TRANSFORMATION: Political Strategy to Defeat the Current Regime

Issue 131 | It's the only game in town

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As we know, human consciousness is transforming itself from whatever it has been into something lighter and more compassionate, from whatever it has been into something that champions inclusion, interconnectedness, fairness, balance, peace, empathy, love, truth, transparency, and the like. We humans follow the path of least resistance/most ease when we align ourselves with the reality of this transformation and with the concept of human transformation writ large. We follow the path of least resistance/most ease when we practice these familiar, soon-to-be-dominant ideals.

When we think and act — consciously or otherwise — in ways that defy the idea of transformation, when we continue to practice whatever our consciousness has been, the one that’s dying out, the one where judgment, fighting, subjugation, control, violence, force, dominance, patriarchy and the like have thrived, we will have nothing but chaos, disharmony, discord, vitriol, violence, and all that comes with all of that. Choices abound, people, and conscious politics practitioners everywhere must choose on purpose and right now whether to operate within the confines of the old consciousness, fighting for scraps, or to align, on purpose, with the new…and cultivate that.

I’ll tag Albert Einstein here to back me up on this because he taught us that problems cannot be solved with the same consciousness that created them. Democrats fighting with Republicans over crumbs leftover after corporations are served whatever they want is a precise example of attempting to solve problems with the same consciousness that created them. That’s why painfully slow, incremental change — e.g., we secured more funding than the other guys wanted to provide or we showed up and made the awfulness less awful — is always lauded as a huge win but it never is and never will be because of physics and math.

More support for the idea of transformation as political strategy derives from what I believe is the best take of the 2024 presidential election result I’ve heard, paraphrased: a very significant number of people who voted for the president used their votes as gestures, not as bona fide support of the man and his antics. In fact, the more outlandish any of what he said and did throughout his long campaign actually was, the more it sounded to them like it would satisfy their desire for massive change.

Along those lines, I believe it’s massive change, generally speaking, that fueled many supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders’ runs for president in 2016 and 2020. I also believe it’s the same right now with his — and others’ — “Fight the Oligarchy Tour” drawing crowds of thousands and tens of thousands in a variety of congressional districts, cities, and states. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Republican Party in America has transformed itself into something utterly and completely different than what it was before. The Democratic Party, if it wants to survive, will have to do the same and I certainly hope it does, but this message of transformation as political strategy is for any candidate in any race running as a D (I suppose) or an I or an L or a G or anything that is not maga.

Let’s be as bold and unapologetic as the president and his sycophantic minions are. Let’s be as unrelentingly determined as they are to uproot the status quo.

Transformation means profound, fundamental, and absolute change — from one thing into another. For example: good policy might be to support Ukraine in its war against Russia; transformation would be cultivating the end of war as an option for anyone. Good policy might be SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and free breakfasts and lunches in public schools; transformation would be eliminating the very concept of hunger in America. Good policy might be anti-recidivism programs in courts, jails, and prisons; transformation would be into a culture of rehabilitation for individuals who commit social violations and of prisons themselves into health and wellness juggernauts. Or something.

More? OK, just to get in the mood. Let’s create a well-informed, highly-educated citizenry by transforming America’s public schools. Let’s refurbish, retrofit and transform every public school building in America into state-of-the-art buildings that act as 24-hour Community Education, Health, and Social Service Centers — wherever doing so will serve the communities in which they exist.

Let’s create a society of citizens — vs. consumers — by transforming American capitalism into another form of American capitalism wherein profits are simply not the only intention of the business. That’s all. I would call it Conscious Capitalism but maybe you prefer Inclusive Capitalism or Neo Capitalism or Humanistic Capitalism or Progressive Capitalism or Holistic Capitalism. Or some other something else.

Let’s create a truly representative government by transforming our current campaign finance system (such as it is) into one that is publicly funded and practices proportional representation.

Let’s create a vibrantly healthy populace that matches or bests the physical health outcomes and life expectancies of peer countries by transforming our health care system into one that compassionately provides comprehensive health (not disease) care to citizens as its raison d’etre.

Let’s create a little more economic equality by transforming poverty from what it has been to nonexistent. If we can use the levers of government to produce statistics that determine something called the poverty line, then let’s simply intend that no citizens will live in this country below the poverty line. Citizens who find themselves below it for any reason are brought up to it regardless of who they are or why they need it, to pursue their happiness, which helps us all. Tax rates for corporations and wealthy individuals — which couldshould fund the end of poverty — will simply rise and fall as needs swell and shrink. It’s not that complicated.

Let’s be as bold and unapologetic as the president and his sycophantic minions are in spewing forth. Let’s be as unrelentingly determined as they are to uproot the status quo. And because nothing that has come before can or ever will deliver to us what’s coming next, let us be as clear as we can be possibly be that our version of transformation — rooted in and aligned with compassion in service of us all — is our one and only game.

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