I'm heading to D.C. today. I've been invited to discuss the current state of the economy with some pretty big names, and I'd like to invite you to watch . . .
On Tuesday, March 27 you can watch a live-stream from Georgetown University featuring the verbal pyrotechnics of Eliot Spitzer, former governor of New York; Matt Taibbi, the journalist best known for documenting the obscene behavior of Goldman Sachs; Van Jones, the honcho behind Rebuild the American Dream; Heather McGhee of Washington Demos; best-selling author Ron Suskind; and OWS activist Jesse La Greca. Hosting this powerhouse lineup is the indefatigable Dylan Ratigan, who skewers the failures of the corporate system everyday from his perch at MSNBC.
The Culture Project's strategy is to motivate as many high-traffic news sites on the web as possible to offer the live-streaming, as well as build a mass audience of viewers via Fora TV, at 7pm EDT. Here is the link. Save it. Remember to watch. This will be a unique event.
The Culture Project, which normally addresses human rights issues by featuring artistic work that amplifies marginal voices, is going the other direction here. The group is investing time and resources to produce public events where some of the most prominent voices of dissent offer a high-level, sophisticated critique of the system's failures. By engaging top-of-the-line thinkers, who know the intricacies of how and why the system broke down, we will learn the necessary economic and policy fixes. And learn we must -- before we find ourselves even deeper in the weeds of unemployment, underwater mortgages and the vast gap between the 1 percent and the rest of America.
alternet.org
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It is an honor to be considered worthy of sharing the stage with such accomplished voices. You guys probably know where I stand on most of this stuff, I think we should break up the Too Big To Fail banks, we should restore Glass/Steagal, we should go back to the Clinton Tax Rates on the Rich and we should put Dick Cheney on a catapult and fire him into the ocean. Oh and Dick enjoys that new heart he just got, it was delicious.
Was Dick Cheney held accountable for ANYTHING? Or Jon Corzine, or Alan Greenspan or Karl Rove or Jamie Dimon or even George Zimmerman? Nowadays it seems like the worse your crime is the more likely you are to get away with it. Lie America into war, get a job at Fox News. Destroy the world economy while enriching yourself, you're doing "God's work". Shoot a black kid you just called a "coon" and the cops will let you walk away WITH your gun. This is what happens when Corporations write our laws for themselves, this is what happens when ALEC runs the show, business is subverting the legal system to prop up crony politicians and a corporatist agenda, and business is good.
So how do we fix things? Well, I'm with Dylan Ratigan on this one, we need to get the money out of politics. In my eyes that is the keystone to any real attempt to take back our democracy from the Greedy Bastards who would prefer an oligarchy where money equals speech. We need to overturn Citizens United. We have a lot of work to do.
Conversations like this are where we can get started at the long hard task of fixing things so that they work not just for the wealthiest 1% but for 100% of America. Before last year many of my friends would say to me "What's the point? All you do is talk about politics, how is that going to make any difference?" I would tell them that before we can solve our problems we have to be aware of them and we have to raise consciousness about the issues that really matter so we can work together to try and find solutions. A year later my friends don't ask me that question anymore. They know it makes a difference now.
So I'd like to invite you to watch us tonight and join the conversation in the comments below.
For more info go to CultureProject.org
Peace and love to one and all,
You can follow me on twitter @JesseLaGreca