[CRNMC] Why CRNMC has difficulty deciding what's next

[Charles Cresson Wood]

Hello CRNMC friends and fellow activists,

Today I have a deeper understanding about why it is so difficult for us to settle upon a new cause around which we can rally. As I see it, the reason is that we are experiencing an identity crisis. From an organizational design standpoint, this state could be described as operating without a mission or a set of goals. Still another way to say it would be: “Now that the Measure S campaign is over, what are we up to?” The choice we face now seems to revolve around variations of two fundamental options.

The first of these two options involves the view that CRNMC is simply a group of local people who are organized around the political changes we would like to bring about. This primarily takes the form of getting a new law passed, or blocking/repealing an existing law. This option thus focuses on the form that CRNMC has taken, and seeks to build on that form.

The second of these two options involves the view that CRNMC is dedicated to the advancement of community rights, to an ushering in of a new form of participative democracy, to bringing about an end to the rule of corporations and the elite. This option thus focuses on the content that CRNMC was inspired by, and seeks to advance the cause that originally caused us to put together Measure S.

By way of full disclosure, I should state that I believe that CRNMC should be something like the second option. It was borne out of the work of Paul Cienfuegos, CELDF, POCLAD, Global Exchange, Move to Amend, Alliance for Democracy, and related organizations, and I believe it should continue along those same lines. 

Of all the proposals for a new cause around which CRNMC should now rally, the only one that focuses on the second of these options is the Anti-Corruption Act (ACA). Many good proposals have been made, but are these proposals (aside from ACA) really expected to be the whole reason why people should once again rally around CRNMC? Why should people not take these same proposals (other than the ACA) to the Democratic Party, or the Green Party, or some other political organization? So far as I can tell, of all the proposals that have been set forth for the cause around which we should now rally, only the ACA is a genuine game changer, only the ACA is focused on ending the rule of the corporations and the elite, and only the ACA is focused upon bringing in a new form of democracy.

For those who have not taken the time to review what goes into the model ACA, suffice it to say that it (1) limits campaign contributions, with the intention of getting money out of politics entirely down the road, (2) blocks campaign contributions to politicians who make decisions that affect the contributors, (3) begins a new way to use public money to fund political candidates, so that certain politicians are no longer dependent on campaign contributions, and so that they can focus on the issues and the will of the people, (4) requires now-secret campaign contributions to be reported publicly (transparency), (5) stops politicians from engaging in the revolving door where they go back and forth between corporations and government jobs, and (6) significantly bolsters the enforcement of campaign financing laws. More information can be found at https://represent.us.

It is time for us to decide whether the “community rights” part of CRNMC is just a nice-sounding marketing phrase, which is used to help garner participation in a variety of political efforts, or whether we are actually devoted to the advancement of community rights. Personally, I am tired of fighting skirmishes with the corporations and the elite, where even if we win a battle in the short run, since the system is clearly stacked in their favor, they are able to get their way later on. It is time to change the entire corrupt system, and the ACA is a viable and powerful move forward toward changing the system. 

Accordingly, if CRNMC decides to emphasize community rights in its next cause, I suggest that it seriously consider the ACA as its focus. Whatever CRNMC does, it is time for a charter or a formal documented set of goals, something that clearly defines what it is that we are doing. Once that is decided, the choice of the next cause around which we can rally will then be made considerably easier.

/s/ Charles