This isn’t a proud moment. I am disgusted by the state of our political system. I am disgusted by the state of the progressive “movement” in Massachusetts and beyond. I am disgusted by the inability of the Green Party to mount a serious opposition to the ruling parties on Capitol Hill or the ruling party on Beacon Hill. I am disgusted that my friends and my fellow Americans are continuing to throw their weight behind such a rotten, oppressive, and destructive system of government. I am disgusted by my own lack of resolve to make the tough choices — not a measly vote here and there, but a committed stand to fully opt out of the economic and political systems that are taking us to the brink.
These words from Dr. Martin Luther King are no less relevant today:
This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not from the action of a conforming majority. But, from the creative maladjustment of a transformed minority.
We urgently need a transformed minority that can creatively maladjust. I call upon my friends to revisit the framework upon which they are making their political decisions. I call upon all Massachusetts residents to take responsibility for the reckless state of affairs that dominates the status quo, and to put our hearts and our heads together to advance a new kind of politics, and a new kind of economics.
Another King quote on nonconformity:
The hope of a secure and livable world lies in the disciplined and dedicated non-conformists, set not on the preservation of any status quo, but set on building, with God’s help, an order of justice, peace and brotherhood.
Instead of passively playing along, we need to become disciplined nonconformists building alternative systems that can sustain life and extend prosperity to all. To do this, we must redefine progress and prosperity itself. And we must build the political, economic, social and cultural institutions guided by those definitions.
So vote today, but know that the real work of democracy happens between elections. Pretending otherwise is far worse than electing Scott Brown to the US Senate.
Vote, then organize.
