Arianna DeMario, Elect Democracy Campaign Intern Extraordinaire

The following is a guest post by Arianna DeMario. Arianna is currently supporting the Elect Democracy campaign as an intern/volunteer. Before moving to the States, she worked as a project manager at Citizens For Europe e.V., an NGO based in Berlin, Germany, mainly active in the field of European citizenship and migrants’ political rights in the European Union.

A European Perspective on the 2012 U.S. Election

In my past two months here in the States, I have been asked numerous times how it felt -from a European point of view- to witness the 2012 U.S. electoral campaign and presidential elections from here in the U.S. But actually no European could answer this question without referring first to the initial impact of the previous elections in 2008.

By 2008, after 8 years of Bush era, a big slice of the European public opinion had lost their traditional admiration and interest in American politics and in Americans in general. The American dream, from the point of view of the old continent, was long over, and the U.S. had become for many not much more than a synonym of imperialism justified by the war on terror, social inequality, and environmental unconsciousness.

Then Obama happened. The electoral campaign of 2008 was maybe more passionate for most Europeans than Americans, with people supporting the Democrat candidate and engaging in various ways from Scandinavia to Southern Europe, in some cases moving to the States for some months to work with the Democrats. In July 2008, 200.000 people went crazy in Berlin listening to his speech under the Victory Column. In Europe, Obama had won longer before the elections of November 4th, because he had managed to bring back to Europe the American dream. Some months later, Americans did elect him. And the vote was so strong that everybody on the other side of the Atlantic had to recognise the fact that in spite of all that came out of the Bush era, American citizens had the courage to renew themselves and believe that a better country (and world) was possible.

The truth is, despite the support that Obama gained in Europe, I doubt that Europeans would have had the same courage and elected him, if they were to go to polls. In fact, a few months later we elected the most right-wing and regressive European Parliament ever (EP elections in June 2009).

That year, for the first time after a while, the U.S. gave Europe a lesson of democracy.

Then reality bit back. A couple of years later, Obama had proved not to have the magic wand to solve problems accumulated by years of bad governance, and not to be able to live up to such huge worldwide expectations. Most of his 2008 promises hadn’t turned into facts, the U.S. economy was not exactly blowing, and little had been done to reduce the Wall Street power and redistribute wealth from the 1% to the 99% in the American society.

Disillusion was deep on both sides of the Atlantic, and especially after the mid-term elections of 2010 American politics seemed to be meant to go back to the bad loop once again.

As if it wasn’t enough, the story of the Super PACs entered the game with the 2012 elections. Billions of private funding to the electoral campaign allowed by a ruling of the Federal Court…this would be science fiction in Europe, where most countries don’t even integrate lobbying practices in their political system and reject the idea of group of interests being able to influence the policy making. If all the above-mentioned conditions would have happened in the disenchanted, critical and politically unfaithful Europe, you can be sure that it would have been enough for a significant part of the European electorate to turn away from the previously much beloved candidate and fall into the hands of the first talented populist passing by. Those less impressionable would have nonetheless turned away their vote and either have given it to the other main candidate as a punishment or done what Europeans can do better in times of political disillusion: abstain. But once again, in 2012, a big democracy lesson came from the American citizen: For better or for worse, voting still remains one of the strongest democracy tools in the hands of the people (though a healthy democracy needs much more civic engagement, of course). As long as we don’t have valuable alternatives, there is no point in not making use of it. Of course the American vote, in most cases, was not a vote for the best as 4 years ago, but just a vote for the less worse…but still it showed the courage of American citizens to believe that it’s worth to give democracy one more chance.

The results that Tuesday night shot down much of the billions of dollars spent by some Super PACs to indirectly support the Republican campaign and influence the election results. This showed that the system of the big interests and the big money has an Achilles heel- it still can be beaten by participation. It shows that if people don’t turn away from politics, there is always a chance to shape a future that if it’s not going to be much better, at least is not going to be worse. It showed that if Obama can’t bring the change that he promised in 2008 (be it because of a lack of political will, or be it because of a lack of political power, with the House in the hands of the Republicans), people can do it by choosing not to have their vote sold to the highest bidder…

The day after the election Wall Street opened down: It can be defeated after all, if people don’t give up the exercise of democracy in its various forms. Restiamo uniti per difendere la democrazia!

TAKE ACTION:
What is *your* perspective on the U.S. election? Leave a comment below!

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Arianna De Mario is currently supporting the Elect Democracy campaign as an intern/volunteer. Before moving to the States,  she worked as a project manager at Citizens For Europe e.V., an NGO based in Berlin, Germany, mainly active in the field of European citizenship and migrants’ political rights in the European Union. She has also worked at DPA, the German Press Agency, and volunteered in several human rights organizations. Arianna holds a MA degree in European Studies from the University of Bath (UK) and the Humboldt University of Berlin, and a BA in languages from the University of Milan, Italy.

Lobbying is a multi-billion dollar industry. While it’s technically true that any constituent can go lobby or try to persuade their legislators, the vast majority of lobbying that is happening in our capitals is funded by -and promotes- corporate interests.

Tens of thousands of corporate lobbyists call the DC area home. Since 2008, Wall Street has spent over $2.2 billion on lobbying, largely in order to weaken and squirm out of financial regulations. Add in the pharmaceutical, HMO, agribusiness, business, oil & energy, and defense/militarism sectors and we’re talking nearly $4 billion since 2011 spent specifically to get corporations unprecedented (and undue) influence over all those folks we just elected into office.

In this year’s election, nearly $6 billion was spent to influence the 120 million votes of the American electorate. Compare that to the $2 billion spent lobbying by the top corporate sectors this year to influence a handful of decision-makers. No matter who gets into office, once the elections are over, corporations spend billions to influence the victor. While the corporate elite gave well-financed electioneering an old college try, now these interests will be lobbying harder than ever to influence the decisions of around 750 hundred key decision-makers (Congress, presidential administrators, and state and federal offices like the EPA, SEC and FDA) to get what they want directly from the people who can give it to them. If you were a greedy businessman, what would you do?

Sheldon Adelson may be lamenting, “I spent $60 million and all I got were these lousy House seats.” But now Adelson can just reroute money into lobbying, pay someone in a suit seven figures to put his feet up on the desk of a Congressperson, and still get a lot of what he wants, or at least less of what he doesn’t.

I don’t get to put my feet up on my Congressperson’s desk. I mean, I could try, but I would probably get in trouble. So why don’t lobbyists? They don’t deserve the proximity of influence and mental bandwidth of our elected leaders that their corporate-funded tactics afford them. Besides, these lobbyists usually aren’t even members of the constituencies that decision-makers were elected to represent!

Corporations are not people, and money is not speech. But the speech of people hired by corporations to do their bidding in Washington needs to be reined in. On the heels of an historical election and shifting political paradigm, we must be prepared in our civic activism to challenge corporate power plays beyond those unleashed by the Citizens United ruling. We must be vigilant in challenging the undue influence of corporate lobbyists. The voters and constituencies who just cleaned out DC expect integrity, and this means that legislators need to say NO to corporate lobbyists spoon-feeding them profit prioritizing policy and analysis… that’s not who they are elected to represent.

Voting truly does matter, but a healthy democracy requires ongoing participation.

If you want to take action to protect democracy now that the election has concluded, consider looking into Global Exchange’s Elect Democracy campaign and follow @ElectDemocracy and @GlobalExchange on Twitter.

See for yourself how much campaign money the last Congress received from Wall Street and their “Wall Street Loyalty Rate” based on how often their votes matched Wall Street’s lobby position. Most importantly, call your Congressperson and remind them that their job is to represent you, not lobbyists, in Congress.

Fact Sources:

• SuperPACs spent $629 million: MapLight.org
• Election cost $4.2 billion: Center for Responsive Politics:  OpenSecrets.org
• Lobbying costs: Center for Responsive Politics for a) $2.2 billion Wall Street in 2012, and b) $4 for top sector lobbying (opensecrets.org)

TAKE ACTION:

• Make the Call! Call your Congressperson and remind them that their job is to represent you, not lobbyists, in Congress.
• Leave a comment with your ideas about how to challenge the undue influence that corporate lobbyists have in DC.

Global Exchange Gift Membership Package

We all have our own ideas on what the Holidays are all about. Family. Laughter. Good will.

Corporate greed and commercialization? They certainly don’t make the list.

It’s time to take back the Holidays.

The true meaning of the season cannot be packaged in a box. Instead of taking part in the corporate craziness, why not get the loved ones on your list something that brings them the true meaning of the holiday season?

A Global Exchange Gift of Membership is the perfect gift! You can give the gift of Fair Trade, peace, justice, people power, and human rights. You pick the gift and we’ll take care of the rest.

6 Gift Memberships to choose from:

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When your family and friends unwrap their Global Exchange Gift Membership, they will join a compassionate community of dedicated activists working for peace, justice and human rights.

We’ll send out the membership card and gift package, plus keep your recipient in the loop about Global Exchange programs and events with our newsletter and e-mail action alerts.

Order your gifts by December 14th at midnight to guarantee delivery by December 24th 2012.

Wishing you joy, justice, and peace this Holiday Season!

Now to set the mood, here’s a little poem written by Global Exchange Generation for Justice member Andy Klase:

Click on the poem to see larger version on Facebook

P.S. If you live in the Bay Area or DC, please be sure to join us for our Fair Trade Store holiday event on December 6 from 5pm – 8pm. Shop for all your Fair Trade gifts, meet our staff, and if you’re a member double your discount (20% for one night only.)

Susan B. Anthony beaten and jailed by police for casting her vote

No matter which side you butter your political bread, by now you’ve heard more than you ever wanted to about the election results and who won. But that’s just politics.

What you probably missed in the glare of the pundits flashy graphics and the incessant Wednesday morning quarterbacking were the real victories by and for people actually asserting their rights on Election Day against the powers that be. Yes, regardless of political affiliation; against the endlessly deep pockets and scare tactics of huge corporations; AND against the mighty robed ones of the Supreme Court—they prevailed. Big time. And they may have set the stage for the rest of the country to follow suit.

What does Susan B. Anthony have in common with voters in Montana, Ohio and Pennsylvania?

 If Susan B. Anthony was afraid (and surely she was), she did not let her fear of being sued, ridiculed, harassed, beaten and jailed stop her from standing up for her rights.  And while voters in these states didn’t risk their personal security, on Election day, they took a stand for their rights, and they acted is if government belongs to us. Rights—as in, unalienable self-evident rights that come by virtue of being born, that cannot be given or granted, taken away or surrendered.

In the Big Sky state of Montana, where the Governor is a Democrat, but the electorate runs fire engine-red, you may have heard that the state voted to urge or direct Congress to enact a Constitutional Amendment to overturn corporate personhood, as did Colorado. But the real story is so much richer than that.

Verner Bertelsen (R) Montana’s former Secretary of State
photo credit: standwithmontanans.org

Many states—not only Montana—  included in their early Constitutions the subordination of corporations to the will of the people, and banned corporate political expenditures in state elections.  Over the years, most of those Constitutional provisions have been deleted to pave the way for more corporate-friendly laws—but not in Montana. In early January 2012, Montana’s state supreme court, in recognition of the rights of residents to determine the outcome of their elections, struck a defiant blow to the heart of the Super-PAC-creating-unlimited-corporate-elections-spending SCOTUS Citizens United decision, by restoring their state ban on corporate elections spending. 

The federal court was quick to respond to this challenge of their supremacy by reaffirming Citizens United and striking down Montana’s Constitutional provision. And with the flick of a pen, five of the Robed Nine denied the 1 million residents of Montana their right to decide the proper role for corporations in local and state elections (take THAT democracy).

Montanans seemed to take this news personally, as a denial of their very real authority to govern corporate entities, and on Election day, reminded the learned SCOTUS who is boss in Big Sky country. By a landslide of 75% Montanans restored their rights on Election Day and sent corporations and the Supreme Court a powerful message. Initiative 166, officially called the Prohibition on Corporate Contributions and Expenditures in Montana Elections Act, was endorsed by the Governor (D), the Lt. Governor (R) and the former Secretary of State (R).

As C.B. Pearson, treasurer for the I-166 group, Stand with Montanans  put it, “For nearly a century, Montana had elections free of corporate money. But now our fair elections system is compromised. With this vote, Montanans have provided much needed leadership on this important issue, much as we did 100 years ago with the passage of the Corrupt Practices Act.”

Communities stand up to Big Energy, State & Federal law to stop toxic dumping

Scare tactics FAIL: Mailer sent to all residents of Mansfield, paid for by the American Petroleum Institute, as noted above the address.

Elsewhere in Ohio and Pennsylvania, three communities fed up with a wealthy minority scaring people to vote against their own interests challenged the entire structure of law that puts corporate interest before residents—and won.

Mansfield, Ohio’s 50,000 residents were slated to be on the receiving end of Pennsylvania’s toxic frackwater waste, a byproduct of hydraulic fracturing, one of the dirtiest energy production methods in the US. 

Under the law, there wasn’t really anything that concerned residents could do to stop it from coming. The permits are approved by the State, and the dumping of PA’s unwanted fracking chemicals into “injection wells” in Ohio is legal, despite the scientific evidence that storing frack waste is causing large earthquakes….in Ohio (that’s right…Ohio).

Mansfield residents respond to corporate elections ads with their own message

After an initial conference call with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, and follow-up conversations with community members and the Council, the Law Director John Spon proposed a rights-based charter amendment.

Suddenly, a matter of local concern—namely the right of residents to protect their own health safety and welfare from ultra-hazardous materials—became an election issue for Big Petroleum and their PACs.

Corporate contributors poured over $300,000 into TV attack ads and glossy mailers to frighten residents into voting against their own interests, citing that the Charter Amendment Bill of Rights was a “jobs killer”. Residents didn’t believe the hype, reasoning that jobs related to injection wells are not as plentiful as promised, and dumping toxic waste into Mansfield’s industrial park seemed more likely to chase away new business.

As the Mayor put it “We don’t like out-siders telling us what to do.” Residents voted by 63% to pass the charter amendment that affirms the rights of all residents to decide if injections wells are wanted (they’re not); subordinates all corporate protections (not just personhood) to community wishes, and recognizes rights for ecosystems to be free from toxic frackwater dumping.

Elsewhere in Ohio, the town of Broadview Heights similarly passed a Community Bill of Rights charter amendment to ban any new fracking, and new injection wells or disposal of “frack-water,” “brine “tailings,” or other waste products of the fracking process.  The organizing group, Mothers Against Drilling In Our Neighborhoods (MADION) took it another step further, proposing the community vote to ban injection wells, but to futher protect the rights of citizens by prohibiting all new gas and oil drilling, fracking and injection wells.

Unlike their neighbors in Mansfield, the Mayor was not in support of the rights-based effort, and the City Council threatened to pull the initiative from the ballot, thereby stripping residents of their right to even vote on the matter, which did not go down well with residents. MADION’s charter amendment garnered the support of the local newspaper, and with no funding whatsoever the Mad Mothers made their case—door to door. On election day, the rights-based initiative passed with an impressive 66% of the vote.

Going “Home Rule” to access democracy

Campaign headquarters at the home of Pam Steckler in Furguson, PA Photo credit: Groundswell/CRAFT

Whatever you might say about the citizen initiative process—whereby the electorate can collect signatures to put items of concern before residents for a local or statewide vote—in states that don’t allow for it, residents are left with very few options when their elected officials abandon them.

Pennsylvania is a ‘no citizen initiative’ state.There is only one thing communities can put up for a vote there—and that is whether or not to become a “home rule” municipality (in other states it’s also called a charter city), which allows them to change how decisions are made tin their community and opens the door for local citizen initiatives that can effectively amend their town’s charter.   For the majority of Pennsylvanians who do not live under Home Rule, when residents oppose a policy, they must persuade their elected officials to enact new laws—sometimes difficult in areas where the “Good Old Boys” network runs in partnership with the “corporate boys”, turning towns into  sacrifice zones for one corporate activity to the next. Its something more communities are working toward—more community decision-making by “going” Home Rule.

In Furguson, PA—already a  Home Rule township, the activity that seeks to turn their community into a sacrifice zone  is fracking, along with hundreds of other communities dotted along the enormous Marcellus Shale  Marcellus Shale that crosses six states.

Local citizens groups Groundswell and CRAFT (Community Rights Activism for Ferguson Township) put forward a referendum to amend the Ferguson Township Home Rule Charter to add a Community Bill of Rights that would ban fracking. The initiative passed—despite being heavily opposed by the mayor, the town manager, and the town solicitor, who support fracking.  But as Groundswell put it, its not just about fracking, “these initiatives amount to a challenge to existing structural law concerning local government and a revolution in the way we deal with issues concerning communities and our environment…We’re not stopping here. A world will exist with an economy, environment and democracy that thrive together.”

All of these victories represent more than meets the eye. In these places Election Day wasn’t about RED or BLUE, nor were they about issues like  Citizens United, corporate personhood or fracking. Not to wax too poetically, but in each of these places, Americans took a deep breath of ownership of their rights that allows us all to breathe more freely.  If Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth are to be believed our rights are worth the risks, sacrifices and the bigger struggles for freedoms that lie ahead. It’s why Susan B. Anthony took her action to vote—not just for herself—but for all women.  Its why the freedom riders took white knuckle journeys through dangerous roads.

Montana surely faces a response from the U.S. Supreme court. And when it happens, we must all recognize that their struggle for rights is also our own—together we must stand not just against corporate so-called “rights” but we must stand together for our right to govern.

•  This piece was also cross-posted on AlterNet.

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Shannon Biggs is the Director of the Community Rights program at Global Exchange,  assisting communities confronted by corporate harms to enact binding laws that place the rights of communities and nature above the claimed legal “rights” of corporations.

Today, you have another opportunity to Stick It To Super PACs: vote!

I won’t tell you how you should vote, but I encourage you to defy Super PACs by voting using your values, your research, and analysis you trust, and not being swayed by 30 second misleading attack ads.

People around the world are impacted by the results of U.S. elections, and they don’t get to vote today. You do. So get out there and exercise your rights!

Here are some resources to help:

•    Find your polling place by web or text “Polling Place” to 69866
•    Nonpartisan social ballot analysis
•    Report any voter suppression issues by calling: 1-866-OUR-VOTE or video record any problems using your cell phone with VideoTheVote.org.
•    Remind your friends to vote.

Voting is just the first step to Elect Democracy for a change. No matter what the outcome is on November 7th, we’ll still have a lot of work to do, but together we are in it for the long haul. Thank you. Also, if you haven’t had a chance to Stick It To Super PACs yet, there is still time to take action and share it with your friends!

See you at the polls.

You’re not crazy, it is getting worse.

Political campaigns have always involved a fair amount of mudslinging. But in the 2012 election, the amount of slinging and the quantities of mud have skyrocketed. According to MapLight analysis, twenty-one Super PACs have raised over $433 million to spend influencing the election. Think of it as 433 million more giant barrels of mud drowning our election in corporate political speech.

This is not what a healthy democracy looks like.

So What Exactly Is a Super PAC, anyway?

Super PACs are a new kind of political action committee enabled by the infamous January 2010 Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court and a subsequent federal court case in July 2010.

Formally known as “independent expenditure-only committees,” Super PACs can raise unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions, certain nonprofits, or individuals, and can then spend unlimited sums to support or oppose political candidates so long as they don’t ‘coordinate’ with the candidate’s campaign. Unlike traditional Political Action Committees, which would donate capped amounts of money to candidates, Super PAC money is simply not funneled to a candidate, enabling the Super PACs to spend unlimited dollars to buy influence over our election.

Record spending enabled through Super PACs most significantly benefits those with the most to spend and the most to gain: the corporate interests willing to spend tens of millions to get candidates in office that allow their greed to go unregulated. According to Campaign Legal Center, only a small top percentage of donors to Super PACs contribute a majority of their total funds. This corporate political speech is overpowering the voices of everybody else in this democracy.

Super PACs are Drowning Out Democracy, so What Can We Do About It?

Thousands of people are organizing to challenge the crisis in which Super PACs have placed our democracy. The solutions proposed range from campaign finance reform bills in Congress to constitutional amendments to local ordinances that prioritize community rights and decision-making. While all exciting, these victories could take years. Defending democracy means sticking with it for the long haul.

In the meantime, let’s get a big, collective “HELL NO!!!” on the record. After all, we are in the final days of the election season, and these are the moments where Super PACs are spending the most (literally tens of thousands of dollars per second) to influence your vote. So, since Super PACs are making democracy hard for us, let’s take a moment and making life hard for them, even if just for one day:

STICK IT TO SUPER PACS!

On October 25th, over a dozen organizations are partnering with Global Exchange to launch www.StickItToSuperPACs.org, a day-long action where you can tell the top-spending Super PACs exactly what you think about them. Visit the site today to Get Stickin’ and join the flood of emails, phone calls, Facebook posts, and Tweets to Super PACs that gives you, the voter, a chance to tell corporate dollars to get out of the way of democracy. Imagine your computer mouse transformed into a proverbial wrench, and then toss it into the gears of Super PACs that are drowning out everything except big-money corporate speech.

It’s not going to solve all our problems, but believe me, when I hit “send” on my letter to the top 5 Super PAC inboxes, I was happy I got to #StickItToSuperPACs today.  Sometimes it’s the little ways we take action to demand elections, not auctions, that will create momentum to usher in long term change down the line, so join me and get stickin’!

TAKE ACTION:

• Stick It To Super PACs: Visit our web page to call, email, post, and/or tweet your dissent straight to the Top 5 Super PACs.

Elect Democracy, a Global Exchange campaign, is a nonpartisan effort to expose and challenge the impact of corporate money in politics. The campaign focuses on the impact of political campaign contributions and lobbying from Wall Street and its impacts for civil society.

Follow @GlobalExchange @ElectDemocracy and @HillaryLehr for updates.

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Democracy is an embodiment of  the #PowerofWe. With campaign season in full swing, we are all too familiar with the presence of corporate money in this year’s election. From billionaire-funded Super PACs to record campaign contributions from corporate interests on Wall Street, we are all thirsty for some democracy for a change.

To that end, here are some fresh ideas for reclaiming democracy by and for #we the people:

1) Stick it to Super PACs: Just because corporate-speech is flooding this election season doesn’t mean we can’t make some noise about it! Join a great day of action to Stick it to Super-PACs by filling email inboxes, phone lines, and social media feeds with our demand for real democracy, not corporate auctions. Global Exchange and a crew of other organizations on October 25. Take just a moment and join for our email list so we can keep you posted, or follow @ElectDemocracy on Twitter. If the Supreme Court won’t protect democracy, we will!

2) Put out the Fire: All that Wall Street campaign and lobbying money is burning our democracy… Using Global Exchange’s legislative scorecard, you can find out how much money your Congressperson received as well as how often their vote on certain bills was ‘loyal’ to Wall Street’s lobby position. Look up your legislators’ record, then put out the fire: call and remind Congress their job is to represent you, not Wall Street.

3) Don’t Get the Post-Election Blues… Organize!: It’s easy to feel blue about the gap between today’s elections and a healthy, thriving democracy. But don’t get caught on the bleachers post-election: start/keep organizing people power locally! Need a spark? Register to host a screening of the powerful money-in-politics documentary film Heist: Who Stole the American Dream- and How We Can Get It Back. If you register a screening in your community by October 22, you can be part of Global Exchange’s national week of screenings- we’ll help you plan every step of the way!

4) Follow the Money, and Tweet It: The brilliant money-in-politics research group MapLight released a fantastic new app called PolitiCash 2012 that allows you to see the most recent data about the top individuals and corporations throwing their money into influencing the outcome of the election. You may be surprised at what you find. Most usefully, PolitiCash 2012 allows users to Tweet their findings (and CC the candidates automatically) with the press of a button… download your app today.

5) Keep it Local: When we look at powerful shifts in history, we see that change is achieved by people in the same location building strong bonds and solidarity, standing together for what’s right, and extending systems of support. It’s crucial to keep nurturing strong communities, supporting those who are standing up (whether it’s resisting foreclosure or renegade gardening), and taking care of ourselves too. The outcome of the election, the corporate money influencing it, and the lobbyists of Wall Street will affect our lives and our communities, yes. But the stronger our bonds and awareness of one another, the greater chance we will have to stand up for justice where it counts. Thank you for everything you are already doing!

TAKE ACTION:
How else can the #PowerOfWe Elect Democracy for a change?? Leave a comment below with your idea, or share your experience of trying out one of our five suggestions.

While many may refer to November 6th as a finish line, let’s switch the metaphor: November 6th is the starting point.

In the long distance haul to Elect Democracy for a change, let’s not waste a moment on the bleachers after the election.

Get a head start on post-election democracy by hosting a documentary film screening November 12-18. Join people around the country to screen a new documentary film called Heist: Who Stole the American Dream, and How We Can Get it Back.

 A lot is at stake in this election. Yet no matter who claims the White House and Congressional seats, if we’re going to challenge Wall Street Sugar Daddies calling the shots in DC, we have our work cut out for us.

Host a film screening of the critically-acclaimed documentary Heist to do three crucial things:

1. Gather with your community after this expensive, post-truth election and channel your frustration and desire for change.
2. Learn and locate the extreme political power that the corporate 1% has amassed over decades. (Remember, this election certainly isn’t the be-all end-all of challenging our big corporate problem.)
3. Set the stage to talk about defining, reclaiming, and protecting real democracy. Move past post-election blues and stay active working with us to take action locally to hold Congress accountable to people.

Can you help build power and hope beyond the election? We need you. Sign up today to host a screening of Heist: Who Stole the American Dream and How We Can Get it Back. Here at Global Exchange, we’ll help you plan everything, every step of the way.

Here’s what some film critics had to say about Heist:

“… HEIST is well timed as a one-stop summary of reasons for ordinary Americans to be furious at our financial systems. Its last third turns from compiling past outrages to encouraging activism, making this snappy, solid docu an ideal candidate for savvy distribs to jump on immediately. With grassroots marketing, pic could ride the wave of burgeoning Occupy Wall Street-related protests as a ready-made primer.”
—Dennis Harvey, Variety

“Perhaps the best film yet about the roots of today’s economic conditions in the U.S., domination of public policy by corporate interests, and grassroots resistance that has emerged in the past few years.”
—TheWorkSite.org

TAKE ACTION:
Watch the Heist film trailer and sign up to host a screening by October 22!

Global Exchange members & supporters, staff & interns, friends & family all mixed and mingled the night away. Below  are some highlights of the evening, plus a photo recap. The complete set of photos is now up on our Facebook page.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GX OPEN HOUSE:

Photo Booth Fun: We had a PAC (People Above Corporations) Super Pics Photo Booth, complete with props. The photos are on Facebook.

Prize Drawing winners announced: including our grand prize winner who received $1,000 towards a Reality Tour! Other prizes included a Wine Country package, Indoor Skydiving for 2 and a $200 gift basket from the Global Exchange Fair Trade store.

Thanks to all of the businesses that donated prizes for our drawing this year!

Beer and Wine: Thanks to Magnolia Pub & Brewery and Frey Organic Winery, guests enjoyed tasty spirits throughout the evening.

A Generous Surprise: Our Open House is a great time to engage with the community, AND to raise funds to support our work throughout the year. This year we were surprised with a generous matching gift donation, so for every dollar earned during the course of the evening, we were able to double it!
Food, oh, the food! Special thanks goes out to the local businesses that generously donated a wide array of delectable delights.

Plus, this was the first year Global Exchange staff and interns were invited to cook up their favorite dish to share with guests and boy did they deliver! Empanadas, muffins, bean salad, the list goes on and on. I made crab puffs:)

Staff Presentations: Global Exchange campaigners shared updates about their social justice work with guests, and GX Executive Director Carleen Pickard got the crowd excited about becoming Global Exchange members.

And this offer is still good> Join Global Exchange for $35/year and we’ll send you a gorgeous customized Global Exchange tote bag from Handmade Expressions women’s cooperative in India, a No-Nonsense Guide book and a bag of Equal Exchange chocolates!

Guests Voted! Open House guests were able to directly practice democracy at the event’s “Elect Democracy Voting Booth” where they voted on future projects for our Elect Democracy campaign. Results forthcoming!

New GEMS! We welcomed some new GEMS (Global Exchange Monthly Sustainers) to our growing network of supporters. It’s not too late to become a GEMS now!

Guests shared “What Democracy Looks Like”: We had a wall where folks could share their thoughts about democracy for all to see. We’ll be sharing some quotes from that, also forthcoming.

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Tex (left) with Fair Trade Stores Director Jocelyn (right)

So there’s your handful of Open House highlights. I’ve attended many Global Exchange Open Houses, and this year was the best one yet. (I swear I don’t say that every year!)

Special thanks to all of our guests and volunteers for making the event such a success, along with all the businesses who donated food, drinks, and prizes. Hope to see some of you next year!

Now for the best part…PICTURES!!! You can view them all on our Facebook page here.

PHOTO RECAP OF GX OPEN HOUSE:

Zarah, Kylie and Ashley, your friendly Open House Greeters!

Arriving guests signing in at the front

Then the hugging began!

and continued throughout the evening!

People started meeting people…

and chatting away…

more chatting!

Then there was the food. Oh, the food!

there were all sorts of yummy things to dip and dunk and munch and nibble!

and refreshing, cold beer and local organic wine

Guests got to vote!

Some guests shared what they thought democracy looks like on our wall.

The Photo Booth was a lot of fun!

for lots of people!

Check out GX former staffer Sally dancing with GEMS (Global Exchange Monthly Sustainer) Tom last year, then re-enacting their dance again this year. What a hoot!

Global Exchange staff had the opportunity to showcase some of the work they are doing. Pictured: Dalit and Drea

Carleen got her soapbox (er, chair) moment to share with the crowd our $35 membership gift offer. (which includes that beautiful bag pictured on Carleen’s shoulder)

Hillary spoke about our Elect Democracy campaign and tools such as the Legislative SCORECARD pictured in her hand

Cosmo the dog made an appearance, along with his parents. (Click on this photo to check out his photobooth pic on Facebook, it’s pretty groovy!)

Zarah poses with Design Action friends who showed up in awesome form

GX Fair Trade Store staff know how to pose, and it shows!

Chandrika, Leslie and Jessica perfectly posing!

and finally, GX Executive Director Carleen Pickard shares a pic with former board member towards the end of the night.

TAKE ACTION!
Now that you’ve seen some of the great work we do (and how much fun we have doing it) I would like to formally invite you to join the Global Exchange family. Consider becoming a GEMS today. You won’t regret it.

Workshop participants in Charlotte, NC discuss how Wall Street is burning democracy, and how to put out the fire!

“Don’t Burn Democracy!” BBQs are designed to support existing or new local organizing with mini-grants for food, space, and copies of materials.

Groups are working on a broad range of issues from local greening initiatives to anti-war panels. But they do have one thing in common: a desire to resist Wall Street’s greed and unite to define and reclaim true democracy. This is the kind of organizing that lasts beyond a mere election cycle, and that is the kind of long term, local organizing we need!

Here’s how some of the participants are using our “Don’t Burn Democracy” mini-grants:

“The Green Wei sponsors monthly sustainability chats and a co-host collaborator is Occupy Newark. Our meetings are all themed now, as this helps to incentivize our contacts to engage more around the social justice issues we are promoting awareness of. Free food is a great incentive for getting people out and helps build our community.” – Kimi W., New Jersey

“Groups and people I work with in St. Petersburg FL have been successful with multiple issues (Awake Pinellas. Occupy St. Petersburg, Sierra Club. Hands Across the Sands, etc.). However, there is need for organizing in the northern part of Pinellas County…  Materials, funds and networking via GE would help make [planned] events a reality. I am an unpaid volunteer and receive no financial support from organizations I volunteer with so every small amount goes a long way.”  – George R., Florida

TAKE ACTION:

Interested in hosting a Don’t Burn Democracy BBQ in your community?

Email hillary@globalexchange.org to request a packet of materials including Elect Democracy stickers, infosheets, sample agendas and discussion ideas, and more.