10) THROW THE BUMS OUT!

Now that we find Obama has done little to stem the tide of corporatism, as though much else was to be expected, we see clearly that our government and political system does not serve us. Quite the opposite. And this system is literally killing us, just some more slowly than others.

In domestic policy, the vast majority of elected officials have proven their loyalties by their complete disregard for we, the people in favor of corporations and elitists. Energy laws written by the energy industry. Drug plans written by pharmaceutical companies. Bankruptcy laws written by bank corps. The laws enacted over the past five years slap the face of democracy. The good news is that a lot of U.S. citizens are ready to throw these bums out. The bad news is that these villains will not go quietly. The next few months are crucial - and likely explosive. But we have Truth with Us.

9) END U.S. SPONSORED AGGRESSION

Part and parcel of this new constitution is a complete reversal of American Exceptionalism and since World War II, the outright imperialism of the United States. This is but the classic outgrowth of European Colonialism of the last 500 years. But it must end.

War is a very profitable business. It also serves to keep us, the huddled masses, distracted from paying attention to our own real interests. It is only the powerful who profit from war, and it is only the common folk who die for it. 

8) MIGRATE TO SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOURCES

Can I get a big "duh?" Behind much of the conflict in the Middle East is our country's perverse compulsion to control global oil supplies and pipelines. Then there's the inconvenient truth of global warming and the impact of oil dependency on our pocketbooks.

The Apollo Alliance provides lots of fodder for understanding how we can make the transition away from oil in a way that supports jobs and the economy, while obviously mitigating the current oil crisis.

Sustainable energy resources have added benefits in being more benign environmentally, which includes reducing global warming and resource use. We may get lip service from this administration and big oil, but we know their hearts are where the money is, and that's in oil. [See #10]

7) RECREATE OUR COMMUNITIES

Communities have been the forgotten step-child in government efforts to enable "free trade" and a "global economy." Community issues are legion and diverse, from failing infrastructure to dysfunctional schools and loss of quality jobs, the homeless and poverty urban and rural.

Communities are the foundation of a healthy culture, and the state of our communities points straight toward the priorities and policies of our representatives in government.

6) REDUCE MILITARY SPENDING BY 90%

The bankruptcy our country faces is not just an ethical one. We teeter on the edge of financial chaos, in large part due to the phenomenal amount of money we spend on wars, arms and defense-related spending. (Fat cat tax cuts and bailouts is the other.)

The 'hidden' truth in this spending cut is that it is singularly the most effective thing we could do to refocus global spending on armaments. Do you not imagine that North Korea , Iran , Russia , China and any number of other countries would feel less threatened if the U.S. curbed its military spending dramatically? Can you contrast that with our current efforts to develop lethal weapons for space and mini-nukes? The way to peace is peace. And that remaining 10%? Purely focused on Peace.

5) PLANT AND NUTURE TREES

It's hard to argue against global warming when temperatures all over the country are near all-time highs, when desertification is rampant around the world, when glaciers are melting at record pace, and when millions of acres of forest are being destroyed by insects that couldn't survive such locales even a few years ago.

Most obviously trees take in carbon dioxide, a major culprit in climate change, and emit oxygen. They also 'create the space' for nearly every land-based ecological system on the planet. They are energetically peaceful. Their root systems help retain rain, creating a sponge/trickle effect critical for natural water systems. I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that along with conservation and migration to sustainable energy resources, planting and nurturing trees is the single biggest thing we can do to help our ailing planet.

4) RE-INTRODUCE HEMP

A study of hemp's place in human history quickly reveals its central place. Highly prolific, its natural territory circumscribes the globe. Almost every major culture has a hemp component, from African religious 'cults' to Europe's Middle Ages, where it's estimate up to 65% of the population was somehow involved in hemp production, manufacture and distribution.

Hemp oil lighted the world's growing cities. Its seeds were used for food and medicinals. Its fibers for rot-free rope and sails (no New World discovery without hemp). Yet efforts initiated by newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst and carried on today by lobbyists have demonized the plant, reducing its use to the fringes of our culture (if you know what I'm sayin'). In these times when the value of plants for biofuels is gaining prominence, what could be better than hemp, an energy-rich plant that grows well without artificial fertilizers and pesticides. (Heard about that big dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico ?)

3) OVERHAUL CORPORATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS

There is little question that multinational interests are undermining workers rights, the environment and communities across the globe. Apologists claim that unbridled capitalism is the only successful model for civilization, but scrutiny of our situation today proves that absurd.. In these times, it seems obvious that some synthesis of capitalism and socialism is required. Capitalism to promote invention, socialism to protect resources and the vulnerable.

On the other side of the coin, many of our institutions are bureaucratic nightmares, where hard work and innovation are stifled for fear of upsetting the status quo. Policies that initiate best practices, integration and honest appraisals of systems and personnel are all required to remake these hulking dinosaurs into institutions that serve our needs.

2) INSTITUTE A GLOBAL INITIATIVE FOR CHILDREN

Few resources are more important to our planetary and our personal futures than our children. It may seem trite to harp on 'children are our future' themes, but that makes it no less true. More importantly, our most critical human responsibility is to our children. We just have to recognize that all the world's children are ours, and start acting responsibly from that context. ( Israel , are you listening? Darfur ?)

How tragic and ironic that we can find trillions for the war machine, but can't find money for children suffering from malnutrition and disease all across the Earth. Even in the U.S. , far too many children are under duress. And all the while we're hypnotized by bullshit, baubles and trinkets on the TV. Sheer madness.

1) DEDICATE OURSELVES TO PEACE AND LOVE - NOW!

Anyone left standing (or reading) after such outrageous declarations may still swoon at this ridiculous notion. We all know how important fear is to our survival. (That why it's pandered so regularly on the TV.) And since fear is the opposite of love, we just have to throw the love out, right? It's not our fault! We have no choice!

And peace is equally unviable. Just look at the news! Yet outside the news room there are millions of us, people of peace, in our world. We're just not connected. Or empowered. And we won't be contained by the confines of the current world paradigm.

So that's the stark choice. Which will we throw out (individually and collectively) - love and peace, or the current world paradigm. I choose the latter.