THE WAY THINGS WORK
DOESN’T WORK FOR US.
15 years ago, I discovered that our local legislative process has no place for public opinion; policy is drafted and voted on by people who are most often not affected by it while the people who are, cannot contribute to the conversation which creates it. Candidates promise to be guided by public opinion but after election - we are all participating in a faith based exercise. We have no measurable impact on decisions made by our representatives and if we cannot check our government, we live in a fascist society, whether we vote or not.
No one is coming to save us from the cultural and economic crisis we face in this time of radial change. Until we introduce direct access to the local policy making process, we will be unable to prevent any decision made by our government that fails to protect our liberty. While the issues we face may seem impossible - the root cause is simple: there is no common sense in legislation because there is no common voice, and there is no common voice because there is no common mic.
If elected, I will open the legislative process to public partnership. I will introduce an open public forum parallel to every committee to act as a standing check against bad policy and an interactive map that citizens can use to drop pins of interest that guide the legislative conversation. Together, we will find ways to use government to empower those already doing the work.
The People have outgrown our need for representation with the advancement of our technology. If we can expect to access social media 24 hours a day, we can expect to engage with the legislative process whenever we want. We have to get organized if we are going to have any control over our own lives.
Give me your vote and I’ll give you the mic.
WE’VE BEEN PLAYING PRETEND
IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP
WHEN “HOW IT WORKS” DOESN’T WORK FOR US
WE CAN GIVE UP OR WE CAN DISRUPT
WHEN WE DO WHAT WE’RE TOLD
AND WE DON’T QUESTION IT
“HOW IT WORKS” IS A FORM
OF SOCIAL HYPNOSIS.
WE STILL HAVE TIME
TO CHANGE WHAT WE’RE DOING.
Representation is an aspect of centralized governance; we expect to be told what to do by a single authority. To maintain that control, the system must limit feedback - that is it’s nature by design. This is no longer working for us. By limiting access to the conversation, our legislative process does not allow us to learn from our mistakes or keep policy up to date. This is a systemic fact. There is no safety valve, emergency break, or diagnostic panel measuring or regulating the efficiency or integrity of our government. Have you ever wondered how our society got so far out of hand? We have allowed public policy to be drafted without the public voice.
If elected, I will write policy that allows those affected by the issue to write policy with:
An open public forum parallel to each committee that creates a social mirror so we can look at ourselves. We can use data scrapes and analytics to see the issues, opinions, and questions we have in common, and see where we differ so we can figure out how to work together.
and An interactive digital map that allows us to organize our conversations around what is happening right here and now, in our local areas. We drop pins to identify issues and see how many agree or disagree. We drop pins to identify solutions and see how many agree and disagree so we can figure out what to do.
There are so many innovative solutions already being explored and experimented with, but we have been fighting over who decides for us instead of figuring out what works for us. A reasonable and mature individual wants policies that work to meet their needs. Healthy political conversation should not be a debate if we agree to prioritize the needs we have in common. Rabbit is a reason to recognize the right to decide our own lives.
The time has come to organize or die.
