Oregonian Article

Kurt Schrader is the kind of Congressman most people want. Smart, competent, accomplished and scandal-free, he’s forever working across-the-aisle for Oregon. A member of Problem Solvers, a politically balanced caucus in the House, Schrader and his colleagues added to the spending bill a reclassification of forest fires as federal disasters, thus saving the limited funds of the Forest Service. A big win for all western states.

In December, though, his need to please both sides took a sickening turn when he bowed to his rural constituents by signing HR-38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. If passed by the Senate, this law would force Oregon to recognize the concealed carry standards of every other state, even those with the weakest standards - even those that require no permit at all. Most of his constituents cringed, knowing that more men carrying more guns in more places was not a solution! I decided to challenge his seat.

I studied his record. Basically, he is a bureaucrat who navigates the complex legislative process looking for short-term fixes. Like the Democratic Party itself, he is reactive. He has no vision for our future. Thus, his only options are to resist Republicans’ demands, or to half-heartedly cooperate with them. In either case, the legislation worsens inequality.

By contrast, the Republicans have a vision. Reagan proclaimed, in 1984, that America would be a ‘Shining City on a Hill’. The path forward was through massive tax cuts for corporations and the rich. Wealth would trickle down. The rising tide of prosperity would lift all boats.

34 years later, the vision of a “Shining City” has come true . . . but only for the rich. The living standards and incomes of the bottom 90% have remained flat. The traditional protector of the 90% – the government - has been so weakened by tax cuts that it is nearly powerless to prevent the richest from financially exploiting the masses and decimating the environment.

What both Parties fail to acknowledge is the new reality, which is, humans have filled the globe. There are no new lands to explore, and no enemies to defeat. We are one people on one planet. Which means, the male-dominated hierarchies that had been essential for expansion and conquest become superfluous. Greedy, desperate execs turn their obsessive drive to conquer against the public and Nature. The alpha males carve out ever larger territories for themselves, and Republicans protect them with massive tax cuts.

If we are to thrive far into the future, Democrats must make it clear that humans are also genetically wired for cooperative social structures. Those who sense this can’t articulate it, but they speak with their bodies. The people rise. Minorities rally behind banners like “Black Lives Matter.” Youth declare “Enough” and march for their lives. Women, who make up more than half the population, and who comprise more than half the graduates from law schools and medical schools, join arms one to another and say,” Time’s Up. Hierarchical dominance on a filled-up planet destroys society and decimates Nature. Women have always ruled the village. We’ll bring about a sustainable society. It’s our time.”