Dennis Merritt: Change politics from the bottom up

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Published: 11-29-2024 10:31 AM

When I was a young man the country was divided. The issue was American imperialism, and in particular Vietnam.

How did this affect me? Well my country wanted me to quit my job and carry a gun through the rice paddies of Vietnam. Why? To fight an enemy for reasons that weren’t at all clear. (I avoided it, another story.)

It wasn’t a Democrat or Republican thing. It started under Democrats and continued under a Republican. To us affected by that issue, it didn’t matter which party or individual controlled the White House. It was the U.S. government, the system, that was committed to Vietnam.

So what did we do? We protested the issue. The war. And finally put enough pressure on the government (happened to be Republican) to end it.

Another huge issue was the environment, specifically air and water quality. You couldn’t breathe in some cities, and a river in Ohio famously caught on fire. Again we protested the issue and, again under a Republican, got the EPA and air we could breathe again, and work to clean up our rivers.

For me, today, the biggest issue in our country is the power wielded by wealth. That wasn’t going to change no matter who won this election. And it’s the root cause of the dissatisfaction that sent so many to vote for Donald Trump.

Note that the issue of overturning Citizens United got little or no attention from either candidate. Note that the issue of requiring members of Congress to recuse themselves from voting on legislation that would be a conflict of interest with their donors got not very little, but absolutely no attention from either candidate.

We’ve got maybe three years before the duopoly takes our attention away again. It’s time to work toward fixing the system. One organization doing this is RepresentUS. They’re active all over the country, fighting the influence of money on politics at all levels, trying to establish a culture of government that is responsive to people.

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I give money, but they can use all the help they can get as they fight to change politics from the bottom up. Note, the power of wealth again, as RepresentUS gets very little, if any, news media coverage despite significant wins getting anti-corruption legislation passed in many states.

Check them out at RepresentUS/.

Dennis Merritt

Shelburne Falls