Big Ideas

This is big. I received an email from MoveOn.org, about the results of the house parties they had all over the country (over 100,000 attendees) and subsequent voting to choose their top three Big Ideas to work on for the next phase of their (our) actions. Parts of the email are below, it's pretty impressive how front-and-center health care reform is among the moveon members (obviously a little more left-leaning than your average joe, and possibly more middle-upper class -- not even sure of this actually). Someone told me back in the day, movements really push forward in this country when (1) self-interest is at stake and (2) the issues start seriously affecting the middle-class, not only the low-income folk. So, ya wanna join in?

Dear MoveOn member,

The results are in. We're proud to announce the MoveOn member choice for our new, positive agenda:

• Health care for all
• Energy independence through clean, renewable sources
  
• Democracy restored

These three goals were nominated, debated, and overwhelmingly selected by more than 100,000 people in local house parties and then online. Most groups would say this is a far too risky way to make such a big decision. But it's this grassroots consensus that makes this agenda different—and powerful...

Our strength lies where it always has: the voice, energy, and creativity of 3 million MoveOn members. If we're going to make health care a right, power America with clean energy, and restore our democracy, we're going to need as many likeminded folks on board as we can get. So today, we're turning to you to help build the team.

When the polls closed Wednesday night at 11:59, "Health care for all" and "Energy Independence: clean, renewable sources" were the clear winners for the first and second plank, with 82.8% of voters choosing one or both. We're proud to put these bold, inspiring goals front and center in our work to come...

It's exciting to know how united we are—a full 96.8% of voters chose at least one of these top issues.

We've set our eyes on a pretty big prize here, and there's a lot of hard work to do. But our history is full of stories of millions of people uniting behind a vision and fighting together 'til they've achieved the unthinkable. And heck, most of them didn't even have email.

Let's make it happen.

–Ben, Matt, Adam Green, Marika, Justin, Jennifer, Carrie, Rosalyn, Eli, Adam, Tom, Noah, Wes, Joan, Tanya, Natalie, Roy and Nita, the whole MoveOn.org Political Action team

Friday, June 2nd, 2006

P.S. The online vote was between the 10 most popular goals that MoveOn members generated and sent in from over 600 house parties last week. Here are all of the "MoveOn top 10" and the final vote count for each:

Health care for all	65091
Sustainable energy independence	61030
Restored constitutional rights	35675
Guaranteed accurate elections	35133
Global leadership through diplomacy	28912
High quality education for all	27874
Solutions to global warming	26306
A guaranteed living wage	25527
Publicly funded elections	21096
A balanced federal budget	20945

P.P.S During the voting, members were asked to add their own words about why these goals are so important. Here's what just a few had to say:

Health Care for all:

We need a system that is equitable and affordable for all...Health care should not be treated like a commodity. We have 46 million uninsured and many million more who are underinsured and don't have adequate health care. It is estimated that 18,000 people die each year because they don't have adequate health care that works out to 50 people every day. We cannot continue to tolerate a fragmented health care system which worries more about profits and stock holders than it does the well-being of Americans. It is time for a systemic change which will bring down the cost of health care.
–Rebecca E. from Ithaca, NY.

I think that people with health care sometimes think that this is just a problem for the uninsured, but that is absolutely not true. Even if you have health care and develop a serious illness (cancer, MS, etc.) while covered by your employer, you better be sure you love your current job. Because if you decide you want to change direction in your life, you will become all too familiar with the words "preexisting condition". You will find you most likely cannot get coverage from a new provider. This system traps us all, insured and uninsured. We need comprehensive, affordable health care so that all of us can have the freedom to live our lives the way we want to, doing what we love, not being trapped by the health care system.
– Rebecca p. from Moose, Wyoming