make your vote matter
It is increasingly becoming apparent to me that the United States isn't functioning as a democracy due to the oligarchic capture of governance and the capitalist extraction of money and power into the hands of the very few. Correcting this, returning power to the people where it belongs, requires the changes I discuss below.
A platform for democratic reform
Principles
- One person, one vote.
- Corporations are not people.
- Checks on power.
- Money is not speech. It’s power.
Platform
- Ranked choice voting.
- Public campaign financing only—ban on all private
contributions.
- Nonpartisan ballot access and elections.
- Nonpartisan congressional organization: End party-based committee
assignments and leadership.
- Total gift bans in all public positions.
- Ban of all paid lobbying: protect citizen right to petition.
- Ban on gerrymandering—Independent redistricting based solely on
population and geography.
- Abolition of electoral college (Interstate Compact then
Constitutional amendment).
- Public education for all as a human right.
- Government education services that teach citizens and newly elected
officials how government processes work.
- Secret ballot for citizens; public voting records for representatives.
I have more to say on these topics:
- Thoughts about human rights: framework for the rights of humans
- Thoughts about international democracy: getting the governance we deserve
- Thoughts about corruption: corruption
- Thoughts about political parties: political parties are anti-democratic