When I was at Camp Casey, a fellow Green gave me a copy of Patriot Dreams: A User’s Manual for Democracy, a non-voters digest o ffacts and feelings about where we are now and what to do next. I have started reading this booklet and so far it is very easy to read.
This 2004 manual is an 84 page document that was compiled by The Common Sense Collective.
This collective is a group of writers, artists, musicians, activists, school teachers,
lawyers, scientists, technophiles, technophobes, a presidential candidate, a builder, and an ex-
CEO who want America to be America again. The history of corporations by David Cobb (pp. 41–43) is excerpted from a longer article in the fall 2000 issue of Common Sense for the 21st Century.
The introduction is entitled “Who’s Minding the Store?” and contains:
Looking at voting records, a visiting alien might conclude that about
half of us don’t think much of the system that elects our leaders. Out of a voting-age
population of 205,815,000, only 105,586,274 made it to the polls for the 2000
presidential election. Compare that with Belgium (90.6 percent turnout) or Turkey
(76.9)—where voting is compulsory—or with Italy (81.2)1 where the prime minister
sends a voice message to every household and urges them to vote. As a result of
this low turnout, those who were selected to run things in 2000 have ruled with a
mandate from about 17 percent of our citizens.
Excuses for why we don’t show up on voting day range from ignorance, laziness,
overwork, and our many distractions to cynicism about the electoral process. Perhaps
the nonvoting half of us think politics is hopelessly corrupt. Maybe we sense
that the rosy sound bites about freedom and democracy we hear from our leaders are
just window dressing, or maybe we feel our entire system is predetermined by
forces beyond our control. What else can we do but struggle to build a productive
and entertaining life for ourselves and our families?
But
While most Americans try to lead a moral, ethical life and wouldn’t knowingly harm another person, we can’t help but notice that lately our personal security seems to require large numbers of people to die on both sides of quite a few wars. People in other parts of the world who, like us, were only trying to pursue happiness are dead now in order to “make America a safer place” (this includes more than 11,000 Iraqi mothers, fathers, children, and grandparents in the past year alone).
Those who believe that all life is sacred and/or that all people are created equal must find a moral dilemma here. Who are these enemies of our security and why must we kill them? Do that many of the people we share Planet Earth with just prefer chaos
to peace? And, most important, who are “we,” in the twentyfirst century, and what do we want? What are the moral implications of this world leadership job we don’t recall applying for? We need to answer these questions if we’re going to lead the world, because leadership without a moral base can only be tyranny.
The booklet explores these questions to help the reader develop a sense of self and future as a leader.
As we take responsibility for what our country does, we can strengthen our own society by reaffirming our true patriotism—our abiding affection for this government “of the people, for the people, and by the people.”
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 
Deanna- thanks for the heads up on Patiot Dreams – I look forward to reading it!