The above phrase rang through the student center on Tuesday morning as Nick Lemek told the world why he was a Democrat.
This was just one of many inspiring sound bites that captivated the audience for over an hour. The event was to allow College Democrat members the opportunity to tell those listening why they were a Democrat. Issues ranged from abortion, to stem cell research, to the Iraq war, and even to the legalization of marijuana.
Those in attendance included many College Democrat members, Kathleen Fahey, and numerous faculty and students.
Tuesday also marked the official start of the campaign season for the Democratic Party. The UNO College Democrats officially gave their support to all of the Democratic candidates running in our area and throughout the country.
Thanks to everybody for participating, and thanks for making this a great event!
Unfortunately, due to class, i couldnt make it to the open mic session. What was the best part? Did anyone think a specific speaker did an exceptional job? Oh, and what was the reaction from people walking in the student center, did they stop and see whats up or just pass by and yell comments?
I think nick got it right and we all could take a page from that statement.
This really was a great event. I hope more events like this will follow. I think that every one who participated did a great service to their country by using the 1st amendment rights our forefathers gave us. Kudos to UNO dems.
I suppose the Democratic Party won’t be trying to appeal to the younger crowd by talking about the lining of their political party’s pockets with corporate campaign contributions. I think the lesser of the two evils idea has been drugg through the mud for too long, why not talk about trashing corporate personhood? I know why, because business as usual benefits both parties at the expense of the environment, the people, and freedom. Some of those rogue Dems are firey and fighting a good fight but they are at complete odds with the rest of the party. What is being an American patriot? Patriotism is a love for geographical boundaries and revisionist history, effectively saying that because we live in said set of borders and morals that we are somehow worth more than people who don’t live within these contrived confines. The illegalization of human beings (ie- indigent Mexicans who have ancestors who have roamed this land far longer than any european) is the kind of thing that patriotism leads to. The best advice I could give to anyone jaded by seeking to change the seemingly unchangeable Democratic party would be to find more horizontal locally centered ways (grassroots) to organize around issues that effect you. Parties are concerned with gaining power/raising money to push private profit-driven agendas ahead of people’s needs. The real social progression has traditionally come from the bottom up, FDR didn’t make the New Deal possible it was the destitute workers that orgaized around their needs (IWW,AFL,CIO) to make it happen. Abe Lincoln didn’t end slavery, it was the militant abolitionists. Our history is taught through icons and figures without the motivation to empower people to take direct action in their lives and cease to be the victims.
hmmmm….green party???
Actually, not really. I think the whole design of our democratic system is flawed. The idea that one person or administration is competent enough to delegate authority on a wide scale or even small scale is beyond me. Unfortunately third parties get devoured and assimilated by one of the two other parties in this country (ie free soil forming the reconstructionist republicans) and cannot be trusted to provide anything more than another bandaid (instead of reaching down and pulling out the root of the problem). I’ll save you (Mike) the hassle of giving me anymore misplaced labels by saying that neither am I a Green party advocate or a Marxist. Democrats, Republicans, Green Party, and communists all have new programs to offer based off of the very tired old vision. A vision that is usually imposed on other populations, other species, a vision that says the natural tribal way of existense is impeading upon our progress. Just look at Venezuelen President Hugo Chavez, he plans on quadrupling coal mining in the western state of Zulia (home to the Bari, Yukpa, and Wayuu tribes which are supported by the rich ecology of the area) as part of his Bolivarian revolution (try offering a housing voucher to someone who only knows how to live off the land). Or take for instance Debeers pushing one of the last remaining bushmen tribes of Africa off of their ancestral homeland in Botswana to destroy it with more Diamond mining. We currently have an agricultural system that uses up 2/3 of the oil production with peak oil (when the demand is exceeding the production) looming over our shoulders, if that isn’t a recipe for disaster then I don’t know what is. Our agrarian agricultural way of life is increasing the population growth exponentially, and the only solutions we have are birth control and sexual education. What was once a negative feedback system that kept itself in check naturally has been shaped into a positive feedback system with the advent of totalitarian agricultural (the last 10,000 years). A negative feedback checks an increasing effect whereas positive feedback reinforces an increasing effect. If you make more food available to a large population of people, then inevitably that population of people will grow, then you have to support that population with still more food, more land, which in turn creates more people (positive feedback!!). This kind of growth is most represented in our current Global economy which is running the earth through an industrial meat grinder effectively taking us (people) down with it. So, with that being said I think to counter this way of thought and make positive change we should analyse how best to organize around our needs:
A) we can naturally form tribes to fulfill our goals (ie trade unions, collectives, co-operatives, eco-villages) and build mutual aid locally.
Or
B) create a system that isolates us from and destroys the very thing we are dependent upon every day (social hierarchy ie the state, political parties, capitalism, authoritarian socialism), the natural world.
No more old vision with new programs. If we are to fully confront the giant elephant in our living room we can’t trust a system that has vested interest in keeping it out of sight, and out of mind (mainly through TV and the constant bombardment of hyper-capitalistic homogenized images of our disgusting consumptive culture).
While Pasco P. may have raised some interesting points, I think what we can gather from his essay is congratulations to the UNO College Democrats for standing up and trying to “empower people to take direct action in their lives and cease to be the victims”.
Being a Republican - ignorant.
Being of the Green Party - noble.
Being a Democrat - Rational.
Thanks to all people of all places standing up, speaking out, and trying to improve the world for everyone.
The event on Tuesday was just a preview to the energy the College Dems (and Democrats everywhere) are going to put into the 2006 election cycle. When I was listening to everyone speak, I couldn’t help but feel excited that Democrats are going to be able to put together some amazing grassroots campaigns. I seriously think the tide is turning against Republicans in this country, and the 2006 elections are going to prove that!
Nick did a really great job, and heads were turning to listen to him!
I think I speak for all of us when I say we’re genuinely fired up and ready. I want the Democratic Party in this state to be an instrument for change, and I think we can be a key part in helping that happen.
Chad-
There are noble Republicans. There are ignorant Democrats. And, I suppose, there are even some rational Greens.
The label doesn’t matter. Our democracy has room for and NEEDS people from all these parties - anyone willing to look outside their assigned box and keep an open mind to what others have to say. Get informed, be heard, but never forget to listen as well. We can’t hope to reach people if we don’t make more of an effort to understand them. Declaring 50% of the people in this state “ignorant” really isn’t going to help (sorry to play “thought police” on you).
Otherwise, keep up the good work UNO Dems! You’re making a difference.
“Our democracy has room for and NEEDS people from all these parties” this comment is made under the assumption that what we have in this country is actually a “democracy” and not a “plutocracy” (gov. run for, by, and around people with money). Just compare our image based PR form of democracy to South Afrika, where there is more choices and a population of people who are engaged with issues instead of the platformist bullshit that American politicians force feed the public through TV ad campaigns. When I think of grassroots I don’t think democrat or republican party, I think neighborhood associations, renters unions, infoshops, bike collectives, food co-operatives, community gardens, and real bottom up solutions to issues of poverty (ones that sincerely question the foundation on which poverty is perpetuated and aren’t imposed from the outside). Providing hospitality to transitional families is a “rational” solution, so I wonder how rational it is when both ruling parties decide to take resources that could go to these families and spend it on breaking up families half way across the world under the guise of promoting our empty way of life (yes I’m talking about the war folks). This war couldn’t be anymore representative of our way of life, we hold 5% of the population yet we consume 25% of the earth’s resources, war is an inevitable part of maintaining the unsustainable infrastructure we have in place.
Kyle -
Certainly you understand why you are struggling in the first district, you allow yourself to deal with and worry about Republicans. We over here in the second have no need for them, have a strong enough base of Democrats, and simply put know that if we tell it like it is, people are going to agree with us. We don’t lie, we don’t sugarcoat things, and we don’t need to tell Republicans that we need both viewpoints because frankly we don’t. As Chad said, to vote Republican IS ignorant, at best. If it is not ignorance, it is openly admitting to being a bigot, war crazed, oil hungry, segregating member of society. Thank you for your support of our group, but do not feel that attacking our President for a legitimized statement is the best way to go about uniting the Democratic Party of Nebraska for the successful commission of the real battle ahead, the 2006 election season.
Dan
UNO College Democrats
Dan, while I agree with you - if we are just honest with people, we’ll win - unfortunately we don’t have a lot of candidates who will do that. Too many of our candidates hedge their bets and don’t go after those who would sooner stay home than vote for another conservative Democrat.
Dan-
I really don’t mean to start any shit but Omaha still has a Republican majority on the city council, Lee Terry in Congress, and a flood of more Republican-leaning suburbanites on the way. Who said anything about lying or sugarcoating? But if you’re not going to show at least some basic level of respect for people who disagree with us, we’re really just another bunch of fundamentalists.
Thanks to Dan for standing up for me and to everyone for their interest in how to better the Democratic Party of Nebraska, however, I don’t feel that this negative discourse is the best way to portrey a united Democratic party in Nebraska. We are all fighting the good fight to better our state. Some people choose to do it differently than others. That is what makes this country great. I don’t, however, condone breaking down a fellow democrat because one might approach a situation differently than I may. Lets keep up the enthusiasm but use it to empower us and not divide us. Best of luck to everyone in the NYD and in Omaha. Keep up the great work. 2006 is going to be a great year.