After 3 years on Substack, it is time for a change
Being ready for a "revolutionary situation"
“Everybody has their own America.” Andy Warhol
Reimagining Politics Magazine launched on Substack in June 2020, with the publication of the first article in my six part COVIDNOMICS series. The Covid-19 pandemic was only three months old, but I was already writing about the global financial, social and political restructuring taking place under the guise of a public health emergency. This transnational restructuring continues apace today under cover of a never ending series of crisis du jour.
After dissecting this new crisis-driven regime in 62 articles over 36 months, a list of my '“greatest hits” is copied below for your exploration.
However, the sobering magnitude of the changes wrought during the past three years requires fresh thinking. It is difficult to work methodically for meaningful change in the midst of a 24/7 maelstrom of officially sanctioned disinformation, censorship and warmongering aimed at creating a fearful, divided and obedient citizenry with diminished capacity for critical thinking. But that is our challenge.
As the world teeters on the precipice of nuclear war between Russia and the US in Ukraine, and as US voters confront the very real possibility of a Trump vs. Biden replay in 2024, the steady thrum of doomsday climate rhetoric continues to play in the background like a chorus of Greek Sirens.
Every intelligent person knows that something is horribly, catastrophically wrong. The price in blood, treasure and loss of democratic freedom is already steep. My job is to give you as much useful information as possible to fight this new anti-democratic, anti-human transnational regime.
According to Open Secrets, the total cost of the 2022 midterm election cycle was almost $17 billion, the highest in US history, 16% more than the 2020 presidential election. The brain dead 2024 election will be even more expensive, with estimates already over $20 billion.
We will all dutifully vote, but it is not enough. Real change with the potential to restore a functional democratic society won’t come from elections. It will come from empowered and engaged citizens who have learned how to work together.
Do such people still exist? The answer is “YES”. And that is why I am recalibrating Reimagining Politics Magazine in ways that I hope will inspire and empower the political agency of my subscribers.
BEING READY
In “On Revolution,” Hanna Arendt said that would be revolutionaries do not “make’ revolutions. The most they can do is to be ready when a “revolutionary situation” emerges, be ready at the moment when the legitimacy and authority of the current regime collapses and it begins to disintegrate. This is an inherently difficult moment to predict, but the one certainty in such a situation is that those who are ready, those who have been preparing, are the only actors with a chance to make meaningful change.
During the pandemic, the Reimagining Politics project has been building a visual database of citizens’ initiatives that exist outside of parties and government, true civil associations. There are many. We are starting with a raw database of thousands of such initiatives in Europe and across the Americas, and many of them are inspiring. More than 50% of these citizens’ initiatives are in the US. This is how we rebuild democracy from the ground up. It starts with us.
A preliminary, multi-lingual model of the visual database is linked here. Geo-tagging and many other improvements are coming as we raise money, but you can already look under categories such as “Direct Democracy” or “Social Mapping” or “Education” to find great examples. These projects are citizens’ laboratories for recreating and reviving citizen centered democracy. Our mission is to publicize and connect them.
Such a project cost money and an endless amount of time, so of course, all paid subscriptions and referrals to this newsletter, as well as direct donations to Reimagining Politics are appreciated.
The three year archive of articles in Reimagining Politics Magazine has, I think, held up well. It is some of the best writing I’ve ever done, and I thank you for being on this journey of discovery with me.
Going forward, I will focus more attention every month on citizen driven political innovation, add context to political analysis by diversifying the range of cultural subjects covered in my articles and add more video content. We are also adding tags to the entire three year archive to enable easy reference and search. A Tags link will soon appear in the navigation bar.
The goal is a richer and more entertaining, but still edgy and provocative, mix of articles to deliver more value for your continued support as paid subscribers.
GREATEST HITS – PARTIAL LIST
