I was so excited about this conference. I had an idea that Marianne Williamson had a new idea about how we can change the conditions of the political scene in our country. Her opening remarks described us as corporately co-creating a new field of possibilities.
Really quick summary of day 1:
Dennis Kucinich -- The man walks the talk. Our system is pretty broken. He said one of my favorite things of the day: (speaking of politicians) "People never say what they mean. The government is invested in obfuscation." Then he mentioned how consistency in thought, word and deed is integrity.
It looks to me like integrity is the issue at every level, from the President, to Congress, to the police force, to citizens.
Imagine what we could do if integrity became a huge topic of conversation, of action, and of education.
Diane Randall was also speaking the truth in love. Her organization The Friends Corporation on National Legislation is a lobbying organization in the public interest which focuses on peace, and was founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).
Lynne Lyman and Lisa Bloom both spoke in the afternoon. From my point of view, they mostly just swam around in the problem, using many statistics which definitely defined the darkness and did little to claim the light.
Thom Hartmann -- very knowledgeable about the history of how we came to this point of unfettered capitalism in which the corporations are no longer responsible to anyone except themselves and their shareholders. I'll be looking into this guy's podcasts and books.
Senator Bernie Sanders -- maybe I was just tired, but this just sounded like a lot of political talk. The sidebar discussion was full of people wanting him to run for President, and telling us to hang on for solutions that will be presented tomorrow during the session. We shall see.
Overall, day one ended with me feeling like I had found a couple of very interesting new people to listen to (Kucinich, Hartmann) but that I had wandered into a group of people (sidebar) who hate republicans and everything about them. I still feel a little disturbed this morning from some of the comments by a very vocal few. My desire is to find common ground, but that still remains to be found.
My biggest take away yesterday came gradually as I realized my commitment to "Getting to Yes" (also the name of a book by Fisher/Ury) might just be something that is going to be impactful in a larger context than I have heretofore imagined.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
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2 comments:
Walking the talk. Already used that phrase to describe me over something smaller today.
Republicans are not the only issue in my research. Look at the wealth of these Democrats, follow where their money comes from, and yet they want "social democracy". Confusing to me the Libertarian.
Hate on anyone, including those I disagree with is not going to be part of my life.
Thanks for listening to and commenting on a conference that would have exploded my head and yet I wish I could be open minded enough to listen to the good. Bernie Sanders, tch tch tch. (Lived in Vermont 4 years recently.)
So, on a lighter note, if the "Progressives" rule, please make my uniform black, I'm a New Yorker and that's my comfort zone. :-)
Off to do my best to walk the responsible talk.
Exactly, Nancy. I came to the conference believing that it really doesn't matter who's in the Oval Office. The system needs a pretty big overall. Taxes, the increasing power of Congress, the obscene practice of the lobbying that goes on, the effects of decisions that happened during the Reagan administration that had the outcome of turning corporations into giant maws of greed. These things can be addressed ... somehow ... but not by electing any particular person.
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