POWER MARY: "These are all profoundly important initiatives because
they result in immediate increased quality of life for millions of Americans.
Of equal importance, they are powerful seeds of an America that empowers all."
AN AGENDA FOR THE LONG RANGE - IT MUST BE FIRMLY ROOTED IN THE VALUES OF
VICTORY FOR ALL
NOW IS THE TIME TO CREATE AN AMERICA - AND A WORLD - OF VICTORY FOR ALL PEOPLE
- with and without disabilities.
VICTORY FOR ALL IN AN AMERICA OF INDIVIDUALIZED EMPOWERMENT WILL REQUIRE
THAT EACH HUMAN BEING ACCEPTS TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY TO EMPOWER SELF AND TO
EMPOWER ALL TO LIVE LIVES OF QUALITY.
THIS WILL MEAN CHANGING THE DEFINITIONS OF VICTORY - OF SUCCESS, RESPONSIBILITY
AND PRODUCTIVITY. Success must no longer be defined in terms of gaining symbols
of prestige that make you feel superior to other people. Responsibility must
no longer be defined in terms that permit lifestyles with major investments
in conspicuous consumption, spectatorism, elitism and escapism - investments
in pushing people down rather than lifting them up. Productivity must no longer
be defined in terms of raw dollars only.
ALL HUMAN ACTION MUST BE MEASURED IN TERMS OF INCREASING THE QUALITY OF LIFE
OF EACH AND OF ALL in the interdependent continuum which is individual, society
and universe. Producing a million dollars worth of cigarettes or landmines
is not the same as producing a million dollars worth of personal care assistance.
The passionate effort to live conspicuously better than others and pursue
frantic escapism is a game that guarantees a majority of losers, including
a growing poverty gap.
HISTORY HAS TAUGHT US AGAIN AND AGAIN that those who think they are living
successfully without taking responsibility for others are suffering a self-defeating
illusion resulting in poverty, hate, war and terrorism. Eliminating this ancient
stereotype will not be quick or easy. It can only be accomplished by passionate
advocates like you and me and Power Mary. Our message: the success of each
is necessary for the success of all.
POWER MARY will advocate and live the new values. She will not have the big
dollars to compete with the advertisers of "I'm-better-than-you-are"
consumption and with the major media escapism. She will have the profound
power of living the truth. While she is struggling toward the promised land
of universal empowerment, she will marshal all her resources, however meager,
to create a life of conspicuous simplicity, conspicuous economy, conspicuous
principle and conspicuous beauty, for herself and for all in her personal
universe. As with Gandhi, living simple truth is a powerful weapon for change.
POWER MARY: "LIFE IS A SUPER BOWL WHERE EVERY ONE CAN WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP
RING. "
"I remember when I was 6 years old climbing the mountainside to pick
weeds and roots for our family dinner. I remember washing our clothes in the
ice-cold river. I remember seeing clouds of airplanes on their way to bomb
Tokyo. I never felt that I was poor or a loser. I believe that any person
achieving full potential for responsibility to life is at one with the universe.
I believe that every person can be great in the universe."
Yoshiko Dart
"Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by fear of punishment and the
other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective
and permanent than the one derived from fear of punishment. Love is God."
Mahatma Gandhi
"The world is a classroom; the lesson, love."
Barbara Jordan
AN AGENDA FOR UNIVERSAL VICTORY
1. LOVE FOR ALL
VICTORY FOR ALL IN AN AMERICA OF INDIVIDUALIZED EMPOWERMENT WILL REQUIRE
LOVE FOR ALL. "Love in a political platform? Are you serious, Justin?"
Absolutely! Love is the magic ingredient of empowerment. Every human being
is empowered by an environment of love. Every human being is entitled to an
environment of love. Every human being is responsible to contribute to an
environment of love - not only in families, but also in schools, businesses,
social services, communities - and, yes, in governments and politics. Gandhi,
Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King won with a politics of love. Destroy
the injustice. Love the unjust.
POWER MARY: "WHEN YOU REALLY LOVE PEOPLE, you want their lives to be
complete victories." Power Mary will be an irresistible advertisement
for individualized empowerment, because she will deliver her message with
effervescent love. Everyone has active or potential qualities that can be
singled out with love. Everyone has needs that can be met with love. People
will be happy to see Power Mary coming because they know she is going to say
"I love you," in sincere words and actions. They will open their
minds and their hearts to her truth. Even if their morality and their politics
are not revolutionalized instantly, the infection of love will enrich their
lives and the lives of those around them. They will be on the track to individualized
empowerment.
2. GOVERNMENT FOR ALL
VICTORY FOR ALL IN AN AMERICA OF INDIVIDUALIZED EMPOWERMENT WILL REQUIRE
GOVERNMENT THAT IS STRONGER IN ITS GUARANTEES AND SIMPLER, LESS BUREAUCRATIC,
LESS PATERNALISTIC IN ITS PROCESS. Government will be leaner and less bureaucratic
in the sense that major law will be more simple, more nationwide - more complementary
in states, counties, cities and towns. Much decision and process will be passed
from layers of bureaucrats to individuals and free enterprise. Government
will be stronger in the sense that it will guarantee the foundations of productive
life to all, in a seamless system of legal supports delivered equally and
completely no matter who you are and where you live. Federal guarantees will
include:
POWER MARY: ÒGood government will simply guarantee the same kind of foundations
for the empowerment of its people that a good family tries to guarantee, but
often does not have the resources to provide. The simplicity and universality
of federal guarantees and regulations will save individual citizens and General
Motors big dollars, big hours and big headaches.Ó
"As times change, so government must change. We need a new government for
a new century - humble enough not to try to solve all our problems for us, but
strong enough to give us the tools to solve our problems for ourselves. The
preeminent mission of our new government is to give all Americans É a real opportunity
to build better lives."
President Bill Clinton
"The legitimate object of government is to do for the people what needs
to be done, but which they cannot, by individual effort, do at all, or do
so well, for themselves."
Abraham Lincoln
3. RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALL
GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, by the people, and for the people, cannot fully
operate until all the people take responsibility to operate government for
the benefit of all the people. Private citizens must participate everyday
in government at all levels - through adamant advocacy and positive action.
Imagine a citizenry who will insist to pay taxes, who will pick up papers
off the street, who will scream so soon and so loud about bad policy, bad
ethics and violations of human rights that the ship of state will stay on
course without multiple layers of law suits and of oppressive armies of bureaucrats.
POWER MARY will never be neutral when justice is at stake. She will participate
passionately in key political campaigns. She will not only vote, she will
register others to vote, educate them how to vote and take them to the polls.
She will campaign everyday. She will run for office.
ONE OPTION: POWER MARY and all citizens could be required to serve public
and private service internships as part of their elementary, junior high school
and higher education. All citizens in their late teens or early twenties could
be required to serve two years of full time public service internships in
areas such as military, public health, public security, education, maintenance
of public lands, utilities and transportation, public emergencies, agriculture,
personal care assistance, law enforcement and more. Done properly, this will
provide massive productivity targeted on areas of real need and a large, flexible
labor force with valuable experience and positive work attitudes. It would
begin to eliminate our tragic underclass of welfare recipients and near minimum
wage workers with little marketable ability.
4. SIMPLE TAXES FOR ALL WHO PROSPER
OUR TAX SYSTEM MUST BE GREATLY SIMPLIFIED AND UNIFIED. I don't think anyone
has the slightest idea how much it costs us to collect thousands of different
taxes in thousands of different places. One rationally flexible, but essentially
unified system of federal and local consumption and income taxes will save
billions of dollars and millions of hours every year. Efficient, fair taxes
will liberate big dollars for increased investment in basic human needs. It
will eliminate deficits and make possible saving for future challenges and
opportunities. Eventually, it will mean lower taxes.
POWER MARY, as a person with an above average income (perhaps $70,000 - $100,000
per annum), will be proud to pay the taxes necessary to invest in the empowerment
of the poor, to create a society that is truly one of victory for all. Sound
impossible? I have experienced in some churches where well-to-do members competed
to see who could contribute the most. There could be a system which allowed
taxpayers to receive some sort of positive recognition as in the church.
5. EDUCATION FOR ALL
EDUCATION IS THE FOUNDATION OF A CULTURE OF INDIVIDUALIZED EMPOWERMENT. An
America of individualized empowerment will require rising above traditional,
rigid, time limited educational programs. Government will guarantee lifetime
public education, including higher education that never ceases to meet the
challenges of constant social change. First your parents and you, then you
alone, will be enabled to participate in the creation and ongoing development
of an individual educational plan designed to utilize the best resources in
the world to meet your personal needs and to develop your distinctive abilities.
Every plan must communicate the values of empowerment and the passion to make
those values live through hard work and creativity. The desire to work hard
and effectively will be communicated through all programs, including rewarding,
real work internships from childhood, through basic higher education.
POWER MARY, as a high school student, might at one time choose to participate
in courses, counseling, research and internships with Harvard, Stanford, Microsoft,
a local business and community college, and all of the great information resources
of the world. Mary's public school educators would increasingly play the role
of counselor/broker rather than that of set curriculum lecturer only - with
Mary, the student, as the senior partner. While certain books and face-to-face
communication will always be valuable, Mary would increasingly use the international
electronic media to make millions of quality writings, video communications
and personal dialogues available in instant and less expensive forms. Mary
would never experience a final graduation from higher education because it
would last all of her life.
6. EMPLOYMENT FOR ALL
EMPLOYMENT IN AN AMERICA OF INDIVIDUALIZED EMPOWERMENT WILL REQUIRE RISING
ABOVE RIGID JOB DESCRIPTIONS and workplace rules. You will participate in
creating a job description that is customized to meet your needs and to fully
use all your abilities. Youth to adult public service internships will help
guarantee immediate employment for all. Employers will welcome the lower taxes
and the increased productivity and profit that this process will bring, as
people move from welfare to employment and consumerism. Individualized empowerment
has enabled "helpless, hopeless" people with very severe disabilities
to secure good employment. The electronic media will instantly connect all
job seekers and prospective employers, saving millions of hours wasted searching
classified ads, distributing written resumes and other obsolete procedures.
Youth to adult internships will play a major role.
THE MINIMUM WAGE MUST BE DOUBLED - AT LEAST. Earning the present minimum
wage qualifies the worker to live far below the official government poverty
level, a figure which in reality is not half enough to rise above real poverty.
As we have stated, the poverty gap is increasing dramatically.
POWER MARY could serve as CEO and janitor/security guard, if those roles
met her needs and those of the company. Ridiculous? Not at all. CEO as janitor
raises the quality and morale of janitor services. Power Mary gets paid to
exercise instead of paying dues at a health club. Simultaneous service as
security guard raises the consciousness and the quality of security and the
morale of all in the company.
POWER MARY would have a good chance to use technology to work at her home,
where she could be with her children. She would have the choice of full day
care service which would enable her to work anywhere in her area. Well designed
education and internships would give Power Mary the option of part or full
time salaried employment at a fairly young age. Whatever she does, including
public service, Mary will earn enough in terms of salary and benefits to enjoy
the basics of dignified human existence.
7. CIVIL RIGHTS FOR ALL
CIVIL RIGHTS IN AN AMERICA OF INDIVIDUALIZED EMPOWERMENT WILL REQUIRE PROTECTION
OF INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL. No one will be left behind. Women, men, children,
older Americans, people of color and diverse languages, ethnic and religious
minorities, people with disabilities, consumers, patients, workers, gays and
lesbians, aliens, prisoners and literally all who might need protection from
discrimination and abuse will have it. There must be affirmative action for
all, not to give one-person precedence over another, but to seek out, protect,
strengthen and use the abilities of all.
POWER MARY may be black, a person with a severe disability, a lesbian and
a prisoner, but she will have seamless civil rights protection. More important,
as a private citizen, Power Mary will provide the first and most effective
line of enforcement of civil rights. Her instant, militant public reaction
to civil rights violations will force many immediate positive solutions and
prevent many expensive, time consuming court actions. Without daily citizen
enforcement, there are not enough prosecutors and policemen in the world to
prevent injustice.
8. TECHNOLOGY FOR ALL
TECHNOLOGY IN AN AMERICA OF INDIVIDUALIZED EMPOWERMENT WILL BE GUARANTEED
TO ALL. Today's culture is increasingly dominated by technology. Individual
access to electronic communications and other technology is a necessity and
a civil right. Every person must be guaranteed 24-hour personalized, lifetime
access to the technology, to the electronic information and transaction resources
of the world. Every person must be guaranteed use of an up-to-date, portable
computer/communications device which is personalized to maximize the abilities
of the individual. Every home must have a computerized telecommunication system.
The simple right to possess accessible technology will not necessarily empower
the average person to dominate the vast complexity of ancient stereotypes
and positive resources that comprise today's electronic universe. Intensive
infancy-to-death education to use public technology would be imperative.
POWER MARY and all individuals could have their own customized software containing
their complete personal files - all their vital information as a whole person
- organized to provide positive interaction with the resources of the world.
This software would be constructed to serve the personal interests of Mary
and of the society of individuals rather than the financial, political and
professional interests that now dominate telecommunications.
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY ORDINARY PEOPLE like Mary could record the
vital details of their daily existence and get instant feedback on the interrelated
totality of their current needs and abilities. They could get instant feedback
from the best resources in the world on the likely impact on their lives of
prospective decisions in areas such as health, education, employment, government/politics,
buying, selling, budgeting, investing, taxes, housing, transportation, leisure
and community participation. As the system was developed, each request for
feedback would trigger millions of positive inter relational transactions
- a process impossible for even the most brilliant human mind or staff of
experts.
THE POTENTIAL POWER OF THIS SOFTWARE - after a relatively few years of design
and development - is beyond present imagination. Not only would the power
of the individual be increased by several magnitudes, when a critical mass
of individuals were empowered by interrelated systems, there would occur a
kind of human fusion which would endow those involved with a dominating social
power. No one could afford to be left out.
OBVIOUSLY, POWER MARY'S PRIVACY and her total control of decision making
must be guaranteed by strong federal, state and local law - with the potential
for very substantial criminal and financial remedies. We must establish in
the public mind that you own your personal data, and that simple possession
of it by an individual or entity without your written permission is a criminal
offense. Government, education, business and the public media must be given
strong incentives to protect your right to total privacy and total choice.
POWER MARY could access a first rate "911" hotline to deal with
telecommunications issues. The bottom line: all people will have the educated
final choices about how to use their own information and the information of
the universe.
9. HEALTHCARE FOR ALL
HEALTHCARE IN AN AMERICA OF INDIVIDUALIZED EMPOWERMENT WILL BE GUARANTEED
TO ALL - with no artificial limits like economic caps, or exclusions such
as dental care, prescription drugs and pre-existing conditions. You will no
longer simply be a "patient," subservient to an authoritarian health
care system. You will be trained and empowered to take full responsibility
as senior partner in all aspects of your care. You will no longer be forced
to be in a hospital, a nursing home or other institution in order to survive
disability or illness. A broad spectrum of fully funded home and community
based services will enable you to live and participate in the community of
your choice.
POWER MARY and her contemporaries will be trained as part of public education
to provide basic professional healthcare at something like the licensed vocational
nurse level. With aggressive self and family provided preventive care and
instant electronic communication with the medical resources of the world,
Mary and her family will live longer and better. Millions of hours of expensive,
obsolete medical process will be eliminated.
10. FOOD AND HOUSING FOR ALL
ADEQUATE FOOD AND HOUSING in an America of individualized empowerment will
be guaranteed to all - guaranteed by government, provided largely by free
enterprise. Simple government subsidies for good nutrition and dignified housing
will be much cheaper and contribute much more to quality of life than the
present "solutions" - paternalistic welfare, crisis charity and
finally prisons - that form massive barriers to empowerment and productivity.
POWER MARY could use a sophisticated credit card that would communicate the
extent of her eligibility for instant access to food, housing and other subsidies.
She would have to be educated to take full responsibility for organizing these
affairs. The privacy and integrity of this process would be protected by strict
federal law with substantial remedies.
11. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FOR ALL
AFFORDABLE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION in an America of individualized empowerment
will be guaranteed to all. Our present primary reliance on private cars is
a major barrier to the empowerment of youth, older persons, persons with disabilities,
persons with illness and persons with limited budgets. No one should be prevented
from full participation in the mainstream of society by lack of a private
car. No one should have to sacrifice adequate food, housing or healthcare
to buy a private car. Universal public transportation would greatly reduce
pollution, death and disability from injuries and the enormous amount of money
and priceless time lost in gridlock.
POWER MARY would save several thousand dollars a year and hundreds of wasted
hours by utilizing public transportation and not owning an automobile. (I
myself have made this experiment with major savings and greatly increased
peace of mind.)
"Each day we choose. We can choose indifference. Or we can choose to make
a difference. We can choose to view adversity as opportunity. We all have the
freedom to choose how we view our situation. In coalition with others who share
our vision we can reach our destination: The choices are ours. The future is
ours. The world is ours. If we choose."
Fred Fay
12. SOCIAL SECURITY FOR ALL
SOCIAL SECURITY in an America of individualized empowerment will be strengthened
and guaranteed to all. There must be seamless, lifetime social insurance that
encourages everyone to be productive and at the same time guarantees lives
of choice and dignity to all citizens. So called "privatization"
could only weaken Social Security as social insurance.
POWER MARY would gladly pay her social security tax, knowing that whether
she paid little or nothing in tough times, her entire life - and the lives
of her children and all people - would be secure in quality and dignity.
13. ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY in an America of individualized empowerment must be
radically altered to be in complete harmony with increasing the quality of
life of every individual in the world.
POWER MARY would, of course, be an adamant advocate for an international
ecology that nurtures life. If she can't breathe, she can't work.
"There are only two kinds of power: money and people. We don't have the
money, so our only hope for having power is to effect changes in people."
Belinda Carlton
"No one will give us our rights - we have to fight for them! In other
struggles for social justice and liberation, people have paid the ultimate
price, namely, their lives. What are we prepared to sacrifice?"
Joshua Malinga
14. FOREIGN POLICY FOR ALL
THE TRAGIC TERRORISM OF SEPTEMBER 11TH demonstrated once again that America
and other developed democracies cannot exist as islands of peace and prosperity
in a sea of poverty, oppression, violence and desperation.
WE MUST PROVIDE VIGOROUS LEADERSHIP FOR A WORLD CULTURE THAT REMOVES THE
CAUSES OF TERRORISM by empowering all to live their God given potential. This
must be done, not by attempting to support and police the world but by USA
becoming a dramatic model of universal empowerment.
We start by eliminating the poverty gap and the prejudice and violence here
at home, by creating America as a sparkling, irresistible advertisement of
the good life for all. And we must develop a much stronger, more consistent
and more passionately democratic foreign policy supporting the oppressed people
of the world. We must cease to subsidize regimes that systematically abuse
human rights, practice violence and acquiesce in poverty. We must use military
action only as an extreme last resort.
WE CAN DO THIS WITH MUCH SMALLER, stronger, streamlined military and State
Department establishments, freeing billions for investment in America as a
magnetic model of individualized empowerment.
LET OUR FOREIGN POLICY - GOVERNMENT AND CITIZEN - BE A ROARING SINGLE MINDED,
ESSENTIALLY NON-VIOLENT, ADVOCACY FOR LIVES OF QUALITY FOR ALL PEOPLE ON EARTH.
MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT GOING TO SUPPORT TERRORIST ATTACKS on their colleague
advocates for justice.
POWER MARY would become a conspicuous advocate for international individualized
empowerment - through her trips abroad, through her electronic and other international
contacts, and through her domestic and international politics. Power Mary
could bring more quality of life and democracy to the oppressed people of
Afghanistan than a hundred bombers and a regiment of Marines.
INDIVIDUALIZED EMPOWERMENT FOR ALL/ AMERICA FOR ALL - THE ACTION
Individualized Empowerment for all/AMERICA FOR ALL IS AN AMBITIOUS AGENDA.
SOCIALISM? NO! "FREE LUNCH?" NO! The empowerment
of the individual to provide for self and for all is the foundation of free
enterprise.
CAN WE AFFORD TO DO IT? HIGHER TAXES? DEFICITS? We can't
afford not do it. Our present primitive system costs too much, is the
cause of high taxes, deficits and unnecessary expenditures by families and
businesses. Emergency room health care costs twice as much as good health
insurance. Policemen, prisons, substance abuse, welfare and crisis charity
cost far more than good education and employment supports. Homelessness
costs more than guarantees of housing loans. Our underclass of working,
welfare and charity poor costs us tens of billions of dollars annually in
lost productivity.
THE EMPOWERMENT OF ALL WILL BRING AN EXPLOSION OF PROSPERITY and quality
of life that will dwarf the industrial revolution. Lower taxes and the
elimination of public debt will be real possibilities.
BUT CAN WE SELL IT in a context of multi-million dollar ad agency politics?
Not quickly, not easily. We will have to fight long years for every
inch of progress. But we will never win unless we get the word all back
at the top of political dialogue. Victory, not for 40 percent, not for
90 percent, victory for all!
WE CAN WIN. We have the ultimate power, people and truth. We
have you! We have a fighting chance to win many of the elections of
2002 and 2004, if we, if you, reach out to Americans who want change.
There are no better leaders than you - the advocates of disability rights
and our allies in justice. Win or lose in a particular election, your
action will contribute to victory in the future.
THE WORLD IS WATCHING AMERICA. The world will follow what we do.
Failure is unthinkable. Get into politics as if your lives depended
on it. They do, and the lives of billions in the 21st Century.
GOD BLESS YOU. GOD BLESS AMERICA. GOD BLESS THE WORLD.
I AM WITH YOU. I LOVE YOU. LEAD ON.
"An individual can achieve personal power, but the true power comes from
uniting with others in shared beliefs. Individuals united gain a collective
power that enables all to live their dream."
Becky Ogle
"Inclusion not exclusion. Independence not dependence. Empowerment not
paternalism and charity."
Tom Harkin and Bobby Silverstein
"Most important, we must keep our eyes on the prize - full empowerment
for all."
Paul Marchand
He drew a circle that shut me out -
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout,
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in.
Edwin Markham
