The following is an excerpt from my manuscript, In Search of the Next POTUS: One Woman’s Quest to Fix Washington, A True Story.
With the help of my editor, Angela, it should be ready for publication by the end of the year.
At 50 years of age, my life reached its full catastrophe. Recently divorced, I became one of the millions of unemployed looking for a way to support myself. Professionally, I had no career because I’d been mothering a special needs child for ten years. And spiritually, I’d reached a crisis point. In June of 2011, an off-handed comment from my dry cleaner almost made me cry. (It also inspired me to spend almost all my savings to start a new business designed to fix our crippled government, which is the basis of my story.)
Obama’s slogan “Yes we can!” turned into a “no we didn’t” presidency and I was looking for alternatives. His reactionary presidency calls for a visionary, pro-active successor. Everybody was complaining that the bankers got away with theft, but nobody was doing anything about it. Big companies have gobbled up their competition. We have higher bills (adjusted for inflation) for essentials like housing, healthcare, childcare, and transportation. Taxes are more than they were 30 years ago.[i] And when we buy a product, it falls apart within less than a year because its price has been driven into the dust by Walmart-like intimidation.
But worst of all, we’re getting sicker. So even if we survive climate calamities, we’re eating our way to the hospital with foods that contain GMOs and who knows how much Roundup (glyphosate). Yes, Roundup, the weedkiller that is liberally sprayed on your corn and soy foodstuffs on our farms.
I started to look at the legislation that makes it possible for so much farmland to be sprayed with chemicals that might not be healthy to eat. And what I found made me want to take action.
I am heartened by the movement in this country to get rid of GMOs (or at least label them) so that we know which food might be funkified in this way. Why? Because finally there’s a connection between the corruption in our government and the food we put into our mouths. Food. We can’t live without it. Yet, when we can’t control how it’s grown or processed or made, we feel helpless. It forces us to think twice about how much “safety” our government really provides.
Democracy is under attack. Oh, they say we’re a democracy. They say we’re all about “values” and “freedom” even as they are undermining our values. But we can all smell the shit. They’re lying to us, they’re taking our money away from us, and they’re smiling the whole while. This book endeavors to answer the question: if you don’t like crony capitalism and you’re afraid of state (or national) socialism, what do you want?
We look to a president to guide us during these times. Someone with vision, someone inspiring. That’s why more of us vote during presidential elections than during congressional elections. But I’m going to make this clear as can be: I’m not just searching for the next POTUS, I’m also looking for a new Congress. The title grabs your attention, but the details are in your congress. If you care about our country, our one and only home, then you’re in the right place.
The following chapters are organized into four sections. The first part outlines the problems as I see them, mainly regarding food and economics. My background as a master gardener informs my view of agriculture, water use, and seeds. I am deeply concerned about the effects of chemicals and bioengineering on plant life. And economically, we can expect more troubling waves ahead because we haven’t fixed the underlying causes of an unstable financial system. Using personal experiences, I explain how the financial industry and economic policies have affected those I love.
The second section describes how I started my non-profit website called Writeindependent.org that endeavored to remove the barriers between voters and vote-getters while making lobbyists obsolete. I saw this as the grand solution to our problem of money in politics, and I later discovered other elegant solutions, which I will outline.
The third section explores the humbling realities of trying to launch a non-profit business with little or no support. My cautionary tales of heartbreaking setbacks will prevent those who follow from treading the same territory. However, through my activism and research, I identify a six-point plan for fixing Washington, an amalgam of solutions from organizations like Represent.us, People’s Congress, BlackBoxVoting.org, Money Out Voters In (MOVI) and the Dreyfuss Initiative, making our government responsive to all Americans.
And finally, the last section reveals simple solutions that make sense for the average person. For me, for you, and for everyone who cares about this country and about making a difference. The reason I wrote this book? It’s a call to action. America, your motherland, is being violated before our very eyes and she needs you, now more than ever.
[i] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVL7QY0S8A