The American Dream back.
Most days, I like to listen to a Youtube lecture (i'm currently working my way thru Robert Sapolsky's wonderful
behavioral biology series) and, last week, there was one on my pimp panel from tired ol' Ralph Nader. I was surprised he was even still at it in his mid 80s, but he was at a DC bookstore supporting his new tome,
To The Ramparts, a book about how Dubya & Obama had paved the way for Trump to happen, so i took a look. He was surprisingly vibrant & clever, along with his usual sober earnestness, about convincing the country that citizenship, even in the current ####storm of stasis & corruption, is quite possible and, in fact, simple, effective & necessary. Check
it out.
In it, he wondered more than once, as i have hundreds of times this century, why some internet billionaire has not devoted his philanthropy toward restoring democracy. Corporate interest lobbying outspends that of union & public interest at a 37-to-1 clip and i just thought by now some digital mogul would look to even that out or start a grassroots reform party of some kind but......nothin'.
Always thought i'd like to do something like that with big wealth, but Nader's lecture gave me a better idea. He kept harping on the idea that two, four, twelve, nineteen passionate people getting together for a reason is how America was built, how it evolved, how it can change still
Diverting for a sec to make my full point, traveling Central America in my youth, i enjoyed how every little place had its own way of doing hot chocolate. Chilies, weird cinnamon/spice/sugar combos, fruit, nuts, the base of the liquid itself - each town different. Don't know why someone hasn't tried Starbucking the concept, cuz i could give you a number of distinct flavors of cocoa drinks that would turn coffee flavors/forms on its ear and they're just as bracing and almost as caffeine-y as coffee (and, if not, you can do a mocha).
So here's what i'd do with a billion six - rent a little shop in every town & city neighborhood i could and put a beautifully designed banner saying CITIZEN outside every one. Anyone can walk in to ask how to be a better citizen - information & encouragement about volunteering, political action (across the spectrum), charity, lectures & current events. And, on the way out, let us sell you a delicious champurrado to pay the bills. Welcome to the CITIZEN shop - be better to each other. nufced