​Have you ever wondered why “developing” nations are still mired in great poverty although they have received enormous amounts of aid for infrastructure? Or why the United States is engaged in an endless stream of small wars and conflicts? And, after we bomb and destroy any country our next budget item is reconstruction? 
Meet John Perkins:  a former “Economic Hit Man” whose job was to help U.S. intelligence agencies and multinational corporations cajole and blackmail foreign leaders into serving U.S. foreign policy and awarding lucrative contracts to American business.  That system has spread to now become the dominant means of business and government within the U.S. as well.
John’s book, New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, puts the pieces of the puzzle together so that we can understand “corporatocracy” -- how businesses serve the wealthy and continue to impoverish the poor through systemic blackmail, assassinations and more.
Defense spending facts:  Military spending is projected to account for 54% of all federal discretionary spending; and, the U.S. spends more on defense than China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, United Kingdom, India, France and Japan – COMBINED!

There is a beautiful story of an old guy observed planting a fig tree. When his neighbor asked if he really expected to live long enough to consume the fruits of his labor, he replied: "I was born into a world flourishing with ready pleasures. My ancestors planted for me, and I now I plant for my children.”
 
Most of us do not plant trees for the benefit of our children, but we are still rightfully concerned with what will be our legacy – for that is the work of an elder.  Many of us also feel great sadness or despair as we look at our collective legacy -- the state of our world -- as there is much that needs fixing, and we are each just one amongst many. 
 
I want to share a vision of ELDERS STANDING – people who serve as elders for our communities, speaking for future generations, for the unborn ones, in the ways that as elders have always spoken for the “seventh generation.” 
 
To take a stand means to publically take a position, to speak for an idea or issue.   It is a position of power -- not power over -- but “power with” those that are calling to us from the future to speak for them now, in this moment in time.   We do this by speaking in the public square and leaving a legacy of a just and thriving world.
 
This network of individuals and organizations holds as our highest priority the concerns of our descendents and all life on our precious planet.

African-American males are six times more likely to be incarcerated than white males and 2.5 times more likely than Hispanic males.
 
If current trends continue, one of every three black American males born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime, as can one of every six Latino males compared to one of every seventeen white males.    (www.gatewaysecondchance.org)
 
This is not the definition of a just society! 

Many Americans are beginning to understand how unjust our society is – and two of them, Donna and Clarence Carter, are doing something about it.

The Carters have formed GATEWAY SECOND CHANCE Foundation and GateWay Boarding Academy, which invest in the lives of at-risk youth, breaking their cycle of failure and empowering them to become productive community members.
 
Gateway Second Chance is a powerful declaration and commitment to young people, particularly young men, to provide a second chance through education, skills training, mentoring and supportive services that insure that these young men can turn their lives around and become not only “productive” but fulfilled members of their community.

The Carters are enlisting their friends and community to help them in this endeavor – so this past March, more than 200 folks gathered to share breakfast, community, and inspiring stories of courage and perseverance. 
 
Those attending were inspired by the youth and adults who shared their life experiences, and what is possible with the caring commitment of others -- literally breathed new life into those who were present. These individuals modeled what is created in a human being's life when they receive our attention and support.
 
Gateway Second Chance is determined to provide the needed services so that the vicious cycle of the “school to prison pipeline” STOPS!

“What was successful about ELDERS STANDING FOR DEMOCRACY SPRING”
We actualized “Elder-Activists” – with older folks coming together as both ELDERS and as ACTIVISTS!

We raised up the values that we hold:

• Caring for future generations
• Standing in the public square
• Protecting "our investment" -- the future of the children that we raised
  
• Given voice to our wisdom and years of life experience
• Being seen as elders – rather than just someone growing older
• Creating a legacy that we can be proud of.

We organized, meeting weekly for several months; got to know each other, as we marched and stood together; and,  inspired one another with our actions, commitment and ideas.

We are continuing to meet – discerning what our next steps might be; and how we can best work together.  Why?  Because as Sally said, "I want to reiterate how important it is to be included... and, there is so much to learn from the wisdom of the other elders."

Our next meeting – of ELDERS STANDING FOR DEMOCRACY SPRING (ESDS) – will be Thursday, May 12th, 12 noon, E.T.  Call in number:  641.715.3298, 220031#.  Anybody is welcome to join us.

….was the message as 1300 people got arrested this past week in Washington, in the largest act of civil disobedience since the Vietnam protests.
 
I spent 5 of the past 8 days in Washington, as part of the Democracy Spring and Democracy Awakening campaigns, marching, chanting, talking, singing and getting arrested twice.  The energy, power and spirit of the thousands of people was palpable; demanding Congressional reforms to get Big Money out of the political process and restore voting rights.  Money OUT -- Voters IN.

ELDERS STANDING FOR DEMOCRACY SPRING was exhilarating.  As Elders we took a stand to say that we care.   We care about our country, our children -- our future.  And as elders we know that the "our" is not an individual but a collective "our,” recognizing the interconnected web of all life.
 
I was inspired by the words of Sandra Steingraber who said, "I love my children more than those corporate types love their money."
 
And, by Jim Hightower who invited us to “stop wringing our hands and join hands!”  And, “those who say it can’t be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

“We the people” rose up and became the most promising aspect of ELDERS STANDING FOR DEMOCRACY SPRING as we gathered this past Tuesday, April 12th, in Washington, DC. 
 
I expected that there would be many passionate elders present since I had spoken with dozens over the past few months and listened to their stories – including that of my friend Chris who said, “I want my vote to count the same as every other vote, not less than those with lots of money.”
 
“Not Dead Yet”
Many elders marched with pictures of their grandchildren.  One wrote, “I’m doing this for LOVE.”  Dana Kelly was holding a sign that read. "I'm not dead yet. I care deeply. I vote."  "All this happened on my watch," Kelley said when asked why she made the trip. "I'm thinking about my children and what kind of world I'm going to leave them."
 
I expected the elders who gathered to be smart and caring -- but what really impressed me was the younger folks who organized this campaign. 
 
What brings me hope are the organizers, the processes and the principles of this campaign.

I am reprinting this blog by Alan Johnson – who offers an excellent analysis of how privilege is both ubiquitous and unearned within our white culture.  My hope is that these writings will help us see “with new eyes” what is true about our system of privilege, so that we can create a more just society for all….   Lynne

The concept of privilege refers to any advantage that is unearned, exclusive, and socially conferred. For example, white people are generally assumed to be law-abiding until they show some sign that they are not, while people of color are routinely assumed to be criminals or potential criminals until they show they’re not. One way to see this is through a survey in which respondents were asked to close their eyes and picture a drug dealer. When asked to describe what they saw, almost 95 percent mentioned a black person, even though the vast majority of drug dealers in the U.S. are white.

So, when it comes to being randomly stopped and frisked by police, anyone identified as ‘white’ has an advantage they did not earn and that is exclusive to whites. It is socially conferred in the sense that it depends on them being perceived in a particular way by the police—as ‘white’—before the advantage is given to them in the form of the assumption that they are not criminals.

It’s important to note that privilege does not guarantee good outcomes for the privileged group or bad outcomes for everyone else. A white person, for example, can work hard and have little to show for it, can be mistreated by the police without cause, be denied a job they’re qualified for. What privilege does is load the odds one way or the other so that the chance of bad things happening to white people as a category of people is much lower than for everyone else, and the chance of good things happening is much higher. Privilege is not something a person can have, like a possession, as in “Where’s mine?”  Instead, it is a characteristic of the social system—like a rule in a game—in which everyone participates.

Joseph Huff-Hannon Activist and award-winning writer, wrote this blog for the Huffington Post, 3/14/2016.

Lynne Iser has plans to get arrested next month, and she wants hundreds of other elders by her side when she does.

“I grew up in the 60s. Back then we had a great deal of pride in America. Of course there were plenty of big problems — Civil rights, the Vietnam War — but it still felt like we had a democracy.” A Philadelphia area activist, Lynne is helping to coordinate a group called Elders Standing for Democracy Spring. “It doesn’t feel like that anymore,” she told me over the phone.

Lynne is hardly alone. Academics recently found empirical evidence that governance in the U.S. more closely resembles an oligarchy than a democracy, and majorities of Republicans, Democrats and Independents report in poll after poll that they want our leaders to overhaul the way we fund campaigns, and they want it now. In the middle of the most cash-drenched election cycle in American history, Congress has responded to that incredible consensus of public opinion with ... nothing.

That’s why Lynne, and thousands of others, are planning to join Democracy Spring, a 10-day march and series of mass sit-ins at the US capitol this April, demanding action on the twin crises plaguing American democracy: the flood of Big Money drowning out the voices of most of us in our government, and the surge in attacks on voting rights in States across the country.

My friend Chris has grown interested in the ELDERS STANDING FOR DEMOCRACY SPRING cohort that will stand together on Thursday, April 14th -- supporting each other, and those who will risk arrest -- as an elder standing in the public square to live out my values for justice, for all people, and planet Earth (Pat, a UU Minister.)

Chris writes:
Although I have always had strong political opinions, I have used the ballot box to take a stand rather than to be actively involved in demonstrations.  I have only been involved in a handful of demonstrations – I pushed my daughter in her stroller in a march to protest the Viet Nam war, walked as “Another Mother for Peace,” attended a pro-choice rally in Washington, DC and stood vigil to protest US involvement in the Iraq War.  However, I never was involved to the point where I risked arrest. 

Recently, as part of a Positive Aging lunch conversation, I learned about the movement, Democracy Spring – “a mass civil disobedience campaign to save American democracy from the corruption of Big Money in politics and the assault upon our right to vote.”  A peaceful march is being planned from Philadelphia to Washington DC from April 2nd to 10th.   
Part of this movement is an Elder Cohort – where elders are invited to stand as a group on Thursday, April 14th, supporting each other and some risking arrest.  I immediately responded that I would be willing to risk arrest as did several other members of the group.

Our democracy is broken.
Though we are the oldest self-proclaimed democracy we lack the basics of real self-government: access to the polls for many citizens, accountability to the voters from politicians, competition among candidates to discern the people’s will, and real options for those who feel their voices aren’t being heard.
 
This is all fixable – if we are willing to acknowledge what is true, learn from others, and make real change. I stand with those who describe our country as “an evolving experiment in democracy.”
 
Nor do we have to give up being a capitalist economy – but, we can make changes that will enable our democracy to be more representative and our capitalism to serve the workers as well as the corporations.
 
Democracy and capitalism have worked effectively in other countries – most especially in Norway, as reported by Ann Jones in the latest issue of The Nation.
 
Norway has a commitment to both equality and democracy believing that “you can’t have one without the other.”  It is a parliamentary democracy where power flows from the top down; though “Norway celebrates society whereas in the United States we celebrate the individual.” (The Nation)
 
In Norway capitalism serves the people.  Negotiations between trade unions and the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise determine the wages and working conditions of most capitalist enterprises so that income disparity is minimized.