We the Future

A Progressive Vision to

Rebuild the American Dream for a New Generation

Why are young Americans today destined to bring about the largest political shift in 50 years? (page 29)

What was the Boston Tea Party really protesting? (page 9)

Alexander Hamilton was never president. What earned him his place on our $10 Bill, and why have we forgotten it? (page 44)

What does Ferris Bueller’s Day Off have to do with the decline of the American middle class? (page 79)

Is American a Democracy or a Republic? (page 6)

If a person can’t be considered property, can property be a person? (page 131)

Why can’t our government do anything right anymore? (page 123)

What can you do to make a difference? (page 157)

It's been in the works for about 8 months now, but I am happy to say it is complete. I look forward to getting it in some local bookstores and libraries, but for now it available to order online. It is available as a paperback or as an eBook.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

Sean

People power in Muskegon

Politically this has been an eventful year so far. After campaigning as a nonpartisan “nerd”, Governor Snyder took office with full control of the legislature and began pushing a hard right agenda. Like the new Republican governors in Wisconsin and Ohio, Snyder overreached and ignited a political backlash. Both in Muskegon and around the state, we’ve seen the citizenry wake up. We’ve seen the largest protest rallies in our state’s history at the capitol building, and record size crowds locally as well. Two rallies in Muskegon so far, on Mar 15th and April 4th, each drew between 500 and 700 participants. I’ve reported on these earlier as well as the even larger rallies in Lansing, and it’s so encouraging to see people taking a stand in such numbers.

This April 15th (Tax Day), the Muskegon Tea Party had their annual rally in downtown Muskegon. Last year their event had about 150 attendees and got front page coverage in the Muskegon Chronicle. This year I came out to observe what they had to say. What I saw was a few of the most devoted tea party organizers, and not much else. Altogether they had maybe 30 people present. It made me ask: What if you threw a tea party and no one came?

I don’t point this out to belittle the local tea party activists. They are not the bad guys. They are our coworkers and neighbors, and they’re concerned about the same ills in society as the rest of us. I believe they’ve just been misled about the causes. Right now is probably a good time for introspection for tea party activists. Their message is clearly not resonating with the public. Also troubling, as I looked around the crowd, I tried but could not find a single non-Caucasian face. Muskegon County has a diverse population, yet the local tea party seems to be a 100% white organization. Does this make them racists? No, of course not. But their message seems to have a unfortunate blind spot and is alienating anyone but one certain demographic.

It is our responsibility as progressives not to hold up those we disagree with as bogeymen, but to bring our message to them. That may mean you get yelled at sometimes (as I was). But I also had several civil conversations and was able to explain some issues to people in a way they hadn’t heard before. Did I change any minds? I don't know. But I do know the public is trending our way. People are realizing we are all in this together, and when there are those who would divide us by race, religion, gender, union vs. non-union, public employees vs. private, or anything else, then those people are best ignored. We are one, and we will rise or fall together.

The next rally is Thursday, April 28th at 3:30pm, at the CIO Hall, 490 W. Western Ave. We will march at 4:00pm sharp from there to Hackley Park. This is not a "Democrat" event. This is not a "union" event. This is for anyone who is concerned about our eroding standard of living and anyone who believes in the ideal of a citizen-controlled government. Hope to see you there!

Sean Mullally

'We Are One' rallies growing in Muskegon.

Yesterday, April 4th, demonstrator again gathered in downtown Muskegon to march and rally in opposition to new taxes on retirees and the working poor and against the Emergency Financial Manager law that would strip voting rights from some local communities.

The event was similar to but somewhat larger than one held here two weeks ago. The next one should be even larger yet! There were several more speakers than I included here. The whole march and rally lasted nearly two hours, but a lot of my footage couldn't be used do bad audio and wind noise. I am getting more video that was taken with a different camera, so I might have some coverage of more speakers coming up later. This is just a small snippet.

Thanks to all the people who came out, organized, and spoke at yesterday's rally.

Would your legislator work for a teacher's pay?

Sara Scholtens wrote an interesting proposal in Saturday's Kalamazoo Gazette. Many of our Michigan legislators have been fixating recently on how much our public employees are paid, claiming it's too much. Scholtens suggests that if our school teachers' pay is so generous, perhaps our legislators would like to work for the same salary. This is similar to the proposal I advocated last year that our legislator's salary should be set equal to the median income in the state.

Currently our state representatives are paid $82,485 per year in salary and expense allowance. This is the second highest in the nation, behind only California. Scholtens claims a typical salary for a teacher in Michigan is about $38,000. She continues to say if we were to reduce our legislators compensation to that of a entry level teacher, it would save taxpayers nearly $5 million per year.

Shared sacrifice requires leading be example. I would call upon our legislators to do the right thing and accept the same pay cuts they are calling on others to take. This is potentially a win-win proposition. Taxpayers would save millions, and legislators could gain credibility by walking the walk. As a additional benefit, going forward we might get more people in office for the right reasons rather than those just chasing the $82,485 paycheck. That could only serve to help the political climate in Lansing.

But watch carefully. Any measure to reduce compensation for legislators must include current office holders. One of the slight-of-hand tricks that have been used in the past is for lawmakers to pass pay and benefit cuts that affect only their successors and then boast endlessly about it as an act of political courage.

Call you representative or senator today and ask them if they are willing to accept the pay of a teacher!

Upcoming events

Well, it's been an eventful couple of months. We've seen an undemocratic agenda laid bare in Michigan and around the country as voter's rights, worker's rights and women's rights have all come under attack by newly elected officials who should be spending their time creating jobs and fixing the economy.

But we've also seen the American people invigorated and fighting back! From Madison, Wisconsin to Lansing, Michigan and even right here in Muskegon we've seen people take to the streets in record numbers and say in one unified voice, "Enough!" I've recorded some of these events for those who couldn't be there and included links here.

This movement is continuing and growing. Below is information on two important upcoming events in Muskegon where your voice can be heard. Your voice in your workplace, in your school district, and your local government are under attack by the current leadership in Lansing. This is a use it or lose it moment. We need to get out and be heard while we still can!

Michigan's Budget Town Hall
Rep. Marcia Hovey-Wright and Mitchell Bean, nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency Director are hosting a Town Hall meeting about Michigan's Budget. Monday, March 28, 7:00 p.m. at the Stevenson Center at MCC, room 1100. Bean is an expert on Michigan's budget. This is information we all need to know. Come hear Representative Hovey-Wright's and Director Bean's analysis of events in Lansing and ask some questions!

'We Are One' Rally
April 4th, Muskegon will be rallying to commemorate the day Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated for fighting for human rights. We again are in a struggle with our government and Big Business for some of these same rights, so we rally on this day to get our message out and be heard!

State Sen. Geoff Hansen, State Reps. Holly Hughes and Marsha Hovey-Wright have been invited to attend and address our group. We must keep the message out that we won't be silenced and recalls will follow if we aren't represented by our elected leaders. Come down to Heritage Lansing from 4pm - 6pm on Monday Apr. 4th, and let your voice be heard!

Is nuclear worth it?

The recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan were bad enough, but the subsequent failure of multiple nuclear reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi facility quickly grabbed the headlines. The public has always had a simmering distrust of nuclear power. Nuclear proponents will say this is due to a lack of knowledge. We fear what we don’t understand. But the truth is more complex than that. Nuclear accidents don’t cause as many immediate casualties as natural disasters, but their insidious poisoning can spread far and last virtually forever.

Yes, nuclear is one answer to the climate change crisis. It is said that nuclear energy emits no carbon dioxide. Of course, if we count the process of mining and refining the uranium fuel, an energy intensive process, we’re forced to admit that nuclear energy does involve some carbon emissions after all.

Nuclear is also phenomenally expensive. Nuclear power was originally promoted as too cheap to meter, but has turned out to be far and away the most expensive source of electricity, even with massive government subsidies. One new nuclear plant is anticipated to cost $10 billion to build.

Most of this cost is due to elaborate safety requirements, but as we see in Japan this can only reduce the risk of disaster, not eliminate it. We have to begin with the understanding that no mechanism built by man is or will ever be 100% reliable. Every system will fail at some point. We have to accept that going in.

In the late nineties, I worked for a short time at Detroit Edison’s Fermi 2 nuclear facility south of Detroit. It’s called Fermi 2 for a reason. Sitting immediately next to the facility is the decommissioned Fermi 1 reactor which suffered a core meltdown in 1966. The incident is covered in detail in John Fuller’s book, We Almost Lost Detroit.

In an inspection in 2006, it was discovered that Fermi 2’s backup diesel generators were nonfunctional and would not have worked if called upon in an emergency. It’s difficult to overstate the importance of these generators. They are critical to prevent a catastrophic meltdown if primary power is lost. Furthermore, the inspection revealed the generators had been nonfunctional since 1986. For 20 years the plant was operating a high wire act with no safety net. Michigan is amazingly lucky the Fermi 2 site had no major power disruptions during those decades. It’s also worth noting that the Fermi 2 reactor is the exact same GE Mark I design as Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi reactors that have proven so fragile.

With Fermi 1, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and now Fukushima Daiichi, we’ve seen that accidents happen regardless of precautions. Accidents will always happen. The question we need to ask ourselves is: Is nuclear worth the cost? Are there better alternatives? One way or another, we’re going to use energy. Perhaps looking at some windmills on the horizon isn’t so bad, considering the alternatives.

Muskegon Rally - We Are One

Muskegon residents pack the streets on Mar 15th to protest Gov. Snyder's new taxes on retirees and the working poor to pay for tax breaks for businesses. Over 500 people march down Western Ave chanting "We Are One".