Speak for We

I blog at http:speakforwe.com

Grassroots organizing and advocacy:

• We are stronger as individuals, organizations, and communities when we pool our skills and talents to create opportunities rather than use them to compete for scarce resources.
• Grassroots organizing and advocacy has the power to radically and positively affect the trajectory of social change.
• A grassroots advocate’s job is to make change necessary, desirable, and possible.

• Government can play a positive role in helping individuals and communities succeed.
• Policies that force toddlers brains to shrink (e.g. cuts in needed food assistance), that deny poor communities equal protection under the law (e.g. discrimination in the justice system), that allow rampant and unscrupulous markets to run roughshod over people and communities (e.g. prostitution, predatory lending and payday loans, stupid “infomercials”) are anti-growth.  They stunt development and waste valuable resources.

Civil Discourse:

• Debate — even with an elevated voice — is a good thing.  Don’t mistake someone’s passionate stance as disliking you; they might just really love an idea.
• Stand up for (or challenge) ideas, don’t tear people down.
• Partisanship for partisanship sake hurts the cause of justice.  It drives a wedge between a base of believers and the moveable middle who could be convinced to join us.

Economics:

• Incentives and disincentives work pretty well.  However, they become useless after a community or someone has tried valiantly so many times but not been given a fair shot at sharing-the-weath.
• Wealth is like fat.  Everybody needs some.  Too much or too little of it is unhealthy for individuals and communities.

• Acronyms are evil.
• Chocolate and peanut butter are two great tastes that go great together.