Hightower: This Is Our Only Hope to Stop Trump & the Corporate Assault on Our Democracy

Alternet.org
April 7, 2017
By Jim Hightower

"Our greatest strength is not in Washington rallies and protests - it's our ability to organize and mobilize around issues of populist justice."



The list of progressive innovations at the grassroots level goes on and on, dealing with one big, complex issue after another that small-minded corporatist ideologues refuse to tackle
(often under the "principle" that government - i.e. the public, i.e. you and me - shouldn't be involved).
Not only should we, but we must, for our activism is the only hope of restoring America's democratic principles and united ethic of the common good.

For instance, homelessness, we're told by pious politicos, is impossible to cure, and so more and more cities are resorting to criminalizing people struggling to live on the streets.
But wait, say proponents of a new way of thinking: Yes, some street people are addicts or mentally ill, but the vast majority are out there because they lost jobs, got hit with major medical bills, suffered family violence or had other personal crises.
And, get this - they're homeless because they don't have a place to live!
Until the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan reduced tax incentives for developers to create low-income homes, America didn't have mass homelessness.
But now we're millions of units short of housing that hard-hit people and families can afford.
So why not address the cause?

More:
http://www.alternet.org/activism/activism-only-hope-restoring-americas-democratic-principles