Imagine this: a black man and a white woman going head to head for the Democratic nomination for president. Assuming John McCain looses to a Democrat, we may very well have the first black president, or the first female president. That itself is a historic moment, that should be declared a victory by the left.
Imagine this: climate change is accelerating faster than expected. All the Academy of Sciences from all the industrialized nations have declared human caused global warming to not only be fact, but is happening as we speak, and to avoid unimaginable consequences we must act immediately.
Imagine this: a war is raging in two fronts. Thousands of Americans have died. Iraq and Afghanistan lie in rubble. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, total, have died. The war on Iraq was unquestionably not for liberation nor to disarm Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), but rather to secure the dominance of the United States in the middle east.
Imagine this: while a war is raging in Iraq, which sits on the largest proven oil reserve in the entire world, our economy is declining. Detroit was first to feel the hard times that are spreading to the whole country. Detroit continues to build gas-guzzling cars, further contributing to our addiction to oil, while further fueling a warming planet.
Imagine this: our educational system is failing our students. Just to have the opportunity of a comfortable lifestyle, and entry into the middle class, prospective students often take out outrageous loans. Many young adults are starting out life with 30+ thousand dollars worth of debt. Money that could be spent to guarantee universal access to higher education is instead funneled to Iraq.
Imagine this: the trillions that are spent on Iraq could be spent on education, health care, and the “greening” of our economy. Hundreds of thousands of jobs could be created by pushing our economy into the future with new, clean and green infrastructure.
The politicians and pundits are talking about these issues. Are we going to let them frame the debate? Or are we going to stand up and shift the debate in our direction?
The environmental justice movement as done a outstanding job of shifting the debate on climate change. Global warming is becoming more mainstream. Real, significant progress is being made. But what the environmental justice movement has not done, is frame the climate crisis around war, education, health care, Katrina, and a multitude of other issues.
War and climate change are not two separate issues that coincidentally are happen at the same time. The two are fundamentally connected. The same is true with other issues as well. How and when will the people’s movements frame this connection in a truly revolutionary way?
So… imagine this: a next left movement rises to the opportunity that this election season provides to frame relevant issues in ways that lead to radical conclusions. The logic of its messaging challenges dominate narratives, while it simultaneously provides a new people-powered narrative for a better future.
Together, we can win.
1 Comment
March 13, 2008 at 10:36 am
This is great! Nice post. – Brian