An open invitation to antiwar advocates
Putting deescalation on the ballot in 2024
The problem
The military-industrial complex (MIC) wields significant influence over Congress. Their huge profits get kicked back as campaign contributions and used to buy lobbyists who push for more military spending and programs. MIC funded "think tanks" justify hawkish actions, often while appealing to fear and patriotism. The potential economic impact of military spending in their home districts can lead members of Congress to support unnecessary and wasteful programs, and the revolving door between government and industry adds to conflicts of interest.
When the Framers met in 1787, they were so concerned about the influence of standing armies that they specifically put a Constitutional limit on Congress in Article 1, Section 8, prohibiting allocation of money for more than two years at a time. The military-industrial complex is the standing army the Framers feared.
The solution
Antiwar advocates need a way to gain influence over Congress, which can be done as part of a new political coalition to address Martin Luther King Jr.'s triple evils of poverty, racism, and militarism.
The American Union is a union of swing voters, collectively bargaining in the 2024 election for a better social contract. The three planks of our legislative demands are:
End Poverty
End Mass Incarceration
End the Endless Wars
Our nettlesome task is to discover how to organize our strength into compelling power so that the government cannot elude our demands. We must develop, from strength, a situation in which the government finds it wise and prudent to collaborate with us.
- Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here? (1967)
The strength of swing voters
Third parties don't work in the US electoral system - a new tactic is needed.
The American Union is a union of swing voters; individuals willing to vote for both Democrats and Republicans. Currently, the House is 51% Republican, the Senate is 51% Democrat, and the President won with 51%. The most powerful voters in the electorate are the ones who decide which faction gets a majority.
Nationwide, a 3.5% bloc of swing voters can control the balance of power, establishing leverage over Washington. Research indicates this is the percentage needed for nonviolent movements to achieve political change.
The strategy
The end goal of all reform efforts is to change public policy. Congress, the legislative branch, has a Constitutional duty to define national policy, but enacting good policy has been hampered for decades by partisan gridlock and a financial disincentive to actually solve the problems used for fundraising.
In 2024, the American Union will present a crowdsourced legislative package, based on our Constitutional duties, to every Congressional candidate nationwide. Incumbents are given a binary choice; enact it before November in exchange for reelection, or refuse and willingly accept a loss of power.
Conscientious objectors can opt out of partisan politics
Electoral politics has taken on many aspects of war; all parties demonize their opponents, insisting victory can be achieved only through their defeat. Voters are drawn into the conflict and forced to choose a side.
The American Union is antiwar; instead of fighting, we will negotiate terms for peace. Rather than accept the traditional Republican-Democrat battle lines, Congressional candidates are sorted into logical camps; incumbents and challengers.
This is a Gandhian satyagraha campaign of peaceful persuasion. All incumbents of both parties are guaranteed the American Union endorsement, if and only if they enact our legislation before the election. If they refuse, their major-party challengers can win our support.
A fast for peace
A century ago, Gandhi faced a similar problem of division in his country. The British rulers encouraged Hindu and Muslim polarization so they could be more easily ruled. Gandhi divined a new approach; national days of fasting, which united his countrymen like never before. His last call came in August 1947, as his nonviolent war for independence came to an end. “The 15th is the day of our trial,” he said. “Observe a fast on that day.”
In this tradition, Americans are invited to join a fast for peace on the 15th of each month, building the beloved community. This shared self-sacrifice is a fast of moral pressure, directed at Congress to inspire them to take action in addressing MLK's three evils. The monthly #fastforpeace is 24 hours (Gandhi recommended dinner-to-dinner) without food or intoxicants, drinking water only, and culminates October 15, 2024.
No country has ever risen... without sacrifice, and we are trying an experiment of building up ourselves by self-sacrifice without resorting to violence in any shape or form. This is satyagraha.
- Mohandas Gandhi, on the first national day of fasting, April 6, 1919
Crowdsourcing Congress and our Constitutional Duties
The American Union has clean legislation written outside the swamp of Washington DC; by the people, for the people. The base legislative package for 2024 is a moral crusade to address Martin Luther King's triple evils of poverty, racism, and militarism, and its framework is derived from the five duties of Americans laid out in the Preamble:
Establish Justice - sweeping police, prison, and prosecutorial reforms will include an end to the racist federal War on Drugs.
Insure Domestic Tranquility - data driven policy will address the wedge issues that are used to divide and rule.
Provide for the Common Defence - we've exceeded the Framer's intent; foreign bases, military spending, nuclear stockpiles, and foreign interference will be reduced.
Promote the General Welfare - unconditional basic income (UBI), improved health care access, and paid family leave will establish an economic floor under every American.
Secure the Blessings of Liberty to Ourselves and Our Posterity - America's children shouldn't inherit our messes; pollution fees and military reductions will address environmental destruction.
We can end the war between the political parties
The goal of the American Union is to negotiate a peaceful settlement before our country is torn apart. If you're willing to accept MLK's challenge to "declare eternal opposition to poverty, racism, and militarism," join the American Union with a $7/month contribution and a good-faith pledge to vote together in 2024.
We, the people of the United States, can form a more perfect Union.