Progressive Social Action FA11

Economics -> American Capitalism and Social Justice Fall 11

Groups for Progressive Social Change

BoldProgressives.org

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1. Bold Progressives is a group committed to building long-term progressive power. They work through the traditional political system. Accomplishing their goals by electing “bold” candidates to Congress in order to pass progressive policies. The group is typically anti-Republican and supports the 99% movement to hold Wall Street responsible.

2. Bold Progressives seek the reclaiming of wealth, liberty and democracy as championed by Alperovitz, their tactics would surely seem close-minded to Alperovitz. Bold Progressives seek progressive change but not necessarily through progressive methods. Seemingly, their only method is the election and support of Congressional candidates. Alperovitz calls for a more local and pragmatic method that relies mostly upon the back of citizens. Bold Progressives seek a more”top-down” approach as compared to Alperovitz’s “bottom-up” method of reclaiming wealth.

3. The Bold Progressives approach does not mesh with Domhoff’s argument in Who Rules America?. Domhoff believes because both Democrats and Republicans are apart of the power-elite, neither will provide effective economic change to America. Yates is also very untrusting of the political system for neither Democrats or Republicans have shown much support for the labor movement. Yates and Alperovitz call for grassroots movements.

4. In Understanding Capitalism, Bowle, Edwards and Roosevelt argue that Democracy and Capitalism are two different systems run by different rules. Democracy is a system that opts for the interaction of efficiency and fairness; this is why we have an electorate who represent the people. The ability to control our lives through a democracy is called the power of citizenry. There is another system that rules our life: Capitalism. The rules of capitalism confess power and privilege to those who own and control Capitalist good used production. The power gained to control our lives through this system is called the power of capital. There is often conflict between the two sources of power but the capitalists often end as the victors. This is because the economic power of capitalism is so immense that it directly translates into political power. The power of capital has more control over our government than the power of citizenry. Bold Progressives attempt to elect bold candidates to our electorate but in reality our electorate does not have control over our government because the capitalist have the power to influence the electorate directly as well as the lives of the citizenry who vote for them. This leaves little power to the government to control our lives so by electing bold candidates to our electoral; the Bold Progressives do not overcome the shortcomings of Capitalism in terms of fairness, efficiency and democracy.

5. The Bold Progressives are consistent with the goals discussed in our class, however their tactics differ from the authors we have read this year. Bold Progressives cannot be considered detrimental to creating social justice but the methods discussed by all three authors provide more long-term solutions.

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Publications for Progressive Change

Yes! Magazine

Positive Futures Network is a non-profit group based on Bainbridge Island, Washington, that publishes Yes! Magazine. The magazine is a quarterly that publicizes stories involving individuals and non-profits promoting social change, and is printed on 100% recycled paper. Yes! Magazine focuses on individuals who act as agents for social change in areas such as the environment, legal justice, and economic self-sufficiency. The self-proclaimed goal of Yes! is to endow its readers with the knowledge necessary to help them understand that they can have an impact on social change. The magazine can be viewed for free online, as it has a creative commons license. Because the magazine relies entirely on paid subscribers and donors, it has no advertising and thus no advertiser influence. This allows the issues and concerns discussed in Yes! to be cognitively framed in a different manner than would occur in the corporate advertising media.

Alternet.org

Alternet is an online independent journalistic outlet that aims to promote social change in issues such as human rights, the environment, and economic fairness. It includes an opinionated editorial focus, as well as investigative reporting on issues that are ignored in the corporate media. Alternet also functions as an online community to promote comment by it's readers, and utilizes social media and news aggregators such as Reddit to virally market its news stories. It aims to correct disinformation that is perpetuated by corporate owned and politically oriented news sources such as talk radio, as well as educate its readers on opportunities to promote social change. Alternet is supported by donors as well as online advertising on its website, which currently experiences approximately 2.3 million different readers every month.

Progressive Media in the Context of Alperovitz and Domhoff

Both Yes! Magazine and Alternet further the goals outlined in Alperovitz's book by offering an alternative source of newsworthy information, besides the corporate media which functions to further the goals of its advertisers. Alperovitz notes that poorly informed and socially marginalized individuals are a prime target for misinformation that functions to delegitimize the positive potential of democratically elected government action, as well as obscuring the true sources of exploitation within our economic and political system. In particular, Alternet focuses on uncovering the demagogic and untruthful commentary that is widely broadcasted on the radio and television to economically marginalized groups, in order to frighten them into espousing policies and beliefs that actually harm their wellbeing. By publicizing this misinformed perspective, Alternet is helping to further the ends of a healthy and functioning democracy.

One potential disadvantage of Alternet is that by requiring revenues gained from online advertising, it is possible that the editorial content of the website could still be influenced by its advertisers. Yes! Magazine is fully funded by subscribers and donors and is independently managed, so it is outside of the paradigm of media which functions only to perpetuate consumption of material goods. This allows them to promote values such as sustainability through their articles and editorials. By freeing its readers from the influences encouraging wasteful and conspicuous consumption, it is giving them the liberty required to make an informed decision about what types of consumption improve their livelyhood. As media organizations independent from extensive corporate concentration and control outlined in Domhoff, Alternet and Yes! Magazine can promote values such as environmentalism and equality that are ignored in advertising based media.

Demos

Aims and Goals of Demos

Demos is a policy planning and opinion shaping institute based in New York City that aims to encourage equality, democracy, and a thriving public sector that furthers the common good. In terms of equality, Demos seeks to promote policies that increase economic opportunity for future generations of Americans, as well as correcting current gross inequalities. Demos advocates for increased involvement of citizens in their democratic institutions, especially underrepresented minority groups. The organization encourages minority ethnic and cultural groups to increase their democratic participation through sponsored voter registration drives, as well as get out the vote campaigns. Legal expertise is also provided to protect voting rights when they are violated, by attempting to hold groups responsible for voter suppression tactics as well as voter intimidation. Demos promotes the role of the public sector as protecting the well being of citizens, as well as promoting positive economic growth that is beneficial for all. Fellows of Demos produce original research and publications on the issues of concern to the institute, and an effort is made to promote a diverse discourse in public policy, especially by granting fellowships to experts from underrepresented backgrounds. International issues are also of concern to research conducted by Demos, with the goal of promoting prosperity and human rights abroad by defending workers and the environment, as well as increasing the domain of democracy. To protect the environment, Demos seeks to encourage sustainability and the values that further that end. Fiscal issues are also a concern, and collaboration with the Economic Policy Institute was undertaken to examine the role that public spending has in encouraging a sustainable fiscal path.

Demos in the Context of Domhoff and Alperovitz

A major issue uncovered in Domhoff's Who Rules America? was that the public policy institutes and opinion shaping organizations elaborated in the book were predominantly managed by elites, and consciously directed to promote elite interests. Demos differs from these organizations in that its explicit goal is greater economic equality. The organization also actively seeks staffers and fellows from underrepresented backgrounds to correct the lack of diversity among opinions and backgrounds and the major public policy institutes. Although Domhoff notes that most of the staffers and researchers at the major public policy institutes can not be considered to be part of the elite, Demos is still unique in seeking to improve the level of diversity within its senior staffing positions. Demos works to further Alperovitz's goal of reclaiming the commonwealth by promoting greater awareness and policy action towards the magnitude of inequality in the United States. By registering voters and taking legal action against voter suppression, Demos is helping to increase the domain of Democracy by making the elected government of the United States more representative of the interests of its citizens.

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