Money, trust, and politics

It surprised me recently to realize it had only been about three and a half years since putting up publicly my own ideas for a political party. Seems longer. And it is fascinating to contemplate how quickly the creative excitement faded after talking to just a few people.

Turned out I gained #1 in web search--which has sense faded--rather quickly, which means I had a conversation starter and actually remember just one conversation in an Irish bar where it's so much fun to talk politics! And was talking with a nice Irish couple, as yup, plenty of Irish hanging out there, and we were mentioning things a political party should have. And I was so excited as we kind of mutually came to the same conclusions, and then I mentioned my search. They could do it on their smartphone. They did. And I got smiles.

Of course later I'm like, wait a minute, what if? What if I DID come up with a new political party which went on to become the dominant party in the United States of America?

Was one of my favorite hangouts, now closed. Picture from 2008.

With money in politics a big deal, I can gleefully state years later there's no money thrown my way. Core Middle Party is an idea of mine, without an infrastructure, and NO money whatsoever. But of course money is a big deal so I figured it out, and came to the conclusion that our monetary system depends on and benefits from limited social trust.

Money means you only have to trust that person in a transaction, so much.

Money lets you get a lot done without the deep social trust had between close friends, family, and close community.

So money enables modern civilization. Without it, we'd all need to live in small villages.

But limited social trust only goes so far. That person you pay is only obligated to the limits of the contract, which may be stated, written, or implied.

Which is why we don't like bought politicians.

Whether we, the people, like it or not, the people have to have deep trust in political leaders who are trusted with leading the nation in its defense against all enemies foreign or domestic. They can literally agree to the sending of our young people to die on missions necessary for our defense as a nation.

There must be a deep social trust for modern society to function.

But if a politician is actually money-focused then he can be bought by the highest bidder. All you need is enough money.

Turns out you can see if money is corrupting your politics easily: politicians get rich.

Thought it was hard? Why?

Have you seen many people just fall into wealth without doing anything for it?

Duh.

It doesn't work that way. People don't just make you rich for the fun of it, in general. And people don't just happen to get rich by accident.

And you know? Our modern society rewards money-focused people who can give so much in their pursuit of riches.

So you can say that modern society needs money-focused people.

We just don't need them in politics.

Yeah, some people get vast wealth forced upon them, but I think that's a small club.

Usually, you have to try to make money to get money. Believe me, I know.

Politicians dedicated to public service don't have time or inclination to get wealthy.

Yes, it can happen anyway. You can get lucky, like winning the lottery. Or have a great investment firm, but it's not like it would be important to you, you know? After all, what could it possibly represent that is better than community? Service?

The best of us, get what they aim to achieve. Your focus determines your direction.

And if you are community focused, there your most proud accomplishments will be found.

Someday I wonder if I'll face hard questions about money. But regardless have calmed down a lot about many things. Like the best thing about my story of the Irish couple was that we were chatting along easily enough about politics and agreeing.

Consensus is a wonderful thing, as it's not really about my ideas after all. I very deliberately went in search of our best American ideas. And maybe the best thing isn't whether or not those lead to a new political party or not, but that we remember.

Our politics will be ok, eventually. After all, it's not like you can hide when money is your focus, and plenty of people want better.

It doesn't take many conversations to figure out the politics that people want from their best selves either.

So I know I'm not alone.


James Harris

Link to original Core Middle Party PDF

Back October 2011, I put up a post with my own ideas for a political party that I decided to call Core Middle Party.

And I have decided to put up a link to the original PDF that I created of it soon thereafter, which goes to my Google Drive.

It's interesting as I was debating with myself if I should update it somehow, but it's easier just to share the original though some things have changed as I am no longer registered as a Democrat, but am an Independent--should that really be capitalized? Oh well, will leave it that way.

Am happy though that I think I covered the bases rather well, and will admit that I use the original to help me figure out positions on things. And I decided back then not to edit the original any further so it's what I typed up that day exactly.

You know? With over 3 years distance I'm getting that weird thing where I can detach myself from it a bit, which is making me value it more.

Will there ever be a working Core Middle Party with other members? Right now it's just an idea I had where I don't know of anyone else that wants to lay claim to being part of it, but I'm kind of keeping that light burning you might say.

For me though it already is my identification, so I like to think of myself as a Core Middler. Officially though as that's not recognized I'm just an independent voter.


James Harris

Government that enables

One of those puzzles of society which I think should be clear, is the role of government, so I went ahead and defined it as part of my platform for a new political party I call the Core Middle Party.

What I came up with for the role of government is:

The role of government is to protect and enable its citizens.

And I think that the idea that government should enable its citizens is the concept that is often missing, and can it really all be that simple?

How can such a powerful concept as governance be encapsulated in such a simple, single sentence?

Well I think government enables people in strong countries to focus on their personal lives and their families without worrying too much about constantly marching off to war.

I believe a good government should enable you to have electricity, and clean water.

Can you imagine working hard to get clean water? Plenty of people around the world DO have to work hard to get clean water, but many people in my country the United States get to take it for granted because government regulations, and institutions around water enable us to have clean water. (Though we shouldn't take it for granted, and need to keep careful watch so that we really do.)

Consider a counterpoint when government disables: the US Postal service is going through hard times and some politicians have talked about ending Saturday delivery of mail.

That is removing a service. Here government would NOT enable Americans to receive mail on Saturday, and in fact since we do so now, the change would DISABLE Americans from receiving Saturday deliver instead!

Now then, sound like a bad idea? Yup.

Why would you want your government to disable you?

Isn't that easy?

Easier?

So much from a simple sentence! We just set some US policy for the US Postal service!!!

That's politics that works, and works for you. (And yes, we're doing politics here if you hadn't noticed.)

If you just think government protects or should protect, you lose the ability to evaluate whether or not we should have Saturday delivery by the postal service based on whether or not it enables or disables its citizens.

Do you want your government disabling you?

Unfortunately, some people do.

For instance, some hate entitlements, thinking that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are enabling people in a bad way, so they wish to disable those programs.

Notice "enable" is not really a loaded word one way or another.

To some it is a bad word! To them enabling citizens to not worry about food with Food Stamps is a horrible thing! And they will tell you it is, and try to explain why they wish to disable these people and send them scurrying about looking for food, when their government has enabled them to consider other things, like educating their children.

See how powerful a concept it is to be enabled by your government?

I want your government to enable you to do many things, and to enable you to worry about fewer things.

That position is a political position and defines me and people like me.

We're called Progressives.

And I decided at some point I needed a definition for that word too, and here's what I decided worked best.

Progressive (noun):  a person with a political position valuing intelligent governance with the belief that in an intelligently governed world people's lives tend to get better, not worse.


(Yes, I made that up. It's NOT an official definition from a dictionary. Maybe someday it will be?)

Notice it also makes it easy to define those politically who wish to take things away from you.

Take away people can with pessimism distort the discussion, as for instance, why assume we have to cut Social Security? What if instead we could expand it?

I think your government should enable you to have health insurance regardless of your ability to pay.

Some people are so furious at that idea that they are willing to try and destabilize the entire United States of America to keep it from happening.

Now then, consider how much you can do with a concept. Can you look in your life now to see where your government enables you? Where it disables you?

Does that help you figure out where you stand on political issues?

If so, good! We have a lot of work ahead of us in the United States of America.

And the better informed you are, the better you can make choices that make a difference.

And the more you can enable a brighter future for a nation that has to keep working to be great, as otherwise, are we really Americans?

Our nation was built by work. It will stand by working harder.


James Harris

The Core Middle Party

Increasing challenges as our nation moves into the 21st century have not been met by our current political parties, while technological change has given a unique in history opportunity for the voice of the people, including each individual to emerge.

For the first time in our history, each individual has the opportunity through connecting technology to put forward a position, a platform or even ideas for an entirely new political party, with the flexibility, vision, and objectivity to handle the needs of our new world. And we, the people, should not miss this opportunity to be heard.

So here in this post, I'll present the foundations for a new political party, envisioned to leap forward with the best of today, while holding on to the best of our past, as a nation, as a people who have always striven to keep getting better.

Wonderful thing about today is you can have your say, and what I say here is mine, and I hope many others take the opportunity to put forward even more of their own ideas, including new political parties, as we need change that works, and works for us.

Not just words, but real opportunity, real vision, and real progress so that we compete on the world stage at our best, literally being the best that we can be.

And who am I? Just one citizen, living in San Francisco, California, who is a registered Democrat, but I'd really like one day to put down my affiliation as: Core Middle Party

The Core Middle Party believes fundamentally that intelligent governance is what is needed, and that reality tells us: in an intelligently governed world people's lives tend to get better, not worse.

The role of government is to protect and enable its citizens.

All our rights under the Constitution of the United States and under the Declaration of Independence are re-affirmed.

The separation of church and state is a core value that goes to the heart of maintaining both our freedoms and our objectivity in seeing the world as it is, and not as some wish it to be.

And it guarantees the power of our plurality, with the recognition that as a nation we are better from the strengths in our differences than by trying to stand in a complex world on one particular religious point of view.

Freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the freedom to gather peacefully are critical to the health of the nation.

That there is a fundamental right to access to information, and also a fundamental right to privacy, as well as the right to, as best one can, choose one's own destiny, including as a matter of course, a woman's right to choose.

That in protecting its citizens government must maintain a strong defense, and face the world objectively, with the means to defend its citizens against all enemies foreign or domestic. And in so doing the the US military remains under civilian authority as it has always, from its founding.

Proper governance requires accountability.

Those who say one thing to gain office, in order to do something else, shall under this political party's platform face mechanisms for their recall or dismissal from office, sufficient to make this practice a thing of the past.

The need to care for those in need is fundamental to a modern, civilized healthy society, which requires education for all children, food for all children, and healthcare for all children.

The needs for a healthy populace require healthcare for all, paid for by the able.

In order for accountability, there must be transparency so that at all times the citizens know what their elected representatives are doing, so that if necessary corrective actions can be taken by a knowledgeable electorate.

As government requires funds, it is accepted that a progressive tax system is necessary for the proper funding of government, with no more complexity than necessary. And that cherished deductions are not part of political game playing, specifically, deductions for the care of children, the mortgage deduction, and charitable deductions are to remain.

These positions represent what is fundamental to the basic core of governance in an advanced, modern and just society. They do not represent all that is necessary, but are a guide to what can be, should be, as a template for working for an ever better nation.

The history of our nation is more brilliant for those who spoke up, and let themselves be heard, and today each person who is willing, has that potential to reach out to others and be heard.

The ideas here represent one approach, and more should speak, and more voices must be heard, as we, the people, should not miss this wonderful opportunity that technology has given us, which is to make our wishes, our hopes, our dreams for a better future be known.

For the betterment of us all.


James Harris