From: dave@ratmandu.esd.sgi.com (dave "who can do? ratmandu!" ratcliffe)
Subject: THE CONCORD PRINCIPLES--AN AGENDA FOR A NEW INITIATORY DEMOCRACY
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Summary: we are now living in pre-revolutionary times
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Keywords: responsibility for the earth we all share must replace "colonization"
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 20:00:38 GMT


  The following--starting 124 lines below this one--is something Ralph Nader
  wrote back on 2/1/92 and was passed around in New England in the early 
  primary days.  He has been expanding on these ideas in speeches he's been 
  giving this year.  I heard part of one from May 9th in S.F.  He was 
  discussing the world as it is, the changes that MUST to be made for the 
  good of all, and the connectedness of all things in a very expansive and 
  holistic way as I've never quite heard him articulate before.  He was 
  tieing in the social, psychological, and spiritual issues *as well as* the 
  economic, environmental-ecological-biological, military and political 
  aspects of how things now stand, and what we as a race of sentient beings 
  need to do to, acting in concert with each other, to help shape a world 
  promoting the sanctity of all life and all the natural world as a whole,
  instead of drawing the best minds into the kind of deathwish-2000 
  mentality as we are still, for the time being, in thrall to.  
  
  In *my* read of the following, what Ralph Nader is really invoking is a 
  vision opening up the possibilities of establishing genuine *participatory* 
  democracy instead of the 200 year-old brand of representative democracy 
  which has been subverted and replaced with a checkbook democracy appealling
  to the very worst qualities of human nature which is only able to operate 
  in the netherworld blackness of the "bottom-line."  It is time for us to
  focus on what we as a species need to do to work together to solve the 
  problems we have created, rather than "buying" the commoditized reality 
  dished up to us ever more by those who only think of "development" in 
  terms of how more markets can be created to foster more financial profits.

  People must be challenged to exercise their own analytical and intuitive 
  powers of reason and "heart-based action," and urge a focus of attention on
  what the hell is happening to our world that we all share AND THAT WE ARE 
  ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR.  Which opinion do you value more--your own or Ted 
  Koppel's???  The kind of numbing paralysis the seduction of consumerism 
  engenders in this culture is truly earth-shattering and new to our human 
  experience.  It seems to more and more be replacing our penchant for 
  honestly acknowledging the true state of consensus reality and seeking to 
  improve and regenerate it when such is called for.  Mass-market culture 
  has almost completely replaced past generations' experiences of "roots" 
  and local stories and myths.  We cannot just sit back and try to "buy off" 
  on the bill of goods being sold to us as some sort of permanent Miller 
  Time.  If we do, then there *is* NO future for our children's children's 
  children & all life on earth.
  
  I hope many more of you than I can imagine will at least every once in a 
  short while tune in to the expanding alternative visions being prompted
  and promoted by dynamic and innovative groups like:
  
      the Women's Environmental Development Organization (WEDO) (focusing 
      and articulating women's voices and uniquely qualified points of view
      regarding what it is going to take to save the world and our species'
      collective future) in NYC;

      the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (promotes locally controlled, 
      democratically managed small-scale economic development) in Wash, DC;
      
      The Land Institute (leading org attempting to retain biodiversity 
      within agriculture, to save the Midwest prairies, and to promote the 
      family farm) in Salinas KS;

      The Cultural Environment Movement (reclaiming our cultural diversity
      through a re-connection with hand-crafted, home-made, community-
      inspired cultural stories, myths and dynamism) in Philadelphia, PA,
      
      the Committee for Responsible Genetics (conferences, research, and 
      activism on the full range of biotechnology issues) in Boston, MA;
      
      The Media Foundation (critiques commodity society and makes the 
      connection with environmental destruction ("Adbusters" magazine)) in 
      Vancouver, BC;
      
      the New Alchemy Institute (highly innovative research group focusing 
      on small-scale agriculture) in East Falmouth, MA;
      
      the Planet Drum Foundation (research, publishing, and programs 
      promoting indigenous nationhood mvmts, bioregionalism, and green 
      cities),

      Public Media Center (the nation's only nonprofit ad agency, serving 
      environmental, Indian, civil rights, women's, & peace orgs), and

      Rainforest Action Network (direct action, lobbying, education, and 
      organizing to protect the world's rainforests and the rights of their 
      indigenous forest dwellers.  Major emphasis against World Bank, IMF, 
      GATT) all three located in SF, CA; 
      
      the Rocky Mountain Institute (the country's outstanding think tank 
      and educational org fostering new thinking about energy use and 
      global security) in Old Snowmass, CO; 
      
      the Seventh Generation Fund (Native-run foundation providing 
      technical assistance and grants to native communities working toward 
      self-sufficiency and sovereignty--also involved in many native rights 
      campaigns) in Hoopa, CA;
      
      the Unrepresented Nations and People's Organization (a kind of 
      alternative UN for thousands of nations and peoples presently under 
      colonial control;  attempting to create a unified international 
      lobbying force) in SF, CA;  and
      
      the International Institute of Concern for Public Health (research,
      publications, information on the effects of low-level radiation from
      nuclear power/weapons/waste and support of the struggles of the
      victims world-wide of the contamination of and damage to the earth's
      biosphere and the human gene pool) in Toronto, Ontario;

      the WorldWatch Institute (research and publications that report on 
      the state of the world's resource supplies and distribution and the 
      ecological consequences of government and corporate policies and 
      practices) in Wash, DC,

  (to name but a few) to feel the breeze of a different point of view, frame
  of reference and perspective, than the one we are all constantly ever more
  being bombarded by like a commercial scud attack, for more and more and 
  more of anything we could possibly imagine wanting to possess and have, 
  but which we don't really need.

                   Know that the people who are the richest
                   are not those who have the most,
                       but those who need the least.
            

                                                              --ratitor


   _________________________________________________________________________

                            THE CONCORD PRINCIPLES
                   AN AGENDA FOR A NEW INITIATORY DEMOCRACY


        *Whereas*, a selfish oligarchy has produced economic decline, the
     debasement of politics, and the exclusion of citizens from the
     strengthening of their democracy and political economy;
        *Whereas*, this rule of the self-serving few over the Nations
     business and politics has concentrated power, money, greed, and
     corruption far beyond the control or accountability of citizens;
        *Whereas*, the political system, regardless of Party, has
     degenerated into a government of the power brokers, by the power
     brokers, and for the power brokers that is an arrogant and distant
     caricature of Jeffersonian democracy;
        *Whereas*, Presidential campaigns have become narrow, shallow,
     redundant, and frantic parades and horseraces which candidates, their
     monetary backers, and their handlers control unilaterally, with the
     citizenry expected to be the bystanders and compliant voters;
        *Whereas*, a pervading sense of powerlessness, denial, and
     revulsion is sweeping the Nations citizens as they endure or suffer
     from growing inequities, injustice, and loss of control over their
     future and the future of their children;  and
        *Whereas*, we, the citizens of the United States, who are
     dedicated to the reassertion of fundamental democratic principles and
     their application to the practical, daily events in our Nation, are
     committed to begin the work of shaping the substance of Presidential
     campaigns and of engaging the candidates attention to our citizens
     agendas during this 1992 election year;
        *Now, therefore, we hereby* present the ensuing "Concord
     Principles" to the Presidential candidates for the 1992 election and
     invite their written, consistent, and continual adherence to these
     principles during their entire campaign and in whatever public
     offices and responsibilities they hold or may hold upon cessation of
     their campaigns;

        *First*, democracy is more than a bundle of rights on paper;
     democracy must also embrace usable facilities that empower all
     citizens

         (a) to obtain timely, accurate information from their
             government;

         (b) to communicate such information and their
             judgements to one another through modern technology;
             and

         (c) to band together in civic associations as voters,
             taxpayers, consumers, workers, shareholders,
             students, and as whole human beings in pursuit of a
             prosperous, just and free society.

        *Second*, the separation of *ownership* of major societal assets
     from their *control* permits the concentration of power over such
     assets in the hands of the few who control rather than in the hands
     of the many who own.  The owners of the public lands, pension funds,
     savings accounts, and the public airwaves are the American people,
     who have essentially little or no control over their pooled assets or
     their commonwealth.
        The American people should assume reasonable control over the
     assets they have legally owned for many years so that their use
     reflects citizen priorities for a prosperous America, mindful of the
     needs and rights of present *and* future generations of Americans to
     pursue happiness within benign environments.

        *Third*, a growing and grave imbalance between the often
     converging power of Big Business, Big Government and the citizens of
     this country has seriously damaged our democracy and weakened our
     ability to correct this imbalance.  We lack the mechanisms of civic
     power.  We need a modern tool box for redeeming our democracy by
     strengthening our capacity for self-government and self-reliance both
     as individuals and as a community of citizens.  Our 18th century
     democratic rights need retooling for the proper exercise of our
     responsibilities as citizens of the 21st century.

        *Fourth*, the new democracy tool box contains measures for the
     purpose of protecting voters from having their voting powers diluted,
     over-run or nullified.  These measures are:

         (a) a binding none-of-the-above option on the ballot;

         (b) term limitations, 12 years and out;

         (c) public financing of campaigns through well-promoted 
             voluntary taxpayers checkoffs on tax returns;

         (d) easier voter registration and ballot access rules;

         (e) state-level binding initiative, referendum, and
             recall authority, a non-binding national referendum
             procedure;  and

         (f) a repeal of the runaway White House/Congressional
             Pay Raises back to 1988 levels--a necessary dose of
             humility to the politicians.

        *Fifth*, the new democracy tool box strengthens taxpayers who wish
     to have a say in how their tax dollars are being used and how their
     taxpayer assets are being protected.  These objectives will be
     advanced by according taxpayers full legal standing to challenge in
     the courts the waste, fraud, and abuse of tax monies and taxpayer
     assets.  Presently, the federal judiciary places nearly
     insurmountable obstacles in front of taxpayers, thereby leaving the
     task to the unlikely prospect of government officials taking their
     own government to court.
        Further, a facility for taxpayers banding together can be
     established by a simple taxpayer checkoff on the 1040 tax return,
     inviting taxpayers to join their national taxpayers association which
     would be accountable to members on a one member-one vote standard.
        Finally, obscure, overly complex, mystifying jargon pervading
     federal tax, pension, election and other laws and procedures is a
     barrier to taxpayer-citizen participation.  The language of these
     laws and procedures must be simplified and clarified as a matter of
     national priority;  otherwise, only special interests hiring decoders
     will be able to participate while the general public is shut out.

        *Sixth*, the new democracy tool box strengthens consumers of both
     business and government services by according them:

         (a) computerized access in libraries and their own homes
             to the full range of government information for which 
             they have already paid but are now unable to obtain, 
             either inexpensively or at all;

         (b) facilities in the form of periodic inserts, included 
             in the billing or other envelopes sent to them by 
             companies that are either legal monopolies (for 
             example, electric, gas, telephone utilities) or are 
             subsidized or subsidizable by the taxpayers (for 
             example, banks and savings and loans).  These inserts 
             invite consumers to join their own statewide consumer
             action group to act as a watchdog, to negotiate and
             to advocate for their interests.
                A model of this facility is the Illinois Citizen
             Utility Board which has saved ratepayers over $3
             billion since 1983, and filled the consumer chair
             before utility commissions, legislative hearings, and
             courtroom proceedings on many occasions.
                This type of facility costs taxpayers nothing,
             costs the carrying companies or government mailings
             nothing (the consumer group pays for the insert and
             there is no extra postage) and is voluntary for
             consumers to join.  Had there been such bank consumer
             associations with full-time staff in the 1970s, there
             would not have been a trillion dollar bailout on the
             taxpayers back for the S&L and commercial bank
             crimes, speculations, and mismanagement debacles.
             These would have been nipped in the bud at the
             community level by informed, organized consumer
             judgement.  So too would have costly and hazardous
             energy projects been replaced by energy efficient and
             renewable power systems;  and

         (c) Citizen consumers are the viewers and listeners of 
             television and radio.  Federal law says that the
             public owns the public airwaves which are now leased
             for free by the Federal Communications Commission to
             television and radio companies.  The public, whose
             only option is to switch dials or turn off, deserves
             its own Audience Network.
                The Audience Network would enhance the
             communication and mobilization process between people
             locally and nationally.  The owners of the airwaves
             deserve a return of their property for one hour prime
             time and drive time on all licensed stations so that
             their professional studios, producers, and reporters
             can program what the audience believes is important
             to them and their children.  The proposal for
             Audience Network, funded by dues from the audience-
             members and other *non*-tax revenues, was the subject
             of a Congressional hearing in 1991, chaired by
             Congressmen Edward Markey.
                Similarly, in return for cable company monopoly
             and other powers, cable subscribers should be able to
             join their own cable viewers group through a periodic
             insert in their monthly cable billing envelopes.
             Modern electronic communications can play a critical
             role in anticipating and resolving costly national
             problems when their owners gain regular usage, as a
             community intelligence, to inform, alert, and
             mobilize democratic citizen initiatives.  Presently,
             these electronic broadcasting systems are
             overwhelmingly used for entertainment, advertising
             and redundant news, certainly not a fair reflection
             of what a serious society needs to communicate in a
             complex age, locally, nationally, and globally.

         (d) Access to justice--to the courts, to government
             agencies, and to legislatures--is available to
             organized, special interests, and they widely use
             these remedies.  In contrast, when consumers are
             defrauded, injured, rendered sick by wrongdoers or
             other perpetrators of their harm, they find costly
             dollar and legal hurdles blocking their right of
             access.  They also find indentured politicians and
             their lobbying allies bent on closing the doors
             further.  Systems of justice are to be used
             conveniently and efficiently by all the people in
             this country, not just corporations and the wealthy.
             Otherwise, the citizen shutout worsens.

        *Seventh*, the new democracy tool box for working people contains
     rights of bringing ones conscience to work without having to risk
     being unfairly fired or demoted.  Ethical whistle-blowers have
     alerted Americans to numerous abuses in the workplace that damage
     workers health and safety, contaminate the environment, and defraud
     consumers, taxpayers, and shareholders.  However, they often pay the
     penalty with the loss of their jobs.  The exercise of conscience
     needs simple, effective legal protections which will build inside the
     corporation, government, or other large bureaucracies the incentives
     for care, prudence, and accountability that foresee or forestall
     larger harms.

        *Eighth*, working people, who own over $3 trillion in pension
     monies, need a reasonable measure of control over where these monies
     are invested.  Presently, a handful of banks and insurance companies
     control and make these decisions.  During the 1980s the use of
     pension monies for corporate mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts
     and other empire-building maneuvers showed what does happen when
     ownership is so separated from control.  Control by the few often
     left economic wreckage behind in many communities, and such capital
     draining takeovers did not produce employment or new wealth.
        Pension monies are gigantic capital pools that can be used
     productively to meet community needs, but not when their owners are
     excluded from any organized participation or even the right to know
     and review what has been decided.

        *Ninth*, the new democracy tool box applies to recognizing
     shareholder democracy as well.  Whether large, small or institutional
     shareholders (such as pension or other trust funds), the separation
     of ownership (of the company) from control has been documented
     impressively, starting with the celebrated study by Berle and Means
     fifty years ago.  The business press is filled with reports of
     executives of large corporations repeatedly abusing shareholder
     assets and worker morale with huge salaries, bonuses, greenmail, and
     golden parachutes, (untied to company performance), self-perpetuating
     boards of directors, the stifling of the proxy voting system and
     blocking other shareholder voting reforms such as cumulative voting
     powers and access to relevant shareholder lists and information.  The
     owners of corporations should be able to prevent their hired
     executives from engaging in what "Business Week" called casino
     capitalism that often ends with mass layoffs, loyal shareholders
     losses and communities undermined.

        *Tenth*, the new democracy tool box needs to be taught in its
     historic context and present relevance as part of an engrossing civic
     curriculum for our countrys schoolchildren.  Involving all students
     during their later elementary and secondary school education in
     practical civics experience so as to develop both their citizen
     skills and the desire to use them, under the rule of law, can enrich
     schools, students, and communities alike.  Where teachers have made
     such efforts, the children have responded responsibly and excitedly
     to the frequent surprise and respect of their elders.  Schooling for
     informed and experienced participation in democratic processes is a
     major reservoir of future democracy and a profound human resource to
     be nurtured.

        In conclusion, these tools for democracy have fairly common
     characteristics.  They are universally accessible, can reduce
     government and other deficits, and are voluntary to use or band
     together around.  It matters not whether people are Republicans,
     Democrats, or Independents.  It matters only that Americans desire to
     secure and use these facilities or tools.
        Without this reconstruction of our democracy through such
     facilities for informed civic participation, as noted above, even the
     most well-intentioned politicians campaigning for your vote cannot
     deliver, if elected.  Nor can your worries about poverty,
     discrimination, joblessness, the troubled conditions of education,
     environment, street and suite crime, budget deficits, costly and
     inadequate health care, and energy boondoggles, to list a few, be
     addressed constructively and enduringly.  Developing these democratic
     tools to strengthen citizens in their distinct roles as voters,
     taxpayers, consumers, workers, shareholders, and students should be
     very high on the list of any candidates commitments to you.  Unless,
     that is, they just want your vote, but would rather not have you
     looking over their shoulder from a position of knowledge, strength
     and wisdom.


     Ralph Nader
     February 1, 1992





--
                                             daveus rattus   

                                   yer friendly neighborhood ratman

                              KOYAANISQATSI

   ko.yan.nis.qatsi (from the Hopi Language)  n.  1. crazy life.  2. life
       in turmoil.  3. life out of balance.  4. life disintegrating.  
         5. a state of life that calls for another way of living.



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