A new game called real democracy

It is easy to get on here and whine about our crumbling democracy here in the USA. Finding solutions is harder. I have no magic bullets to fix everything, seems I've ran out but how about a few starting points?

1. If we are ever to have a real democracy here in the USA, we have to find a way to get the massive sums of money out of our political system. I have no secret Swiss bank account and cannot buy influence in the current political system. I think this is the root of much of our troubles and also the hardest problem to solve. But it is not totally hopeless. Check out Move to Amend. Sooner or later, we must stop giving our support to political parties that do nor support us. We the people cannot win when the fix is in.

2. Recreate democracy starting at the most local level possible. The Occupy movements popping up all over are a good start and give me a much need ray of hope. We in the movement and who support it must be careful not to start playing the game the state does so well. Let's all be leaders and work through consensus and not allow ourselves to get bogged down in positions, personalities and power structures. When that happens, Occupy becomes just another failed movement assimilated by the most powerful. Here in Greensboro, NC our local Occupy movement has many sub-working groups; Healthcare, Employment, Arts and Education Enrichment. Each is actively seeking real solutions. The Employment group for example is researching how to set up employee owned co-ops to create jobs. This is the meaning of being the change we want to see in the world.

3. Delegitimize the current two party system. In other words, stop playing the game controlled by the powerful for the powerful. Let Washington continue to play games while we rebuild democracy one community at a time via consensus building. 51% should not be able to hold tyranny over 49%. We need to develop ways beyond the current win / lose oppositional politics that serve only the few. There are alternatives!

4. BE WARNED. If the any of the above starts to show signs of real success, the state will use its favorite tool, direct violence. Once the myths of freedom, land of opportunity, the American dream and the rest evaporate, direct violence will be the state's last card. If we meet violence with violence, we the people will lose. As we have seen the state is very good at violence. What they are not good at is non-violence. This may be a way to transform the game. It is not without cost.

In short, what we have to do is create a new game called real democracy, while we still have a legal means to do so.