Politics is about Humanity Not Just Economics

The previous post arose out of two articles, one by Chris Hedges "The Great Flood", and the other by George Monbiot "How do we get out of this mess".

From this, I isolated five "actions": 

1. transform our politics to include humanity and not just economics
2. appeal to as many people as possible, crossing traditional political lines
3. create the story to resonate with deep needs and desires
4. explain the mess we are in and means by which we might escape it
5. ground it firmly in reality.

This post is about the first one as you can see in the title. I plan to do the same for each of the five.

Instead of using grandiloquent language, Naomi Klein writes (in everyday words) from her latest book (No is Not Enough), and her "instructions" arise out of her commitment to facts. 

"Here is what we need to understand in a hurry: Climate change, especially at this late date, can only be dealt with through collective action that sharply curtails the behavior of corporations ..." 

Klein refers to the ever increasing tax cuts for the richest while the poorest pay with their health, their homes and their lives.

"Climate action demands investments in the public sphere". New energy sources - wind, sun, public transit, light rail. After defeating the fascists that were destroying Europe, after so many of our loved ones were lost in that hell, the "free" world understood what was at stake if governments did not focus on creating stability for their people. 

Investment means paying attention to the lives that matter, creating equality and hope for all, and of course higher taxes to pay for infrastructure. 

What makes us who we are? Are we merely the sum of the ideologies that govern or are we more? Are we the sum of our hatreds, our beliefs, or are we more? Does the Left Wing vs. Right Wing binary serve who we are? Are we physical bodies who seek the spiritual, or spiritual beings inside a body? Are we citizens or consumers? Are we good or evil?

When political arguments are solely about jobs and the economy it means that people have been written out of the narrative.

Politics is the shared construct of who we are, and politicians are the ones who serve the people, or the ones who betray humanity. None of us have a right to abdicate this relationship. To be a cynic is not just a turning away, it's giving a free ride to those who seek power in order to abuse it.