Outreach, Framing/Reframing (Also see Organizing & Activism)

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Why people support Trump — AND smart ways for us to organize against Trumpism

August 30, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Read the insightful article at this link: https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/here-are-15-reasons-why-trumps-supporters-will-never-abandon-him?src=newsletter1095784 Some of these 15 reasons are things we have already known. But some of these offer fresh insights that have not been discussed very much. We could make progress organizing against Trump and Trumpism by paying attention to these and devising strategies to reduce or counter those supports. EXAMPLES: 1. How could we reach out to the public, connect with their basic values and interests, reinforce good values and the broad public interest, educate them about some of the basic facts, and motivate people to pay attention and get engaged with politics […]

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Senate must publicly expose Trump’s nominees & turn public opinion against Trumpism.

August 9, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Trump keeps nominating horribly corrupt, incompetent and dangerous right-wing nominees for powerful positions in the federal government.  Democratic senators simply vote “no” but fail to take stronger actions, so these Democratic senators trap themselves in a simple defensive role.  When they do that, Trump is free to keep throwing horribly corrupt, incompetent and dangerous right-wing nominees at us, one after another. Democratic senators must STAND UP for humane values, honesty, and the broad public interest.  They must PUBLICLY EXPOSE Trump’s nominees as horribly corrupt, incompetent and dangerous right-wing extremists.  They must REACH OUT TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC and TURN PUBLIC […]

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Larry Mosqueda’s insightful article explains the immigration crisis

July 27, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

On July 27, 2018, Larry Mosqueda published at CounterPunch his new article about the current immigration “crisis.”  His article corrects the misunderstandings that are widespread throughout the U.S. government, mainstream media, and the general public.  He invites us to share it with other people, so I’m sharing it with you through my blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org. You will be able to read it in the August 2018 issue of Works in Progress, Olympia’s progressive monthly newspaper.  See a paper copy or www.olywip.org Here is the link to read it at CounterPunch:  https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/27/on-the-origins-of-the-current-immigration-crisis-at-the-border/  

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Democracy’s threats are deeper than Russia.

July 27, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Mainstream media and the official Democratic Party want us to think that Russia is the main threat to American democracy.  The actual threats are different and much more deep-seated. While Russia clearly did bad things to American democracy during the 2016 election — and before and since — focusing on Russia is a clever distraction promoted by people who want us to ignore the much more serious threats. Trump won in 2016 largely because so many Americans were disgusted with the status quo.  Over the years, public opinion polls kept showing increasing numbers of people saying the U.S. is on […]

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Stop the Endless Wars. Repeal the 2001 AUMF.

July 27, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

For decades the Cold War allowed our nation’s militarists — and the weapons manufacturing corporations that fund them — to stampede the U.S. media and politicians and public into decades of recklessly wasteful military spending, including several wars and proxy wars and thousands of nuclear weapons.  They said that this is Priority #1, so we could not afford bold efforts to end poverty, take care of the environment, or do other crucial work. When the Cold War ended, those same vested interests — our nation’s militarists and the weapons manufacturers — and conservative elements that opposed solving our nation’s social […]

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Community Affirmation: Peace, Not Nuclear Weapons

July 27, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

This Community Affirmation was affirmed at the June 1982 International Religious Convocation for the Second United Nations Special Session on Disarmament.  It remains timely today.   Community Affirmation   We who live in the shadow of the mushroom cloud and the dangers of bullets on our streets Today declare our hope in the future.   From the diversity of our religious traditions We have come to renew our belief in the holiness of the earth and the sanctity of all life. We declare we are at peace with all people of good will.   We need no leader to define […]

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Declaration of Independence from Nuclear Weapons

July 27, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

This document was created in 1985 and is still an important and positive alternative to our current crisis.  May we all join in! Dozens of persons (including me) signed this document on Fourth of July weekend of 1985 in a ceremony outside the Trident Nuclear Submarine base at Bangor in Kitsap County WA.  Ten years later dozens more signed it in a renewal of the original ceremony.  MAY WE ALL JOIN TOGETHER IN AFFIRMING IT NOW, decades later! Declaration of Independence from Nuclear Weapons We are people living in the shadow of nuclear annihilation. We recognize that our present way […]

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Voters do want prosecutors to be PROGRESSIVE, not “tough-on-crime.”

July 27, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

In almost every state, the voters elect their local prosecuting attorneys.  For many years prosecutors were elected and re-elected by being “tough-on-crime,” and public opinion seemed to support “lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key” policies.  Mainstream media kept reinforcing that stereotype, and both of the big political parties bought into it.  We were very stuck. But finally people are paying attention to the RESEARCH that PROVES those “tough-on-crime” laws and policies DO NOT WORK. Also, voters want to replace those with fair and just reforms. Besides being seriously biased by race and economic class, they are grossly unjust and they waste taxpayers’ money.  Now the […]

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How to really STOP Trump’s horrible nominees

July 17, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Trump keeps throwing HORRIBLE, CORRUPT, and DANGEROUS nominees at us, one after another. Democratic U.S. Senators think it is sufficient to merely vote “no” to one Trump nominee after another. That is NOT ENOUGH!  We and the Senators need to actually MOBILIZE PUBLIC OPINION to PUSH BACK! Senators have a “bully pulpit” that almost all of them fail to use.  They should use their “bully pulpit” and take other actions to PUBLICLY EXPOSE the nominees’ corruption, cruelty, and horrible track records, in order to MOBILIZE PUBLIC OPINION TO PUSH BACK AGAINST TRUMP and the Republicans! Until Democratic Senators push back […]

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Smart insights to distinguish “conflict” from “abuse.”

July 17, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Someone sent me an e-mail expressing support for “Conflict is Not Abuse” from Sarah Schulman.  I searched for information about the book and found this very insightful article.  It offers smart, practical and compassionate ways out of the traps that many people — especially progressives — get into regarding how we deal with social justice issues at an interpersonal level. Rather than try to summarize her helpful insights here, I encourage you to read this information about her book: https://www.thestranger.com/books/2017/01/10/24792575/sarah-schulmans-conflict-is-not-abuse-is-a-guide-to-keeping-the-peace      

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Universal Single-Payer health care is the real solution! Debunk the myths and lies about it.

July 17, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The U.S. is virtually alone among rich modern democracies in failing to provide decent health care for all of its people.  The U.S. ranks low among these nations in many indicators of health (life expectancy, infant mortality, deaths from preventable diseases, etc.). A major reason is that while other nations regard health care as a BASIC HUMAN RIGHT, the U.S. pretends that it is a COMMERCIAL COMMODITY for private profit. The real remedy — UNIVERSAL SINGLE-PAYER health care — is explained in the “Health Care” part of my blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org.  I encourage you to read several posts about it. Please […]

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U.S. needs immigrant workers because we disable our troops and underfund education

July 17, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Savvy people have been recognizing that the U.S. economy really needs immigrant workers. We do not have enough native-born workers for many jobs. And I don’t mean only working on farms and in restaurants. The U.S. imports a great many skilled workers: nurses, doctors, computer programmers, and so forth. For many decades the U.S. has been sending our troops to fight totally unnecessary wars in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Only recently has the government been admitting that many troops become disabled through PTSD and other physical and mental disabilities. Actually, the numbers are much, much higher than the government […]

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To protect immigrants, let’s de-polarize the U.S.’s political culture.

June 30, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Many problems that are plaguing the U.S. are rooted in various kinds of polarizations.  Oppressors use a “divide-and-conquer” strategy to disempower ordinary people so the oppressors can grab more power and enrich themselves financially.  They polarize us by pitting race against race, religion against religion, straight people against LGBTQ people, and native-born people against immigrants. They also polarize us by emphasizing nationalism, so they pit nation against nation.  They promote wars and nuclear weapons. All of these polarizations draw from the same roots.  In order to protect immigrant rights — and all people’s rights — and in order to prevent […]

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To Achieve Social Justice, We Must De-Polarize Our Society

June 17, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Oppressors often use a “divide-and-conquer” strategy to keep populations divided so the oppressors can dominate them.  This has been happening in the U.S., as it has in other countries. The remedy is for people to recognize and expose the oppressors’ scheme — and to bring all demographic groups together to de-polarize our society. Unfortunately, some people who are oppressed buy into the polarization and get angry and vengeful against other demographic groups that have been set up by the oppressors as polar opposites.  These people unwittingly serve the oppressors’ interests in keeping the population divided. The real remedy is to […]

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Better than defeating Trump’s supporters, let’s heal them and convert them to better values. And let’s heal ourselves too.

June 4, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

In the past few decades the U.S. has become increasingly polarized — and increasingly rigid — and mutually hateful to the people on the “wrong” side of issues.  This is NOT sustainable for democracy, nor for a free society, nor for human rights.  People in each of the two big political parties want to DEFEAT members of the other party through dynamics that seem warlike or genocidal. Trump has escalated the polarization horribly, not only across political parties, but also across races, nationalities, religions, sexes, sexual orientations, economic classes, and other demographic variables.  THIS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE, but people in […]