Forest attended and tabled at this event. The three opening speakers were representative Mark Pocan who addressed the unfortunate political state of the state and Democrat’s need to stop trying to get votes by “shifting to the middle” (ie: adopting a “toned down” conservative frame). Mike McCabe gave his progressive 12-point vision forward (local control, not control of the locals, invest in success – schools – don’t pay for failures -prisons, end trickle-down economics, put people above corporations, no loopholes for corporate and wealthy taxes, universal civilized medicine, environmental sanity, declaration of independence from fossil fuels, digital access for rural areas, stop eating our kid’s inheritance, cut out failing gov’t programs, “end Titanic thinking” – raise up the common good, and replace representative democracy). Finally Mike Ippolito spoke on the climate realities and the need to restore our democracy now so we can address the problems at hand in our communities and so that when the proverbial shit hits the fan we no longer live in a country willing to brutalize the population to control us. His three pronged approach was: 1) continue current struggles on our local fronts 2) Play defense from “game changers” like the TPP 3) Play offense by passing the We the People Ammendment (corporations are not people, and money is not speech).
The first break-out session Forest attended was “The Golbal Ecological Collapse Happening Now and the Way Forward with Mike Ippolito. He points to the 2010 MIT study as the best one on the climate to date. In 2010 their best case scenario gave humans a 10% survival rate. This study did not include methane which is of equal or greater concern. Though we are over 400 ppm (2013) the fact that, a) the last couple years have not an El Nino year, b) the sun has been in a 14 year cool cycle and the next one looks to be a cool one as well and, c) the ocean is acting as a massive heat and carbon sink have all mitigated the effects. MIT scientists projected 450ppm as the “point of no return” where natural feedback loops would push the climate to uninhabitable (for humans) temperatures with no further human actions. Mike says that Inner Occupy, Move to Amend, and a wide coalition of other groups are pushing to get the We the People Amendment passed in the next couple years through an Article 5 Convention (must be called by 38 states and has never happened before) and there will be a long season of activity (occupations, direct actions, etc) starting on Mayday through Constitution Day 2016 (the 130th“birthday” of corporations and the 5th “birthday” of Occupy) in what is being called “Converge to Amend”.
The second breakout was with Scott Wittcopf who described how and why Mary Burke’s campaign failed so terribly and gave the shpiel about progressive framing. How we need to stop refuting the conservative frame using facts, and start giving our own progressive vision (backed up with facts, but morals must lead). If the facts don’t fit the frame, folks will toss the facts and keep the frame. The conservative frame is based on self interest, individual rights, and the patriarchal family model (over 60% of the population leans this way). The progressive frame is based off of empathy, community rights, and the supportive co-parenting family model (under 40% of the population leans this way). Key points here: Everyone has both frames in them, but tend towards one or the other to varying degrees. Repetition embeds frames. Unconcious thought = 98% of brain activity. Folks are looking for a moral connection. All politics are moral and policies reflect values. Thoughts are not rational as emotions are natural. Humans are not only evolved for self-preservation and self-interest, but also for empathy and we naturally unconsciously seek connection.