are a bunch of weenies.
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This calls for a strong opposition leader.
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Absolutely. And one who isn’t over 70!
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I have recently been thinking about this albeit on the much smaller scale for my own small town. Three years ago we produced a Neighbourhood Plan at the behest of Central Government and our local authority. There was much initial hoo-hah, but in the end it’s really all about the infrastructure we would like up to 2026, and our belief that the plan will keep out big developers. There is no overall vision of how we see our town surviving; no plan that brings us together positively as a community, or enthuses us to take action and make things happen. We seem to have become so passive. Conduits and receivers of media content. Perhaps it is a product of ‘knowing’ too much – literally TOO MUCH information. It leaves us feeling powerless. Ideal fodder for Big Corp. Or maybe I’m just feeling old 😦
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Sometimes, I think we get tired. You and I are getting on in years and we’ve been doing what we’ve been doing a long time. Tired. That’s why I keep suggesting that we need younger people. YOUNG people. Kids, even. I know that Garry and I are past the point of getting out there to push our society to do the right thing. It’s physical for me and Garry is 75. A very healthy 75, but he spent his whole life doing that and he figures he’s earned his time off. Finally. I can’t argue the point. He is right. But there doesn’t seem to be anyone to fill the shoes. They are all busy on their mobile phones.
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I hope it’s not already too late to achieve a positive outcome. There has been a lot of damage done to the fabric of our society and the the sanctity of our planet since January 20th. The GOP controlled Senate seems to be following the lead of the GOP controlled House by trying to sneak through a repeal of Obamacare — an action that is not supported by a substantial majority of the American public — under a cloak of secrecy. If successful, it will be yet another chink in the armor that protects those of our citizens who need protection the most.
You’re right, we need candidates with hearts and souls, because it’s very clear that Republicans in Congress lack hearts, souls, and spines.
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We need a platform. A plan. A forward-looking plan that people can feel good about. We aren’t going to destroy Trump by trying to be uglier than he is. We’ll just be “the other ugly party.” And many of us aren’t even IN parties … we are just against what Trump is doing to our world. We need to do something about this or we are going to have a long, long, time under this thing we have elected.
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Agree we need a plan beyond the demoes, protest marches, and rogue comedy. They are “fast food” relief venues but don’t do anything to dent 45’s armor. We need to get behind serious candidates for the midterm elections.
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