For
the past three weeks, I’ve been decompressing following a vigorous
grassroots political campaign to unseat a longtime Democratic incumbent
here in New Jersey. While we lost the contest, the campaign was
successful in expanding the Progressive base and spreading awareness
about alternative visions of the future within the Democratic party.
I
was driven to undertake the journey of seeking public office by the
desire to proactively address the numerous crises on the horizon. I
labeled myself a Progressive and ran a campaign of policies, plans, and a
new vision of the future.
Challenges
like climate change and mass extinction, the impacts of automation on
society and the ever-increasing economic inequality, a for-profit
healthcare system, the inhumane treatment of people fleeing oppression
at our southern border, and corporate dominance over American society
were some of the many influencers over my decision to run.
Recognizing
the depth of the task of developing new solutions to fight back against
our circumstances, we were required to look outside of what our current
representatives offer and begin the work of developing policies that
could fundamentally redefine who we elect to represent us and how that
process could work. Our campaign would be one structured around systemic
reformation — the reimagining of some of our most dogmatically sacred
institutions.
We
developed numerous unique policy pathways, but the most important was a
set of policies that would deepen democracy through the enacting of a
suite of laws to expand voter registration, security, integrity, and
financial reforms. All of these supported by the development of a
publicly owned web-based election campaign platform. Combined with
public outreach and education effort, this foundational experiment would
be the cornerstone to overcoming the dominance of monied interests on
our elections.
The
design would provide candidates of all socio-economic backgrounds an
opportunity to run for community leadership and gain equal exposure,
forcing contests of ideas and vision over bank accounts and sponsors.
Central to the policy’s intent is to empower citizens to understand
their candidate options better through an easy to use, transparent, and
centralized space for candidate information. Most importantly, when
successfully implemented, the platform paves the way towards the
elimination of the corporate and special interest financing of our
candidates by negating the argument of the need for money to access the
public.
My
argument is simple: expanding citizen access to and agency within our
democracy is the most direct path towards transformation. The number one
reason I ran for State Assembly was to become the catalyst of this
change here in New Jersey.
Conceptualizing Value
Consider
the following; democracy is a technology. It’s designed to give us
control over our national direction and in doing so, the circumstances
that define our personal lives. Like any technology, it requires updates
when new needs arise that the current structure is unable to address.
As
a democratic society, we inherit the responsibility to take the
necessary steps to ensure that we are continuously reimagining how to
present our communities with information about their leadership options.
A digital platform that makes understanding candidate options easier,
more convenient, and faster, will attract new people to the process and
allow existing participants to make better decisions aligned with their
vision of the good.
The
proposals I had put forth would expand democracy’s benefit for all
people in New Jersey, and the deepening of democracy should be the issue
that unites all of us Americans. Democracy empowers us to work together
to control the direction of the laws and structure that set the
framework for how we experience our humanity. Enhancing and expanding
our democracy is the most direct path towards overcoming and exceeding
our most pressing challenges.
The
looming crisis is why we need to enhance democracy at the state levels:
to carve a path forward for people unbound by the machine-like
structure of the calcified politics of today. Empowering new leadership
with new ideas, experiences, and vision contributes to the betterment of
the collective.
Critical Consideration
With
so much inequity and injustice in the world, it may seem absurd to
argue that deepening democracy is the highest priority of a political
campaign. Critics of my opening statement may say that the climate
crisis and ensuing mass extinction are a more top priority than election
reform. The claim is both true and false.
The
criticism is correct in that climate change is the most severe crisis
on the horizon and threatens existence as we know it. Unchecked, it will
lead to food shortages, mass migration, and if history is any
indicator, more wars. There is no more pressing issue for all of
humanity, and for many people, myself included. It is impacting the way
we plan and think about the future. History will remember the greed,
incompetence, and inaction of our elected representatives who are not
aggressively fighting for a mobilized effort to upgrade our energy
infrastructure while simultaneously stopping the expansion of any new
fossil fuel projects.
What
the criticism fails to consider is the reality of the present time and
our pathways to action. Without the right people in leadership we have
no chance of adequately addressing climate change or any of the other
systemic challenges facing society. In his book Good to Great,
Jim Collins explains how his research into successful leadership
identified the common factor for successful teams as “getting the right
people on the bus.” Framing this concept to the politics of today, so
long as we have elected leadership being bankrolled by fossil fuel
companies, we will never combat the climate crisis with the appropriate
force. The same could be said for private prisons, Medicare for all,
truly affordable housing, and more.
Diverse
perspectives and leadership make for the best representation, but what
commonalities would define the “right people” for the monumental
undertaking of ushering society into a new era?
The
generation of leadership required for transformative work will need to
be free from corporate influence, committed to representing our
communities in a full-time capacity, and consistently bettering
themselves on trends and happenings around the world that could better
serve their communities. These attributes are a far cry from leadership
across the nation who view our political process as a pathway to
personal enrichment first, service second.
By
deepening democracy, we build a structure that opens itself to constant
criticism and revision. The result is the transformation of society
that shifts more frequently as a result of citizen engagement. It is a
necessary step towards reforming society towards a pluralistic and
inclusive vision of the future.
Imagining More
Progress
requires us to give people the freedom to rearrange structure
surrounding people, practices, things, and ideas. It demands imagination
of social and individual transcendence, a life where living outside of
the perpetual grind reinforced by social divisions and hierarchies that
we were born into, as an option for more than just the wealthiest few.
Central
to my argument is the expression of why better democracy should be the
primary path of the Progressive. These concepts bring us closer to deep
choice. Choosing to expand access to democracy is a decision to help
more people better understand, and engage with, the world around us.
What
is our government but a reflection of ourselves? People created all the
social, legal, and economic arrangements we have today, and people will
be the drivers of reformation. Democracy gives us the ability to
reimagine and redesign our circumstances. I ran for State Assembly to
expand voice to more people, a society truly built for the people, by
the people.