WG/Strategies/SOP/Wrest Control From 1%

proposed SOP: Democracy based upon an informed public acting in its own interest can wrest control of the USA from the 1% who now control it.


 * The biggest threat to the corporatocracy is representative democracy. One person one vote can actually defeat the moneyed interests. The trick is figuring out what we need to do to be an informed public. 1318539411


 * And what are our own interests? What are we like now? We're Americans; we all want to be millionaires, think we have a shot at it. Its in our DNA. So we support programs that benefit the rich since we hope to be rich soon. How do you change that?

That requires having people in the political apparatus to vote for. See Lawrence Lessig's new book Republic, Lost for a description of how even those with the best of intentions end up serving the moneyed interests once they are in power. (review and summary available here.) People with very little hope prefer long odds: it's a cognitive bias that lets us have hope when such hope is irrational. It is why people are acting rational when they buy lottery tickets despite the odds: the point is not which behavior leaves me with more money tomorrow on average. The point is which behavior gives me the chance to believe I might not be poor tomorrow. We must first convince people that a better world is possible. That we have enough to go around, and they don't need to spend their lives afraid and anxious. That everything their neighbor gets isn't at their expense. It isn't just about informing the public of the current state of affairs; it is about convincing them that they have the capability to change things (which I don't think we've illustrated yet) and that we can support a culture of sufficiency. --- Based on: SOP - wrest control from the 1% at wikispaces