For all the bickering here, I think one thing that might do a little good is 'awareness'.
So, here's a post on that.
I'm going to pick ten organizations I support - politically and have supported financially.
And a little note on why.
1. Amnesty International
It's in the interest of governments to repress dissent, often brutally, to control, to eliminate opposition to their agendas, and it's in the nature of citizens not to pay attention.
Some of the most wronged, most powerless people in need of help are these political prisoners, these human rights victims, and Amnesty International is a force for helping.
Honorable mention for the same reasons: Human Rights Watch
2. Just Detention, formerly Stop Prisoner Rape
Prisoner Rape is a far too wide occurance coming out of the mess prisons are with the sexual and power needs and structures, and prisoners are in little position to fix it.
It's a human disaster for this to be happening, and as a responsible society we have an obligation to ensure that even those who are being punished, and not being raped.
This organization has successfully lobbied for helpful reforms, more are needed.
3. The Center for Biological Diversity
The slogan on their mailer I got today is 'Extinct if Forever'. That says it. There are powerful commercial forces who care nothing about our biological diversity, and they need to be curtailed from the destruction they'd happily engage in. Our environment has no political representation but what our citizens choose to give.
4. The ACLU
The tension between rights and the mob is ongoing, and the ACLU is the group who pretty much everyone turns to when they are the ones being wronged.
Even Rush Limbaugh.
If the saying that those would give up essential liberties for a little security had a group, the ACLU is it. It's important we have them fighting corrupt power.
5. Corporate Accountability International
Corporation are very beneficial in many ways, and harmful in others - but they are quite powerful and able to prevent a lot of scrutiny of their harmful activities.
We need watchdogs as a society - that should be especially clear now in the light of the financial sector's activities.
6. Multiple progressive media products, such as salon.com
The citizens, as our founding fathers often noted, cannot rule the nation without good information, and that's why freedom of the press is in the first amendment.
We need to support the good products that inform the citizens of the issues.
Some key or good products: Harper's, The Atlantic, In These Times, Funny Times, www.commondreams.org...
Books by Naomi Klein, Thom Hartmann, David Cay Johnston, Paul Krugman, Michael Parenti, Greg Palast.
Documentaries, from the PBS series Frontline, to 60 Minutes, to the independant documentaries such as available from the monthly DVD Ironweed Films.
For example on salon.com, in my view the best blogged, Glenn Greenwald, is published.
Without sources like Salon and 60 Minutes, Abu Ghraib was just a 'liberal rumor'.
Honorary mention: "Project censored", who always find a lot of important, underreported stories.
For example, check out this story on Bush authorizing the seizure of assets of war opponents - real 'conservatives' should be concerned as well:
Link
7. American Friends Service Committee
Quaker-based group supporting peace for a long time.
There are trillions of profit in the military, and political power flows far more strongly towards war than towards peace, generally. We need groups who are for peace.
The militarization of our culture is strong, and needs those who try to reduce it.
8. Moveon.org
Theyhelp 'implement democracy', taking it out of just pretty words and helpiing the public have some organized power like the 'special interests' do.
It's a very democratic organization whose members choose the priorities.
The priorities this year are Universal Healthcare, Economy Recovery, building a green economy, and ending the war in Iraq.
9. The Democratic Party
For all its imperfections, it represents the public interest far better than the Republicans in my view, and is an essential force against the corruption of the concentrated power in our country - and there is a battle whether the Democratic Party will become further dominated by the same interests who have so thorougly dominated the Republicans, and we the public need to donate to prevent that from happening. The Democratic is the only viable political organization to stand in their way, in my view.
Until if and when money is removed from corrupting the system, the public is going to have to donate to be represented.
Giving $100 may seem expensive until you consider the hundreds of billions spent that we pay for when the other side gets its way, with the policies of the upward transfer of wealth.
I think I'll start with these and leave a spot for later addition.
I'm not looking for responses of 'I'm a long time Republican and I hate your peace group'. We have plenty of threads where your disagreement is known, and the 500th repititon of it adds little. However, if people want to comment more substantively on my picks, or to add their own preferences, that's in the spirit of the thread.
So, here's a post on that.
I'm going to pick ten organizations I support - politically and have supported financially.
And a little note on why.
1. Amnesty International
It's in the interest of governments to repress dissent, often brutally, to control, to eliminate opposition to their agendas, and it's in the nature of citizens not to pay attention.
Some of the most wronged, most powerless people in need of help are these political prisoners, these human rights victims, and Amnesty International is a force for helping.
Honorable mention for the same reasons: Human Rights Watch
2. Just Detention, formerly Stop Prisoner Rape
Prisoner Rape is a far too wide occurance coming out of the mess prisons are with the sexual and power needs and structures, and prisoners are in little position to fix it.
It's a human disaster for this to be happening, and as a responsible society we have an obligation to ensure that even those who are being punished, and not being raped.
This organization has successfully lobbied for helpful reforms, more are needed.
3. The Center for Biological Diversity
The slogan on their mailer I got today is 'Extinct if Forever'. That says it. There are powerful commercial forces who care nothing about our biological diversity, and they need to be curtailed from the destruction they'd happily engage in. Our environment has no political representation but what our citizens choose to give.
4. The ACLU
The tension between rights and the mob is ongoing, and the ACLU is the group who pretty much everyone turns to when they are the ones being wronged.
Even Rush Limbaugh.
If the saying that those would give up essential liberties for a little security had a group, the ACLU is it. It's important we have them fighting corrupt power.
5. Corporate Accountability International
Corporation are very beneficial in many ways, and harmful in others - but they are quite powerful and able to prevent a lot of scrutiny of their harmful activities.
We need watchdogs as a society - that should be especially clear now in the light of the financial sector's activities.
6. Multiple progressive media products, such as salon.com
The citizens, as our founding fathers often noted, cannot rule the nation without good information, and that's why freedom of the press is in the first amendment.
We need to support the good products that inform the citizens of the issues.
Some key or good products: Harper's, The Atlantic, In These Times, Funny Times, www.commondreams.org...
Books by Naomi Klein, Thom Hartmann, David Cay Johnston, Paul Krugman, Michael Parenti, Greg Palast.
Documentaries, from the PBS series Frontline, to 60 Minutes, to the independant documentaries such as available from the monthly DVD Ironweed Films.
For example on salon.com, in my view the best blogged, Glenn Greenwald, is published.
Without sources like Salon and 60 Minutes, Abu Ghraib was just a 'liberal rumor'.
Honorary mention: "Project censored", who always find a lot of important, underreported stories.
For example, check out this story on Bush authorizing the seizure of assets of war opponents - real 'conservatives' should be concerned as well:
Link
7. American Friends Service Committee
Quaker-based group supporting peace for a long time.
There are trillions of profit in the military, and political power flows far more strongly towards war than towards peace, generally. We need groups who are for peace.
The militarization of our culture is strong, and needs those who try to reduce it.
8. Moveon.org
Theyhelp 'implement democracy', taking it out of just pretty words and helpiing the public have some organized power like the 'special interests' do.
It's a very democratic organization whose members choose the priorities.
The priorities this year are Universal Healthcare, Economy Recovery, building a green economy, and ending the war in Iraq.
9. The Democratic Party
For all its imperfections, it represents the public interest far better than the Republicans in my view, and is an essential force against the corruption of the concentrated power in our country - and there is a battle whether the Democratic Party will become further dominated by the same interests who have so thorougly dominated the Republicans, and we the public need to donate to prevent that from happening. The Democratic is the only viable political organization to stand in their way, in my view.
Until if and when money is removed from corrupting the system, the public is going to have to donate to be represented.
Giving $100 may seem expensive until you consider the hundreds of billions spent that we pay for when the other side gets its way, with the policies of the upward transfer of wealth.
I think I'll start with these and leave a spot for later addition.
I'm not looking for responses of 'I'm a long time Republican and I hate your peace group'. We have plenty of threads where your disagreement is known, and the 500th repititon of it adds little. However, if people want to comment more substantively on my picks, or to add their own preferences, that's in the spirit of the thread.
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