(I apologise if some of you recieve duplicates of this e-mail. Some of you are on more than one list)
I believe we are at a crossroads in this country and if we continue on the path we currently follow, democracy as we have known it will be dead long before Social Security runs out of money. Our politicians blatantly ignore the needs of our children, our poor, our disabled and our elderly so that they can line the pockets of the already wealthy with more money and protect corporations from responsibility for their actions. That is not the role politics played in the world where I grew up. So what is different now? Control of the flow and content of information and message by those whose agenda is something other than the truth. Without WELL informed citizens armed with real facts and figures democracy will wither on the vine. And so I am taking this opportunity to invite your assistance to form an organization devoted to helping the average Joe get real information by learning how to listen and think critically. How to be a Minuteman. Why a Minuteman? Because all it takes to save Democracy is a minute. A minute to remind ourselves democracy requires an open mind. A minute to remind ourselves that we should always consider the source. A minute to remind ourselves of the three most important steps when told something is a fact-verify, Verify, VERIFY! A minute to remind ourselves that we need to RESPECT each other and seek acceptable compromises if we want acceptable solutions to our problems. And a minute to share these steps with our fellow citizens. That's why I am proposing Minutemen Worldwide (apologies to the feminists but Minute Persons just doesn't carry the same impact as the association with our Founding Fathers and the original defenders of democracy) as a social organization to stress what all have in common rather than our differences. A place open to all ages, cultures, religions AND political partisans. A place where families can unplug and get reacquainted. And a place where grassroots can take root. Please read more about it and let me know if you would be interested in having a meeting to look at getting this off the ground. As I live in north Minneapolis, I am planning on having the meeting at either the Bean Scene or at North Commons Park. The location will depend on the number of people interested in attending. You can read more and sign up for the listserve at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/minutemenworldwide or my new blog http://minutemen-democracydefenders.blogspot.com/ Steven M Nelson Willard Hay http://citizenshipchronicles.blogspot.com/ Get UP! Get OUT! & GET INVOLVED!!! ------------------------------------------------- JOIN the St. Paul Issues Forum TODAY: http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ ------------------------------------------------- POST MESSAGES HERE: [email protected] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
