Politics

Thanks for visiting my politics page. Politics can be contentious. People who agree in many areas may find themselves disagreeing on politics. I treat politics as a means to an end (the goal being sustainability). This page is important because many of the solutions in the other sections would just remain nice ideas unless we engage in politics to try to implement them. I ask you to please take the opinions or ideas on this page with a grain of salt.

Political issues that concern me

Climate change: My #1 issue. Sorry to ruin your day, but it's a crisis. Our entire civilization is at risk, and our generation is at fault. Major changes must be made, immediately. It's up to us. Are you ready for the challenge?

Economic issues: Global poverty, the disparity between rich and poor, the monetary system (the interest rate and debt-based issuance are the causes of many unsustainable characteristics of our runaway economic system). Basic income could be a partial solution to the jobs that are going away and maybe not coming back..

Environmental issues: the loss of biodiversity (species extinction), an economic system out of balance with the environment, water and air quality, sprawl, sustainability.

Energy: Wind and solar, not coal. Energy efficiency, conservation, and green jobs. Hybrid electric cars, plug-in cars, fuel cell cars, cars that get 100 mpg.

Reversing 50 years of auto-centric development: Smart growth, with density that preserves open space and urban growth boundaries. Transit options other than single occupancy vehicles.

Business ethics: promoting green business, prosecuting corporate fraud.

Health care and Education: How can you accomplish any of these goals if you're not healthy and educated?

Militarization: The military budget should receive additional scrutiny, reduce waste, and put resources towards solving the other problems on this page. A little diplomacy from our leaders can often prevent needless trillion dollar wars (and the death and injury of men and women in uniform).

Electoral Reform: Proportional representation, instant runoff voting, ballot access for independent and third party candidates, public financing of elections, campaign finance reform. Do just two parties give people enough choices? Should the media expose the public to more ideas?

Civil rights and human rights: Of course our country needs to support the Geneva Convention, the UN Declaration of Human Rights, and people's right to freedom of religion, freedom of expression, the right of assembly, and more. I also believe in the right to clean air and clean water. Someday there will be global equity in greenhouse gas emissions rights also.

Overpopulation: This issue is complex. The best solution to overpopulation in the developing world is to educate women and provide them with economic opportunities. In the industrialized world, family planning is very important. Part of that equation is reproductive educations, rights and choices.

Changes we need to make, from writer Gus Speth:

"Economic growth: from growth fetish to post-growth society, from mere GDP growth to growth in human welfare and democratically determined priorities.

The market: from near laissez-faire to powerful market governance in the public interest.

The corporation: from shareholder primacy to stakeholder primacy, from one ownership and motivation model to new business models and the democratization of capital.

Money and finance: from Wall Street to Main Street, from money created through bank debt to money created by government.

Social conditions: from economic insecurity to security, from vast inequities to fundamental fairness.

Indicators: from GDP "grossly distorted picture") to accurate measures of social and environmental health and quality of life.

Consumerism: from consumerism and affluenza to sufficiency and mindful consumption, from more to enough.

Communities: from runaway enterprise and throwaway communities to vital local economies, from social rootlessness to rootedness and solidarity.

Dominant cultural values: from having to being, from getting to giving, from richer to better, from separate to connected, from apart from nature to part of nature, from transcendent to interdependent, from today to tomorrow.

Politics: from weak democracy to strong, from creeping corporatocracy and plutocracy to true popular sovereignty.

Foreign policy and the military: from American exceptionalism to America as a normal nation, from hard power to soft, from military prowess to real security."

Resolutions (2016): Carbon Price and Basic Income