The political franchise as a tool for nonviolent social change
Unlocking the power of the people in 2024
In the 2016 movie The Founder, Ray Kroc builds a local hamburger chain into a national brand. McDonald’s holds a special place in my heart, because it was my first job as a teenager in the 1990s. Ray Kroc popularized the franchise model and created opportunities for entrepreneurs from coast to coast. Those standardized operations created an opportunity for me as well. When I traveled around the country as a young man, I could find temporary employment at any franchisee’s store and be up to speed with their procedures in almost no time.
The American Union of swing voters—people willing to vote for both Republicans and Democrats—uses a similar model for growth leading up to the 2024 election. Just like McDonald’s customers could step into any restaurant around the country and know what was on the menu, American Union organizers in all 435 Congressional districts can offer voters one standardized package of legislative solutions.
For the millions of Americans frustrated with the two party system, the American Union offers a constructive alternative. Basic membership in the American Union is straightforward; a monthly donation of $7 or more and a good faith pledge to vote together as a bloc in 2024.
A moral crusade
The base legislative package for 2024 addresses Martin Luther King's triple evils of poverty, racism, and militarism—a moral crusade worthy of support. It ends poverty with unconditional basic income (UBI), issued digitally by the US Treasury; ends mass incarceration with police, prison, and prosecutorial reforms, including an end to the federal war on drugs; and ends the endless wars with both military downsizing and specific changes in foreign policy. These planks are popular with large swaths of the electorate and would address many, many social problems.
By crowdsourcing legislation outside the swamp of Washington, the American Union sidesteps the partisan gridlock that prevents Congress from doing the work that needs to be done. Clean legislation can be written by the people, for the people, by a legislative body drawn from the ranks of American Union organizers. Once equipped with this unambiguous set of demands, a new election strategy emerges.
A better way to vote
There is a strong appetite for another political option in America - a plurality of voters identify as independent. However, third parties don’t work. The structure of our elections—single member districts and winner-take-all contests—has maintained a stable two party-system since the 18th century. (This is Duverger’s law.) When we understand that Republicans and Democrats will continue to win 99% of elections, it’s clear that true swing voters hold real power.
The American Union is established as a PAC, since its goal is to influence the outcome of the 2024 election. The amount of voters it will take to do so is small; a mere 3.5% bloc of true swing voters could determine the outcome of a half-dozen US Senate seats and fifty House seats; more than enough to control the balance of power in Washington.
This will change the national conversation around solutions and create the political leverage to demand incumbents enact the legislative package BEFORE the November election in exchange for our bloc of votes. Congress is practical; as we’ve seen, members will cut whatever deals necessary to keep or gain power. Swing voters are already the deciders; unionizing lets us vote with power.
Heal the hate
Unlike political parties, who focus on demonizing and defeating their opponents, a union of swing voters has a strictly positive message and does not run candidates. As part of a Gandhian constructive program, the goal is to help all members of Congress—Republicans and Democrats alike—succeed in meeting our demands. Despite the errors they’ve made in the past, our representatives are like each of us; capable of doing better. The objective is to persuade them to join this moral crusade to address MLK’s triple evils by enacting our pre-written legislative package.
One of the reasons for McDonald’s success was cultivation of a family-friendly environment; jukeboxes and cigarette vending machines were prohibited. The American Union offers a political model that excludes partisanship automatically. Incumbents of both parties are guaranteed endorsements (with the corresponding bloc of votes) in all 469 Congressional races, if and only if they act before the election. If they refuse, their major party challenger (the candidate most likely to defeat them) can earn the endorsement.
Americans believe more should be done to bring us together as a nation, with nearly three-quarters of voters saying that America’s founding ideals of freedom, equality and self-governance are a good underpinning for this. Accordingly, the American Union legislative package is structured around our Constitutional duties. The preamble is the mission statement for the United States, and we’ve forgotten the core values that we’re supposed to be delivering.
A fast of moral pressure
Similar to how McDonald’s reputation was built on standards of quality, service, and cleanliness, the American Union is built on principled nonviolence. One aspect of this is a voluntary group fast on the 15th of every month — a fast for peace. On social media, it is shared with the hashtag #fastforpeace.
Fasting is free; it’s safe and beneficial for virtually all adults. In the Gandhian tradition, the fast for peace is 24 hours without food or intoxicants, drinking only water. (Gandhi recommended a dinner-to-dinner fast.) In a nation 3,000 miles wide, it is physically and logistically impossible to gather people in one place for a monthly event. The fast can be observed anywhere and everywhere - incarcerated people regularly participate from behind prison walls.
The fast for peace is an essential part of the American Union brand. The monthly event serves as an open invitation for people all around the country, offering a way to transform our adversarial system of politics into a collaborative one. Fasting takes an intention, and when enough Americans share the intention to deescalate the 2024 election, we’ll succeed in doing so.
American Union organizers are franchisees
To grow the national bloc of swing voters to that critical 3.5%, the American Union PAC uses organizers. Like McDonald’s franchisees, they are expected to uphold the standards of the brand; promoting a non-partisan, solution-oriented campaign around the three planks of ending poverty, mass incarceration, and the endless wars. Like the entrepreneurs who grew McDonald’s into a globally recognized brand, American Union organizers can earn money for their outreach efforts. Organizers in good standing can collect commission on fundraising and memberships, or they can let the PAC keep it to support further growth.
Organizing can be done on the ground, talking to voters directly, or across the internet though videos, blogs, and other social media. McDonald’s began advertising nationally when they had less than 1,000 locations where customers could buy their burgers. The 2024 election, on the other hand, will have over 100,000 polling locations and 230 million eligible voters.
Some target audiences for this legislative package include:
100 million Americans living paycheck to paycheck
17 million in families with a member ensnared in the criminal justice system
20 million who protested for reform after George Floyd’s murder
Tens of millions of people who want an end to the endless wars
27 million Gen Z voters, who are mostly frustrated with the duopoly
80 million non-voters who are willing to not care which candidate wins
American Union organizers are expected to lead by example, donating at least $1 a day ($28/month) to the PAC while participating in and promoting the monthly fast. This free event can be publicized on the local, state, or national level. The more individuals promoting the monthly fast, the quicker the brand grows across the country. Since this is a new political paradigm and people generally need to be exposed to an idea multiple times, cross-promotion makes it easier for all organizers to bring new members into the American Union.
America needs an upgrade to our political system
According to 58% of voters, America’s democratic process “needs major reforms or a complete overhaul.” Trust in government has fallen. Congress’ approval rating has hovered around 20% for years and years. Polarization pushes voters into opposing camps and encourages them to fight the other team. How can we change this?
Candidates often promise that if we elect them, they’ll clean things up. But as the occasional reformer who makes it into the swamp of Washington quickly learns, the political system has too much inertia for a single person to change the way it works. America needs a new strategy that can have an immediate and positive impact on policy nationwide.
Here’s the truth; we the people can save our country by focusing on WHAT we want to accomplish as a nation instead of being distracted by the WHO of elections. By doing the hard work of crafting good national policy instead of getting dragged into the bitterness of candidate contests, we can crowdsource Congress and leverage our votes to propel action. But that change has to start with ourselves.
The 30-day training program
In 1961, McDonald’s was the first restaurant chain to formally establish a national training center, aptly named Hamburger University. The commitment to development of consistent core principles and uniform standards among their franchisees turned them into a global business leader and one of the most recognizable brands on the planet.
To take on the role of organizers of a nonviolent revolution, members of the American Union complete a 30-day training program. As part of leading by example, the self-improvement challenge includes 30 days of sobriety from recreational intoxicants and two 24-hour fasts. At the same time, the principles of nonviolence are reviewed during the 30 days, along with analysis of how they are applied to America’s political problems.
The program, which currently runs eight times per year, is mostly self directed, but includes a handful of Zoom sessions. These help build connections among each cohort of organizers, and serves as a further vetting program. On completion, organizers are given unique membership and fundraising links, copies of presentations and other materials they can use to spread the message, and access to private discussion groups for sharing tips and strategies for successful outreach.
Conclusion
The American Union is not just a political movement; it is a call to action for all Americans ready to see a better future for our country. As the McDonald's brand stood for fast food, our movement stands for non-partisan, solution-oriented policies delivered quickly. People of all classes, colors, and creeds can spread a message of unity with a very specific call to action—collectively bargain for a better social contract in 2024.
We can no longer afford to wait for the traditional political system to fix our problems. The American Union provides a blueprint for taking action ourselves. By joining together with a commitment to nonviolence and our Constitutional duties, we can create a better future for ourselves and for generations to come.
America has the ability to end poverty, lifting tens of millions above the poverty line and ensuring basic economic security for all.
America has the ability to fix our broken criminal justice system, which treats people better if they’re rich and guilty than if they’re poor and innocent.
America has the ability to redirect the growth of our military industrial complex into more productive directions, and minimize the harm our foreign policies are causing to innocent civilians around the world.
America has the ability to deescalate the system of partisan politics that is tearing our country in half.
With the ability to do these things comes a moral duty to act. Ready to be part of the solution and build a better America? Apply today to be an organizer - together we rise!