How are we going to do it? Good question. First of all, we need to spread the news of our plans and goals as quickly and widely as possible. One of the key things that makes ideas spread like wildfire is to create a logo and a "sticky" slogan/chant and then present it in a way that is difficult to ignore.
The Logo
"We don't have free speech. We can't afford it," coupled with the picture of the Capitol completely surrounded by a wall of $$$$$$ makes for a very clear and memorable statement of what our central issue is: Our government is bought and paid for. Those big money interests are on the inside of that $$$$$ wall. They have access. The rest of us are outside. We don't have free speech that has meaningful access to our own representatives. Or put another way, only the rich can buy "free" speech. As long as that is true, none of the other issues that concern us will have a real chance of making progress. Getting the influence of money out of the process is fundamental to all making progress on all other issues.
[The logo only exists as a draft on a Word file. So far we have not succeeded to import it onto this site. If you would like to see it, click here to email us and put "logo request" in the subject box. We are looking for a highly skilled graphic artist who can perfect the image and send us a jpeg. Let us know of your interest.]
The Chant
How do we propose to make this work? First imagine using the chant at any gathering -- like maybe your representative's town meeting like the Tea Party people do. They get great press out of it. Why should we let them be the only voice being heard? So we chant with staccato cadence...
The leader will say: “You know what they say?”
And the crowd responds: We... Don’t... Have-Free-Speech
We...Can’t... Af-ford-It!
[L] What do they say?
We... Don’t... Have-Free-Speech
We...Can’t... Af-ford-It!
[L] How’s that again? [and then make up more lead lines….]
We... Don’t... Have-Free-Speech
We...Can’t... Af-ford-It!
That's our mantra. It's what the author of the book Tipping Point calls “sticky” – It makes our point in the simplest, clearest way. It’s catchy. It’s memorable. The loga and chant tell exactly what we are about and around which we organize.
The Media
We chant it over and over,… first from the “right side” of the gathering "We don't have free speech," and echoed on the “left,” "We can't afford it." Back and forth. Engaging. Growing in intensity and conviction. Chants used properly have amazing power, especially to capture the attention of the media. It makes the great visuals TV news is always looking for -- the chant and the logo.
Our plan, once we have great artwork for the logo, it to get a bunch of them made up to get a better price and to make them available to anyone who wants to buy them for their own local groups use.
So that's the raw material. How do we spread it other than chanting it for the media? There's nothing like the Internet --websites, blogsites, chat rooms, on FaceBook and Twitter and on places that most older folks don’t even know about,… That's the primary medium to spread it rapidly and it works. The next question is how do we present it so that it catches on?
We’re going to do what the Tea Party does so well -- chant it until it fills the streets in front of the Supreme Court and the White House… in the town meeting halls and the halls of Congress,…If we do we'll make the Tea Party movement look like the tiny band of insignificant nuts that they are. They only hate and oppose. We are offering something positive to propose. We have the advantage if we only take it.
Young Adults Working the Internet
The best bet is to find and recruit the young adults who know how to make the latest forms of web communication work and happily spend untold hours creating blogs, conversing it chat rooms,... They know where all the hot spots are. Not only have they mastered how do it, but they are some of the most important people to engage in our effort. Young people and minorities were substantially responsible for Obama's amazing election. His vision of change energized them. He couldn't have won without them and he reached them through the Internet. We need to do the same, only this time we intend to really make the promised change happen.
There was a very hopeful Pew Poll recently which is worth quoting at length. A recent article by Bloomberg News states:
"...Younger adults, who turned out in unprecedented numbers to help elect Barak Obama ...say liberalism helps define their generation... The survey by Pew Research Center found that those ages 18-29 cited...liberalism/tolerance as the...top characteristics that make them unique from other age groups... The slant toward liberalism showed in their support of government -- 53 percent of them said government should do more to solve problems, compared to... [much lower numbers among older age groups.]... Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center, said that millenials are 'confident, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat and open to change.'"
That's great news! So let we want to invite you directly. If this poll describes you, we invite you to become perhaps the most critical part of achieving our goals to free our government from self-serving big money interests. We can't do it without you. How can you be the creators and connectors that make this all happen?
Making the Video for the Internet
The idea has been highly successful for a number of issues. It goes like this: You or better "we" -- because we are a team -- invite anyone and everyone to make a video of their own chanting we described above -- customizing it however they want,...to be creative,...dance if they want,...wear whatever expresses who they are... For example
Kids don’t have free speech, Kids can’t afford it and so on: union members don’t have… moms,…dads,…teachers,…doctors,…you get the picture -- the widest, most inclusive representation of society possible [see list]. Something to touch everyone. It says agreement with our goals is inclusive making it easy for diverse people with diverse interests to see their own stake in it.
We invite you to do what you do best – to to seek out the video submissions, receive and edit them in an ever-lengthening string to show a huge cross section of our society to speak with one voice, one chant, one issue. This would be absolutely compelling and catchy. The mantra defines our essence… our starting point, direction and goal. Everything else issues from this center. It's a seed sown to spark interest,... to draw people in to see what's behind the chant.
Connecting on the Internet Using the Video
The next step is to do the connecting. You are the one’s who know how to get messages out on the web in the ways that ideas are able to spread like wildfire. We want that video showing up everywhere spreading like an epidemic. When it is, it will be noticed by the media. [We can’t wait to see what Glen Beck will say in response. He may end up our best salesman by opposing it in the irrational way he does so well.]
So that's the idea of how we spread the word and draw attention to our program to get the big money out of politics: our logo and our chant through young adults using the Internet and the Video. Will you help us make this happen?
Contact us: wedonthavefreespeech@outlook.com
p.s. If
you want to read or share our complete introductory series and other blog posts
about this and other issues, see our Annotated Table of Contents below. Or if you have questions or comments,
email us.
Annotated Table of Contents
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/sign-the-pledge-big-out?source=c.em&r_by=14960502
Insist candidates vote for a single act of Congress
stating: “There is no relationship between speech and money stated or implied
in the US Constitution and therefore no such relationship exists” as the basis
of further reforms to limit the abuses of Big Money interests.
Best summary of the proposed “Recover our Democracy Act;”
its Constitutional basis; removing purported legal objections, public financing
of elections, limits on campaign contributions, public funding of federal
elections, preprogrammed campaign website, redefining a bribe and much more
Cut and paste text to share by electronic media to spread
the word on our plan
Our appointment being ignored while lobbyists immediately enter
our Congressman’s office
Being on the outside: Explaining the meaning of our logo…the
corrupting influence of Big Money
Political contributions, Citizens United Supreme Court
Decision, “We don’t
have free speech. We can’t afford it,” our
solution is an act of Congress,
“Backdoor money in politics, quid pro quo, “anything of material value
offered or given to, or received and accepted by any candidate, incumbent or
governmental employee under any circumstance shall be defined as a bribe,” penalties defined for candidates and government
employees.
Our early commentaries: Free speech is fundamental to
democracy, different views, uses and limitations of free speech, public
financing of elections, fair and balanced media coverage
Original free speech: freedom to speak our mind, power
to “buy” both the “content” and the “delivery” of “free” speech, "personhood" of corporations,
Supreme Court and Citizens United,
ownership of the media, points of view, political advertising, educational content,
bought speech,…
Trickle down economics, tax reductions, income disparity,
deregulation, power by changing belief systems, abuses, distortions and lies, is
it regulation or just bad regulation?, affording governmental programs and high
taxes, millennia of struggle by the rich to retain control vs. democracy,
85% of Democrats, 81% of Independents, and 76% of Republicans opposed
Citizens United
Humans speaking their mind
without fear, means of extending the reach of speech [meida], bought speech,
literally “free” speech decoupled from money, power of the media, corporate personhood,
limitations of free speech, campaigns and political speech, alternative communications
for elections: public financing, freedom of the Internet….
Figures on campaign
contributions given by largest lobbying corporations [6+ years old = pre Supepr
PACs]
One of our earliest posts:We don't have free speech
that has meaningful access to our own representatives. Our logo, our slogan, our chants, young adults, spreading
the word on the Internet, Obama’s election, making videos,
Largely unedited, free associated ideas on framing the legislation
Free public website designed
and formatted to conduct campaigns for office and public issues , FEC provided
bank account, and credit cards , campaign accounting system and
regulations, partial design specifications, real time public review access…
…the most logical
public space to allow the free flow of information on issues of public interest
“understanding the
power of corporations as a means of amassing power and money, the founding
fathers originally rejected the existence of corporations,” corporations
are not mentioned in the Constitution and have no protected rights; therefore,
Congress may limit or abolish corporations as deemed necessary for the public
good. Growth of corporate power, personhood of corporations and personal rights
attributed to corporations , theory of 14th amendment [due process]
applies to corporations,
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