Earlier this year, as winter was turning to Spring and Mitt Romney was still engaged in the Republican Primary contests, President Obama told Jeffrey Goldberg that he would consider invading Iran if alternative policies failed. Thanks in part to the media’s enthusiasm for it, for a brief time it almost appeared that an invasion was [...]
Some Costs to Consider in 2012
The Advocacy Center for Equality and Democracy’s mission to fight inequality through citizen action depends on America’s democracy. American citizens still get to choose most of their leaders and lawmakers. This fact endows citizens with great influence, and in ACED’s opinion significant responsibilities, as well. Democracy means government by the people. Thus, it also means [...]
The New York Times Should Balance Its Coverage of Killings Related to Law Enforcement
There has been very little press coverage of the killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr. by White Plains, New York police officers last year compared to Trayvon Martin. If you did a search right now of the New York Times website for articles over the last year that mention “Kenneth Chamberlain,” you would get only three [...]
What Is the Purpose of a Political System that Increases Inequality?
“According to the cybernetician the purpose of a system is what it does. This is a basic dictum. It stands for bald fact, which makes a better starting point in seeking understanding than the familiar attributions of good intention, prejudices about expectations, moral judgment or sheer ignorance of circumstances,” (emphasis added). Stafford Beer. Yesterday I [...]
Key Points from Conor Friedersdorf’s Principled Refusal to Vote for Barack Obama
I want to highlight and supplement a few points from Conor Friedersdorf’s post, Why I Refuse to Vote for Barack Obama, that appeared yesterday in The Atlantic. Friedersdorf wrote: I don’t see how anyone who confronts Obama’s record with clear eyes can enthusiastically support him. I do understand how they might concluded that he is [...]
Support the Chicago Teachers’ Strike
This post is meant to express the Advocacy Center’s solidarity with the striking teachers in Chicago. Whether or not the strike is an effective strategy, the interests represented by the union and the teachers merit support as they oppose the interests represented by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Some people have confused those interests, which makes picking [...]
Quick Responses to The Major Arguments Against Third Party Presidential Candidates
The two party tyranny in the United States relies on myths. Those myths are the keystone of our government as it is – but not as it must be. I do not believe for a moment that people’s allegiance to the Democrat and Republican Parties would continue if not for the partisan fear of [...]
Things We Can Do
As you probably already know, the Advocacy Center encourages citizens to take charge of our society’s future and take responsibility for the consequences of their actions/inactions. We have focused so much on voting during the 2012 election for three reasons: (1) It does not receive much attention; (2) it is hard to see how progressive [...]
Part 5: There Are Alternative Candidates for President. Here Are a Few.
Admittedly, this series says the same thing numerous times in slightly different ways. The goal is to convince people that voting for a third party or independent candidate for president is probably a necessary step to achieving significant and progressive reforms in our society. There are numerous ways to show that, but in my mind [...]
Part 4: Political Bystanders
“We want to explode one particular view that people have: ‘Were I in that situation, I would behave in an altruistic, wonderful way,’ he said. ‘What I say is, ‘No, you’re misreading what’s happening. I want to teach you about the pressures [that can cause bystander behavior]. Then when you feel those pressures, I want [...]
Part 3: Please Listen to Benjamin Franklin, and Take Some Responsibility for Your Government
In the last post, we discussed why the “two party system” does not work in theory. One need look no further than the two major party candidates for this year’s Presidential election for evidence that the “two party system” does not work in practice, either. One, President Obama, has continually favored elite private interests over [...]
Part 2: The Two Party System Does Not Work in Theory
Almost all voters in the United States accept that we have a “two party system” that practically precludes a third party or independent Presidential candidate from succeeding. Most politicians and the mainstream media push this narrative very hard; but as an historical matter, it clearly is not true (something to which this series will return). [...]
Part 1: Voters Should Be Open to Third Party and Independent Candidates
As the first post in the series, I want to broach the idea that an alternative candidate to Barack Obama and Mitt Romney can positively impact the upcoming election and politics thereafter. This is the general theme of the series, and so it will be significantly expanded on in the upcoming days. As far as [...]
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