APRIL FOOL DONALD DRUMPF

There were some big anti-Drumpf rallies this weekend.  I admire the spirit, but as I have already written, I don't know that demonstrations are going to do much to stop him, and may just stoke the fires of his supporters.

And even if everyone turns out to vote in the Autumn We The People still have the major problem that the popular vote does not actually elect the President.  We MUST get rid of the Electoral College, among many other things that need to change in our electoral process.

An Anonymous Sec has launched an Op against Drumpf, and while I don't know how effective the hacking part will be, I do think an April Fools' Day "Assault" on the phone lines and websites of Drumpf's campaign would be effective.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/optrump-anonymous-releases-donald-trumps-social-security-number-ahead-1-april-attack-1550197

If everyone that was against Drumpf made just one phone call on April 1st and asked at least one pointed (but polite) question of his campaign, I think it would significantly stress his resources.  (Mine is "what era specifically is Trump referring to when he says 'make America great again'?")

DONALD DRUMPF'S PRIMARY VICTORY

The primaries scared the sh*t out of me.  For one thing, KMOV's tally in MO showed twice as many Republican voters than Democratic voters for the first 68% reporting.  Eventually the numbers evened out (mostly) and there were a lot of rumours that many Dems voted for Cruz or any other candidate than Drumpf.

Just a reminder, the popular vote does NOT elect the President.  The primaries are really more important. http://www.factcheck.org/2008/03/presidents-winning-without-popular-vote/

In Illinois, twice the number of Dem's turned out at the polls, and even though Hillary got Illinois, I was fine with a large voter turnout.  Larger than expected. But Drumpf still won the Republican primary in Illinois.

To stop Drumpf, I want to again suggest targeting his offices, not his speaking engagements.  It does seem that protests emboldened his supporters and those on the fence to cast a vote for him.  This guy thrives on being vilified and on public attention.

Please make them work for this attention.  Call the Campaign headquarters. Tel: 646-736-1779
Try one of these
http://www.tingmo.com/business/how-to-contact-donald-trump-with-letters-and-emails.php

Ask a lot questions:
When Trump (don't say Drumpf LOL!) says he is going to make America great again, exactly what era is he referring to?  Bring up all the problems that era faced. Make them tell you specifics- the kind of things his followers don't ask.  How will his policies produce jobs?  When is Trump going to move all of his manufacturing back to the US? (Note, this linke is from FORBES!) http://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2015/08/17/trump-the-hypocrite-investing-overseas-fine-for-him/#4ea8390c936b
What does he think of the new SCOTUS appointee?  Who is his choice?  (Trust me they don't have an answer for this.)

Literally wear them out.  Make his drones do some research, I guarantee you a few will abandon him if enough people ask the right questions. 

You can also organize a large group to sign up for tickets and DON'T go http://www.donaldjtrump.com/schedule/

Again, it won't be on the news- the media won't be notified about this humiliation, but expecting 2000 or 10000 people that don't show up will affect the campaign and the people working on it.

Instead of protesting during the event, protest the night or day before and skip the confrontation with his drones.  And you will be able to better reach people that are apathetic or on the fence.

Of course, with any of his supporters, asking them the same questions, i.e. "what era are you referring to when you say 'make America great again'?"  These people were never happy. Call them on their fantasy.  Quote the Forbes article, ask them how they can support him as a true American patriot when he does the same things Ford does?

But I personally do not think demonstrations against him, clashing with his supporters, or infiltrating his rallies, does much good.  In the end it seems to only create revenue for the police and keeps Drumpf in the headlines.

And if he becomes the Republican candidate, and is then elected into office, no amount of protest is going to matter. Our efforts against him our better spent on getting more people to vote, and educating people so that they understand why they should vote against him.   

THOUGHTS ON RACISM, FERGUSON, AND TRUMP SUPPORTERS AFTER READING SLAVE GENEALOGY BY DAVID H. STREETS

(EDIT: Please note, this post rambles and is kind of incoherent.  I suddenly realized I had an opinion about slavery that I had never noticed before.  It touches on a number of different aspects of things I have thought about a lot before, but never from the view of "what if a lot more people owned only a few slaves, instead of a small percentage owning a large number of slaves".  So I apologize, if I am not presenting completely clear thoughts.  I posted this mostly in hopes that someone would post a link to any books to read that address this. Or was this myth so embedded in my head that I need to go back and re-read some things?  Without the plantation myth I also realized that I hadn't fully seen all the roots of these people who think the Emancipation Proclamation was a bad thing.  26% of Donald Drumpf supporters, said one meme statistic that I saw on facebook.  I don't know how accurate that is, but I believe it possible.  And I believe a lot of it is handed down from former slave owning families, generation to generation.)

The Saint Louis library has 6 copies of this book, most of them are in the Stacks at Central, but Baden and Cabanne have copies on the shelves.

I just happened to see it while I was wandering around Baden, the kind of book I would check out anyhow, but it turned out to be enlightening in terms of the "Drumpf" phenomenon, and the Ferguson/BLM trolls.

In the introduction, straight away, a major myth about slavery in the United States is dispelled. Only half of the slaves in the south lived on plantations, and the slave population on plantations was on average 20.  Larger plantations with 50 or more slaves were roughly 20% of slave-owning populace.

The image of the plantation slave, surrounded by large numbers of fellow slaves, one among many, with each other and against their wealthy, white owners, creates a much different image of slavery than the statistics presented in this book.

The author examines census reports from Wayne County, Kentucky, and the statistics show that most slaves lived in close quarters with the white families that owned them. For women slaves, especially, this must have been a nightmare, and Stockholm's Syndrome to escape the misery of reality's truth was probably frequent, if not permanent. It seems that most slave women in the census bore mulatto children.  Raped by the Master at midnight, up before dawn to serve him breakfast.  And how would the owner's wife not know?

American Horror Story's Marie Delphine LaLaurie might have been more gruesome, but I expect African women suffered the worse abuse from the Mistress.

I haven't read enough Henry Gates, Jr., or Zora Neale Hurston, and certainly not with this understanding, to know if the "plantation myth" has been dispelled in academic circles.  (I haven't yet read the Ta-Nehisi Coates Reparations book yet, but I am glad now I read Streets' book first.) But in popular myth- even for someone like me, a "white ally" or "white aware"- there is an image of most slaves living separately from the white owners, with the Master having to enter the slave quarters to sire more workers and satisfy whatever sexual predilections he might have- and I imagine there was a lot of sadism and pedophilia that is not documented.

And the myth of field hands being jealous of house slaves. Would it have been a relief to be sold to large plantation, and not be sole focus of the Master's rape and the Mistress's revenge?  Not have to be in the house at night?

I wonder if the plantation mythos remains popular because in addition to making it seem as if only a relatively small percentage of white southerners owned slaves (something I used to believe before looking at this book) this myth also substantiates all the historical claims that white people lived in constant fear of a slave revolt.

With this new understanding, I think it is more likely that most slave owners lived in fear of their morning porridge being laced with morning glory seeds.  And because of this threat in close quarters, racism had to be heavily institutionalized.  Too many white slave owners lived with slaves that used the butcher's knife and machete all day. (I know that's what I would have been thinking about every time I chopped potatoes.)

Slave patrols and policing and mobs were the instruments of plantation owners with their 20 or more slaves.  The early version of the riot squad. But the inability of a person with black skin to find a friend in any part of Southern society was to ensure that no slave ever get the idea that they were going to be able to get away from the Master by killing him.  That was the more effective protection for the small, poorer, family with just a few slaves.

Another thought was that while very poor whites would always see slaves as both competition for work, and also the people he could look down upon and feel superior about their place under the boot of class society- almost the very bottom of society, but still not an African slave- a labouring slave-owning man could lease out his and his slaves' time, also putting the white man with no slaves at a loss.

This revelation gave me some thoughts on re-examining the Great Scramble's effects on the end of slavery in the U.S.  All the European nations were in a rush to enslave the African continent when slavery in this country was ending. In my opinion, (again, I don't know if this academic, I don't see it covered in general studies and encyclopedias) no European nation and the US could not repatriate African slaves en masse for fear of the armies that could potentially be raised.

(And let's not forget that Haiti had to pay the French back for loss of income after the revolution.  That's right.  Haiti finally managed to do that - IN 1950! So Josephine Baker and Bricktop and Bohemian 1920's Paris aside, the French government is still just another oppressor, class, racist nation.)

And I also would like to re-examine the famine Irish (and the Scots-Irish from the Clearances) that came in the late 1800's in large numbers.  Still today racism against black people is notorious among their descendants.  There was a lot of stress between the Irish already here and the waves of immigrants that came here- up to the 1950's.

As freed slaves and their children moved into the cities, the Irish sharecroppers- the Murphy's and Kennedy's and McDonnell's -that had starved in their own country and been spit on by other Irish in this country could scapegoat the slaves, many of whom shared their last names.

The Klansman of today has his poor, white, slave owning ancestors (not necessarily his own blood relatives) to thank for the all the mixed African and European DNA in our society.  Not a handful of wealthy plantation owners and white overseers, but his own historical self.  The plantation myth serves today's white supremacist for this reason, too. 

The supporters of Donald Drumpf that are the real inheritors of the legacy of widespread, non-plantation slavery.  Many families have secrets.  But the poor family with the slave-owning ancestor has probably passed on stories that were only told in secret to other family members.

Among a lot of middle class (or middle class cultured) white people, race is not discussed in polite society.  White people that do talk about race, especially when they talk about African Americans, mark themselves right away.  This is something that I have never been able to describe satisfactorily.

It is something so inherent in white American culture, that I think a Ph.D. level thesis paper would be required.  It is not even recognizable to a lot of white people, because it so instinctive. On both sides.

The white families that historically or personally mourned the loss of their family slaves view white people that are less racist- even cultural sensitivity in professional or work environments- as the outsiders or enemies.

I've had numerous conversations with white people about this, and everyone can identify this experience only after it has happened, and after the other person reveals themselves. For example, during Obama's election year, during Ferguson, the widespread openness in white society, talking about race, and finding out that all along, that friend on social media, or the women that you lunch with at work, have just not been talking about race openly because they had already identified you as an outsider.

But when it came out in the open, me and my friends saw them for racists. And they had been hiding it, ducking all the conversations about race.  Because they recognised me, and people like me, right away.

What I am talking about is something that happens that even I don't always see, and I am looking for it.  In fact, I am looking for it so that I can do the same thing!  The careful smile, the quick change of subject, the extra niceness that was not motivated by any genuine liking but by the desire to keep me away from the important difference between us that will create issues when it comes out.  Keep it out of the workplace relationship, or the neighbourhood relationship, etc.  They feel like they have to protect themselves.  If their great-great grandaddy didn't own slaves, they wish that he had.

To them the world is not racist enough.   I see them as being aligned with institutionalized racism, with the structure and power of racism- but they do not.    Donald Drumpf supporters and white supremacists and capitalists that rely on institutionalized racism to line their pockets with profits from cheap labour or justify an invasion or fill an army are becoming the minority.  Drumpf is promising to bring back a time they never lived in- not in the 1980's or the 1950's, but the 1850's.

These people had the same complaints in the 1950's and the 1980's.  Phyllis Schlafley spoke at the Donald Drumpf rally last week.  She's still saying the same thing she said 40 years ago when I left St. Louis for Los Angeles. As I might have written in another post- there is no America that any of these people lived through that they considered great. When these Drumpf supporters say "Make America Great Again" I thought they were talking about the Reagan years and they were just totally forgetting that they were this unhappy and complaining about everything back then, too.  But just more openly.  They still controlled the culture.

Now I think they are talking about back in the days when they would have been allowed to own slaves.  (I'm curious enough that if I had the time and money to do some sort of genealogical research on Drumpf supporters I would.  But I bet there are plenty that just inherited the legacy by osmosis of living in our society.  Manifest Destiny, the Monroe Doctrine, the Taney Code, all of these contributed with private family stories and histories.)

I am so thankful that Ferguson and Black Lives Matter have put race and racism out in the open in our society.  As a nation, we need to be having these conversations.  We need for people to be open about what they really think.

But even that is an affront to the Drumpf supporter.  Because they feel oppressed that they have had to keep silent distance from people like me. They want the antebellum south.

Again, "equality feels like oppression to the oppressor, and special treatment to the oppressed."


I would love to hear any comments or thoughts or feedback on any of this.  Or any suggestions of other good books to read.  About 20 years ago I read a number of Civil War books.  They included Gone With The Wind and Uncle Tom's Cabin.  I really hated GWTW, but I didn't like Uncle Tom's Cabin much.  Both were the portraits of plantation life, although now I want to look at UTC again and see if my ignorance about individuals owning just a few slaves were the majority caused me to overlook it. (I don't remember much of it.)

This also changes how I look at individual slave narratives and biographies, too.  In this case, though, I feel certain that once I start to review them, I will see that evidence was there, but I wasn't looking for it. A subconscious assumption of some other explanation- perhaps that slaves that were owned by poor families and lived lives more isolated from other slaves might have more opportunities to escape, tell their stories, etc.

I was always rejecting justifications and explanations for slavery and racism, but I never knew enough to reject the "plantations with 50 or more slaves" were the majority.

My fiction writer's mind wonders now if there isn't some sort of former slave-owning "Marrano"-type secret societies, hidden among us?   (Marrranos are Jews in Portugal and Spain that converted to Catholicism during the Inquistion but secretly continued private rituals among the families for hundreds of years.  They married among other Marrano families and even had their own dialect.  Some families that came out of the closet after World War 2 did not even realize that their secret tradition was founded in Judaism, and not witchcraft or pagan practices. (EDIT I shouldn't have to add this, but just in case, let me be clear I am not comparing the Marrano's need for secrecy with people who want to own slaves like grandaddy did, just that the Marranos had a secret society that rivals the theories about Illuminati secret societies, and the Marranos are well documented.)

One final loose thought, I wonder now, too, about the Caribbean and Mexico, Central, and South America, and the slavery situation there?  Is the plantation majority true in other countries?

These are all things I hope to investigate, and that I think are relevant today, in order to understand how to eradicate racism all together.

A MUST READ ARTICLE ON THE SHREDDING OF OUR LOCAL ECONOMY

The history of St. Louis's economic crash and burn is detailed here. 

http://m.stltoday.com/business/local/what-derailed-growth-in-st-louis/article_d2c39676-33e9-5999-930b-ca4fdef09bee.html

NEW WORLD, NEW REVOLUTION

For the first issues of the Political Activist's Guide To Saint Louis, please go to this page:
http://pag2stl.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

This is a re-post from the Occupy Public Transportation In St. Louis blog (http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2016/03/new-world-new-revolution.html)

"Voting and calling representatives won't do any good, we need a revolution! The whole system has to change!"  I have said this myself in the past, and I have heard this from other people countless times.

"They would rather kill us all than change the system!" Said about the 1%.

I spent ten years in a revolutionary movement. I've never lived through a revolution, but I have talked to many people from Central and South America that have, and read about many revolutions in history.

Violent revolution is not a solution.  It does change a lot of things in a seemingly "quick" fashion, but only because of  years of work by a few individuals that were prepared for the moment of a mass uprising, and had a plan to take power.  These people- for the most part- had their own agendas, and just ended up replacing the faces in power, and making cosmetic changes to the power structure.  The masses of people have never been in power.  There has never been a "people's government."  (Iceland might be, but I haven't researched it enough yet.  They did make a lot of changes without violence.)

And revolutions are wars, and wars are a nightmare.  Everybody suffers.  (A few psychopaths, like George H.W. Bush, prosper and thrive, and usually live to propagate more wars.)

There are 7 billion people on this planet, twice the population of all the civilizations before us, twice the population of the world in 1970, and we are running out of drinkable water on a global scale.  Any mass death requires disposal of the dead, and treatment of wounded.  We really don't have the resources for this. Our species can't afford to solve problems with violence anymore.

The American Revolution created a kind of Republic that is unique in the world.  Freedom of and from religion, democratic mass voting (except for the President), the Constitution, all of these things were created after the revolution against the monarchy.   People had to think up these new modes of government and bring them into existence.  There was debate and disagreement, countless discussions.

None of the bloodshed and sacrifice of the revolution would have made a damn bit of difference without the work that came afterward.

For the first time in history, we could actually accomplish everything WITHOUT the violent uprising and war.  We could create a whole new mode of government power, run by and for the people, without killing each other.

From roughly age 16 to age 26 I advocated armed revolution in the U.S. I sold newspapers and talked to people and went to demonstrations and organized conferences and rallies.  I don't hold the same beliefs anymore but I learned a lot and talked to a lot of people about politics and things that really matter in their lives. 

Back then (the 1980's) there was no internet and no cell phones.  I remember trying to get information on the MOVE massacre in Philadelphia.  I had to go to different libraries, look in card catalogs and at microfiche, track down people that had videotaped news segments.  (Video machines were still very new then, and personal video cameras were cumbersome and heavy.) Then a leaflet had to be written and photocopied and distributed on the street in my spare time.

To talk to people I had to have all of the facts in my head or on a piece of paper in front me.  Most people don't really want to know about things that are happening because it is disturbing.  (Most people in our country have the luxury of avoiding political interaction with their government. This is very different than avoidance in poor countries where leisure time of any kind is very limited, and simply questioning politicians can mean imprisonment and/or death.)

Even in areas that were responsive and sympathetic - in the MOVE example we went to South Central Los Angeles- we were encountering people when they were out shopping, or running errands.  They could buy the paper or take a leaflet, but to find out more, they had to keep in touch with us, calling the bookstore to find out when an action might be, or we had to call them.  

It was a lot easier for people in power to lie and cover up dishonest and deadly actions.  And many people who didn't want to be disturbed by cold, hard evidence of their governments misdeeds were able to dismiss the few people like me that they might encounter.

Research that took months and even years in 1985, can be found on line in minutes. Tens of petitions can be signed on line in an hour.  Hundreds of elected officials can be emailed instantly in the time it took to write one letter and mail it.

A lot of people that say "there has to be revolution" really mean "I am not going to do anything until it gets so bad that I can't ignore it anymore."  But a lot of people really don't think that anything can be done unless we overthrow the existing power structure, with violence.  Which means they have to wait around until enough other people will revolt with them.

Which means things have to get really, really bad.

This is the first time in 35 years that I have felt like a revolutionary uprising might occur in the U.S.A.  The only other time was in Los Angeles after the police that beat Rodney King were acquitted in 1992.

The revolt that is brewing is another sign of a new world.  It's not the usual suspects this time.  It's the Good Ole Boys that are taking over government buildings and hoarding guns and ammo.  As someone said to me at a Ferguson protest "Equality feels like privilege or special treatment to the oppressed, and it feels like discrimination to the oppressor."

In Ferguson it was the mostly white Peacekeepers walking around with guns, not the Black Panthers. The paranoid delusions of the Dylan Roof's and the Donald Drumpf's are not completely paranoid or delusional.  They are losing their privilege.  America is not "Great" for racists anymore. The status quo no longer serves them first, because the rest of us demanded a more equitable and fair society.

The Armchair Revolution and Phoning It In are more effective now than an armed uprising.  For the first time in history, we can make revolutionary change without making revolution. We can, literally,  "call them on their bullshit." Make them answer to you and work for you.

Make this country great.  Not "again", but for the first time.  Your mind, your time, and your phone (or computer), are the only weapons you need.

THE FIRST ISSUE IN BLOG POST FORMAT

Here it is as a blog post, with a few formatting inconsistencies, if you want to view it on Google Docs or print or download, see this post:
 http://pag2stl.blogspot.com/2016/03/first-issue-template-for-change.html

FRONT COVER

THE POLITICAL ACTIVIST'S GUIDE TO ST. LOUIS

First Issue: Template For Change 5 March 2016

YOU HAVE THE POWER

TO CHANGE THE WORLD

You know you are powerful. Maybe the knowledge of your power is buried beneath the weight of your day-to-day life. Maybe you don't always have the chance to exercise that power, but it is there. You know that you matter.

You have a vision of a better life for yourself and your loved ones. You have a vision of a better world. Your vision is as valid as the visions of Mayor Slay, or Rex Sinquefield, or Governor Nixon, or the Koch Brothers. You have a right to a good life.

It may seem that to use your power you must find a large group of like minded people and stage large demonstrations or actions. Or have a lot of money. Or have a lot of guns. All you need is your own mind, and a decision to use it to make change. Just a commitment of a little of your time, to exercise your power.

It may seem that changing something in your own life takes so much of your personal power that there is little leftover to change things for other people. That is exactly why you are so powerful. The vision that you have, as a (seemingly) “powerless” person, is a vision that is shared by many people.

Your issues are the issues. What you need is what everyone needs. You speak for millions. Your thoughts, your solutions, your actions, can change the world for everyone.

Take the $15 minimum wage movement as an example. Even if each one of the individual people in that movement had demanded a raise for themselves it would have created a similar result. By joining together and synchronizing their actions, they created a visible movement. Done in unison, they were able to prevent retaliation on individuals (by firing them). But it began with just a few people, speaking up for their rights. People that knew they had power and weren't afraid to use it.

The Fight for $15 is a great example of just how much change a few people can create. Each person in the movement is acting on their own interests, and their interests align with many other people's. Like small drops of evaporated water, naturally gathering together to form large storm clouds.

FIRST PAGE

 

WE ALL NEED:

Practical people know that to change something, you must have a vision of how things should be. That vision should be “idealistic,” the best we can imagine. We don't have to like each other, or agree on everything.

We just have to start with what everyone needs.

Clean air.

Clean water.

Arable land for food.

Health care, medicine, and emergency services.

Shelter and clothing.

Child care and Elder care.

Education, including college.

Work.

Safety nets for disability, disease, and old age.

We also need:

(Real) Civic responsibility.

Travel through community, civic or military responsibilities.

Freedom and leisure to pursue our own interests.

Very few humans on this planet have all of those things, and those that do are mostly in “developed” nations like ours. There is enough for everyone: enough air, enough water, enough food, enough medical care and medicine, enough clothing, enough homes, enough work. Travel, civic responsibility, and freedom and leisure are also available in abundance.

THE WORLD'S RESOURCES NEED TO BE DISTRIBUTED MORE FAIRLY. And that includes work. There is plenty of work, but not enough jobs. Everyone should work, even if they are rich. A minimum amount of work should be required of everyone on this planet to provide for that person's basic needs, and to ensure equitable distribution of natural resources. If everyone worked at the jobs that were necessary, for 10 hours a week, people that chose to work and earn more would still have the opportunity. But every person should have a job.

PAGE TWO

START LOCALLY

Altering local government and institutions will automatically change the power structure at the top. Even many Federal laws can be altered at State and Local levels.

Local laws and regulations effect your day to day life much more significantly than national or state laws. Representatives are easier to reach. And careful monitoring at a local level would ensure that only the best of local leaders make it to the state and national congresses.

We have more power in our own communities. Occupy Wall Street sought to shut down Wall Street. To change something nationally- and globally- requires changing a lot of big structures and networks. In other words, changing Wall Street means changing St. Louis. It's actually simpler and more effective to do it in the reverse. Change St. Louis, and the country changes.

We have to become more involved by keeping in contact with local politicians, by being aware of what laws and legislation are affecting our communities, and by monitoring elected judges and their records, and watching who is appointed to run government funded entities (like John Nations appointment as CEO of Metro).

Most of the City's funds for business development are used to lure discretionary spending by county residents. This does not always benefit city residents. In fact, it often robs the city to do this. (Ballpark Village, Cortex, etc.)

City leaders waged what they knew was a losing battle to keep a football team. And they fought hard until the end.

If our city leaders can rally around a $1 Billion stadium on their own decision, We The People can force them to rally $1 Billion for jobs, social services, and to save our schools! The level of organization, energy, time, and resources that was given to the Rams stadium project needs to be forced into real economic development. If that money was available for a football team, it must be available to hire unemployed citizens to clean up, repair, educate, and reorganize St. Louis. IT'S UP TO US TO MAKE THEM DO IT!

PAGE THREE & FOUR

JOIN THE ARMCHAIR REVOLUTION

(AND PHONE IT IN)

The systems and modes that worked up until World War 2 are no longer relevant or viable. That includes revolutions. Violence against the government and ruling classes is no longer a path to transformative change for We The People.

We live in a truly “New Age.” The population of the planet has doubled since 1970, and of all the people that lived on this earth, half of them are dead. In other words, the global population (7 billion) is now twice that of all the people that have ever lived before us. Never before have humans been a greater threat to nature than the other way around. Never before have we had technology like we do today. Never before have governments had “weapons of mass destruction.”

Our world is run by bankers and the Departments of Defense (and their contractors) in a few governments globally, the U.S. being the top dog. We cannot fight them with weapons. We don't need to, and it wouldn't be effective change, anyhow. Violence would simply change the faces in power. The real power is the active voice of We The People.

Right now politicians decide what issues will be placed before voters. We need to start dictating the issues to them. To change the power structure we have to change. The current government structure does need many changes, for instance, the electoral college. George W. Bush's election is proof of that. But no changes are going to matter until we take control of our government. Right now, the government has no reason to take us seriously. That has to change first.

We don't need more people running for office. WE THE PEOPLE need to start running all of the government offices and public institutions by individually starting our own revolutions. Each one of us needs to become just a little more active and aware, socially and politically, in our own communities.

“When the people fear the government there is tyranny. When the government fears the people there is liberty.” –John Basel Barnhart

What we need is for more motivated people to create a culture where social activism and civic responsibility is woven into the fabric of our day to day lives. If we all do a little more, none of us will have to do too much. The Armchair revolution is on-going, which means that We The People will stay in control.

Social change is created through the actions of as little as 12% of the population. In St. Louis city that is roughly 37,000 people. Imagine the changes in our city, if everyone at the Card's game was a registered voter (whether they voted or not) and called an elected official once a month? Or 4700 people made 5 phone calls a month (still 37,000 calls a month)? An increase of this size in telephone calls from registered voters would create widespread change in our local government, and shift the balance of power in St. Louis.

Marches, rallies, and demonstrations are still necessary. But too often they create extra revenue for the police, in addition to putting burden on a lot of individual people. And often mass actions without consistent, active follow-up, achieve only small results. The work of the Ferguson uprising continues almost 2 years later. Every day dedicated people make phone calls, write letters, sign petitions, and have conversations in our communities. This work has to be done! Let's start now, before things get critical enough that we have to take to the streets!

We can “gather” and “create large mobs” and “demonstrations” simply by using our cell phones. Registering to vote, calling elected officials, researching issues and power structures, can all be done from a cell phone.

The Armchair Revolution does not require an oath or dues or signing any contracts. It does not require you to agree with anything or anybody but yourself. You do not need to tell anyone you are a revolutionary. It requires only that you make a decision to use your power, a little of your time, every day, week, or month, to do a little more to create change in your life and your community. 5 additional actions a month, 11 months a year.

“People should not be afraid of their governments; Governments should be afraid of their people.” -V for Vendetta

 PAGE FIVE

REGISTERING TO VOTE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN VOTING

There is only one power in the government that cannot be bought or sold. It is the only legal power capable of overthrowing the oligarchy** our government has become.

Politicians only pay attention to people that are registered to vote. It doesn't matter if that person has actually voted. In order for a politician to gain or keep their power, they must be voted into office. By becoming a registered voter, you are another potential source of election (or re-election) to a politician. (You don't have to vote. Just register to vote. But as a form of protest, you can also legally write-in anyone, including people that aren't running, and exercise your voting rights. Your vote is your voice.)

Every person that registers to vote becomes another person politicians have to call and send mailings to. Another person they have to (at least pretend to) listen to. Right now elected officials only have to communicate with roughly 30% of the population (averaging out very low local voter turnout with higher state and national turnout). Which means those 30% have more power with politicians than lobbyists. You have more power now as a registered voter than when the majority of people are registered.

Our government answers to very few people. The voting public is so inconsequential that election years are the only time we really matter. Dishonest politicians do not want more registered voters. Honest politicians, who truly want to do the will of the people, are working in an environment where corruption is “business as usual.” The more people that register to vote, the more power politicians have against the lobbyists and special interests, and even other politicians. Which means you have greater power.

Super wealthy, special interests are trying to make it more difficult for people to vote. They recognize the power of a registered voter. Even if you don't vote, please register and stay registered.

“I am the ballot in your box...”

You can go to any library or department of motor vehicles, or register on-line: https://www.sos.mo.gov/votemissouri/request .

PROTECT THE RIGHT TO VOTE. REGISTER.

**Oligarchy: a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.

PAGE SIX

HOW IT SHOULD BE:

Everyone is guaranteed a home, basic food, clothing, medical care, education, and work 10 hours a week at a wage that pays for the basics. (This wage might be more than $15, or less.)

Community daycare and elder care are available free.

All utilities are public services are publicly owned, NON-PROFIT, and managed by the government. Not publicly “held”. Publicly owned. Water, electricity, gas, telephone, internet, trash and waste removel, public transportation, health insurance and medical services, hospitals, emergency services (ambulance and fire), police, prisons.

HUD and Section 8 buys people homes.

Stores like Wal-Mart and Costco are community owned and operated co-operatives (like WinCo, for example). Every community has a publicly owned and operated “Superstore” Co-op. (These large chains can sell non-necessities for profit.)

Our schools have 100% what they need. Every child deserves a GREAT education, including tutoring, extra-curricular activities, sports, and social events. Every child is given what s/he needs to thrive and prosper. High school drop-out rates are low, and post secondary degrees (college, trade school) are the norm.

Our communities are centered around school districts. All other districts- fire, police, transportation, voting, etc.- are organized around the school districts.

Every 6 block area has a community garden and collects rainwater. (Our planet's supply of drinkable water is set to run out in 2025. This will effect developed nation's like ours first.)

Everyone is automatically registered to vote at age 18.

Every resident has a personal public transit pass, with free fare days on July 4^th and election days. All resident passes “cap out” each month when fares totalling the cost of a montly pass are reached. Discount passes for low income and unemployed are available, as they are for seniors and the disabled currently.

All of this is possible NOW! Other communities around the world have made changes like these. So can St. Louis!

 
BACK COVER

5 FOR 11:

FIVE ACTIONS A MONTH, 11 MONTHS A YEAR

• Register to vote
• Make a call to a political official
• Sign a petition
• Learn about something! Globally: the TPP. Nationally: Glass-Steagall, the Carried Interest Loophole, the Electoral College. Locally: Metro's $5 million “contributions to outside entities”. (The same amount of money Metro needs, supposedly, from rider fare increases this July!) All of these things directly impact the St. Louis economy.
• Encourage someone else to take action. Share this 'zine on-line, or print and distribute it. Feel free to use part or all of it to make your own leaflet or 'zine.
• If you were arrested at a political demonstration DON'T TAKE THE PLEA AND PAY THE FINE. Take it to court. Protect the First Amendment and your right to political action. Don't let your political activism be an easy source of revenue for the police and courts. Even if you lose, your challenge will remain in the judicial record, and will contribute to future cases. (Many criminal arrests need to be challenged as well.) The police and courts, and lawyers, are very powerful (and wealthy) in St. Louis, and often get away with taking actions and powers that are not legally theirs to take. Law and Order are not the same as Peace and Justice!

“IDEAS ARE BULLETPROOF” 5 For 11 and the Armchair Revolution are inspired by the movie “V For Vendetta”. Instead of planting bombs, plant information and knowledge. Instead of blowing up buildings, “blow up” the phone lines with calls.

PAG2STL MISSION STATEMENT: To encourage citizens of Saint Louis to register to vote (whether they vote or not). To encourage powerful, visionary citizens to create social, political, economic, judicial, legal, environmental, and community change via “The Armchair Revolution.”

FIRST ISSUE: TEMPLATE FOR CHANGE

You can view, download or print the entire 'zine at:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0tAMqly6KVwRjlseS12VUhtanc/view?usp=sharing

When printing: the first document is the back and front covers (in that order, for printing purposes).
The next is pages 1 and 6.
The "Armchair Revolution" is the centrefold, pages 3 & 4.
The next is pages 5 and 2.

Print it out, two-sided (watch the orientation!), and fold it in half. Voila!


EDIT 8 March 16: If you want to read it as a blog post (much easier to load and view on a phone) go to this post:
http://pag2stl.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-first-issue-in-blog-post-format.html