A fast of stewardship
Nonviolent action #159C
It’s been eleven days since I’ve eaten—I’m almost halfway through the fast of stewardship. This will be my longest fast ever, if I succeed. (Words of encouragement in the comments are appreciated.) I’m well stocked on electrolyte supplements, and my 205-pound starting weight demonstrated I was also sufficiently stocked on fat—it’s literally stored energy!
At 24 days, it mirrors the length of Cesar Chavez’s 1968 fast to commit the United Farm Workers to nonviolence. Similarly, it is the number of days Gandhi walked during the 1930 Salt March before arriving at the sea to commit an act of civil disobedience, one that ultimately shook the mightiest empire on the planet.
Can the United States be similarly shaken by a determined group of people?
What is stewardship?
I kicked around various names before settling on this one for the fast, but until my son asked me what it meant, I hadn’t actually looked up the definition. According Webster’s, a steward is A person morally responsible for the careful use of resources, especially with respect to the needs of a community.
That’s my intention: to accept and embrace my moral responsibility to make the best use of resources for the good of the community. The fast of stewardship begins the final phase of the American Union’s 2024 campaign—the community represents the people of the United States, and the resources are something immensely valuable: votes in the 2024 election.
The American Union is a union of swing voters—someone willing to vote for both Democrats and Republicans. As the polls show, neither Kamala Harris or Donald Trump holds 50% support in any of eight battleground states. They need swing voters!
A national bloc of swing voters has the ability to decide the outcome of not just the presidential race, but the dozens of competitive Congressional races that will determine which party controls the House and Senate. With that ability comes a responsibility to use these resources to serve the needs of the community, and the best way to do that is by collectively bargaining across all 470 federal elections with our votes. Those willing to come forward as stewards are invited to join a 24-hour fast on the 24th day of my fast, October 15.
What are we bargaining for?
America is suffering from decades of political dysfunctional. Congress is derelict in their duty to lead in setting national policy, letting the president and the Supreme Court pick up some of the slack. Stewards, rather than casting blame, accept responsibility for addressing the failure. As regular readers know, the American Union has crowdsourced a federal legislative package of solutions to improve the quality of life for everyone, thereby doing the work Congress should be doing.
The American Union demands that Congress pass this legislation before the election. (Although this should go without saying, an endorsement of the whole package is not a specific endorsement of any one policy within it.) To do so will require Joe Biden’s deep institutional knowledge and Donald Trump’s negotiating skills and political influence. Accordingly, the package is named for them: The Trump–Biden Peace Plan.
The clear set of demands—end poverty, end mass incarceration, and end the endless wars—resonate with wide swaths of the citizenry, who are hungry for solutions. You can find a one sentence summary of each of the 101 policies in this PDF, but they roughly fall into ten categories.
Police reform (1-8, 45)
Prosecutorial reform (9-22)
Prison reform (23-34, 86)
A truce on guns & abortion (35-41)
Address militarism (42-56)
Healthcare reform (57-66)
The American Union Jobs Program (UBI) (67-78)
Government reform (80-92)
Immigration & border security (93-97)
The environment (98-101)
As I’ve recently discussed, dozens and dozens of these policies are quite popular; their passage would ensure that the 118th Congress sheds its reputation as a do-nothing Congress and is instead remembered as the most transformational Congress in generations. Can you take two minutes to contact your representatives and ask them to promptly sponsor this legislation?
How my fast is going
After eleven days, my weight is down to 188 pounds. A large portion of that is water weight, and it’s very noticeable in the thinning of my face. I’m not hungry, but occasional pangs flare up, passing within an hour. My energy levels are fine—it still amazes me capable the human body is—but I miss cooking, I miss food. A few nights ago, I dreamed I was at an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. Doesn’t count as breaking the fast if it’s in a dream!
I do allow myself a dozen or so calories a day, usually half of a lime or lemon to ease the monotony of drinking water. One of the side effects of ketosis—my body running off fat instead of carbohydrates—is a white film on my tongue. A good scraping provides a feeling of normalcy for a while, but it always returns.
Thirteen days left. Will you join in on the twenty-fourth day for twenty-four hours?
October 15th’s fast for peace
The fast for peace is simple, 24-hour, water only fast. (For my last day, I’ll be forgoing all calories, drinking plain ice water.) Fasting is willingly giving something up, a necessary element for compromise. No one likes all 101 policies in the Trump–Biden Peace Plan; we’ll all have to compromise to make it work.
And we can—the Framers compromised in writing the Constitution because the United States was worth saving. The fast offers a temporary truce, an agreement to stop fighting for a day and cooperate around advancing shared policy goals. (Days of fasting are also rooted in American tradition as a way to demonstrate solidarity across the country.)
The button below will take you a pledge form. As a special thank you, your confirmation email will include links for a free download of my sci-fi novel showing how the American Union model can transform the country in 2076. The conversations within it offer details on its foundational principles, American history, the 2024 legislative package, and the game theory that gives a union of swing voters their political power.
The endorsement process
Endorsements in all 470 federal races will be posted here at the end of October. The general dynamic for Congressional endorsements is Incumbent vs. Challenger—incumbents who want the American Union endorsement must pass our legislation by October 23. If they refuse, it can go to their major-party challenger.
(The presidential race comes with additional conditions. Read more in A General Strike Against Partisan Politics.)
In this way, the American Union can decide elections independently from partisan politics. There are edge cases, of course, and members of the American Union vote October 16 on the rules used to decide them. Basic members donate at least 25¢ a day, or $7 a month, to the PAC. It’s a small price to get better representation than what the Democrats and Republicans are offering!
Conclusion
My personal sacrifice for these 24 days is not a hunger strike, but what nonviolence scholar Gene Sharp identified as a satyagrahic fast—a fast to one’s capacity. Dear reader, I hope to awaken you (in this turbulent election cycle) to the reality that the solution to political polarization isn’t to fight harder, but to create the conditions for a peaceful resolution. Our shared self-sacrifice on October 15 can generate the moral authority to be the deciders. We can be good stewards.