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Steinman for Governor:
Part 002, Redirection:
By William E. Steinman:
In recent days I have made two major changes in my direction and my
activity. That redirection came out the insights from my ongoing meditations
and efforts to understand the nature of man's spirituality. I realized I have
been to some extent wrong. I have said, in effect, the single biggest problem
in
It is not enough to be an intellect no matter how clever or thoughtful you
are. If you do not contribute to your community, you have no value to your community.
So, I must quit saying what needs to be done and begin to do what needs to be
done. This declaration for governor of
My first research will be in the areas most important to the survival of Western democracy. That is energy and pollution. I expect the solution to the energy problem to also be a partial solution to the pollution problem. I believe cheap, environmentally friendly energy is still possible and the magic, non-emissions electric auto is still possible. The ones who ought to be doing that research, the various power companies and auto companies, do not have a clue. They don't even know where to begin. Therefore, I must begin, because I do know where. For the record, you begin with basic chemistry. I doubt if any of those wallowing bureaucratic companies even have a chemist on their staff. So, research is the second, probably the most important prong of my redirection.
This redirection does not mean I will stop writing. I may not be able to maintain four weekly columns, but still have to think things through and writing is one of the best ways of clarifying my own thinking. In addition, I still intend to complete my philosophy series of books. In fact, I will be sending the second book of that series to the printer in a few weeks. In a way this campaign is also a way of bringing my philosophy books to the attention of the public. Promoting my philosophy is just another reason for making this bid.
As to my bid for public office, I don't expect to win. I may not even be able to navigate through the convoluted Declaration of Intent process, but I do expect to make a point. I expect to show the rabble why they are rabble. Anyone who thinks of themselves as a republican or a democrat is part of the rabble. They simply refuse to consider alternatives to the same old, same old. I think there is hope for people who think of themselves as voters, but where are they? I have never met a true independent although the pundits claim they are so many they can swing elections. Sure!
Now, in looking at my run for governor, a serious problem arises almost
immediately. It comes in the form of a series of questions about election law.
To wit, how do I find out about the laws governing elections in
Learning these things is not easy. By rummaging around the immense, poorly
organized State of
Finding that took about half an hour, but that was the easy part. The law itself consists of thousands of pages of lawyerese. After a while, I found one document (form) that seems to be required for declaring as a write in candidate. I have no information on how to file the form, who to file it with, or even if it is the right form. I may have to spend the rest of my campaign studying this mass of doubletalk-law in order to find out how to declare. The truth is, I need help. If anyone out there knows anything about this crap, please help me out. Send any information you know about to me at the email address on our home page. Make sure to put a recognizable subject in the subject line so I won't accidentally delete it. I must delete about 300 spams per day, so give me a chance by using a subject I can pick out.
Once I learn about the law governing what I wish to do, assuming I can learn it, I will try to decipher it and lay it out for you in a follow up essay. In the meantime, in my following essays, I will also get to the issues. These are the things I think are important for the ongoing health of out state. I speak, not just of economic health but emotional health. It has occurred to me that many of the citizens of Michigan are in a state I can only call despondency. That is understandable given the situation, but it is also unacceptable.
Pep talks have never worked for turning people's attitudes around and they will not work here. What is needed is brutal honesty along with a challenge. We need a real analysis of our situation and a plan of action to challenge the people. When they see that, they will gradually come around and begin to hope. With hope, they will begin to participate, they will buy in. Then, if belt tightening and sacrifice are needed, they are more likely to step up.
As to the actual issues. They are not the same at the local level as they are at the national level. There are similarities, but the best solutions will be things that can be applied locally. George Bush cannot solve these local problems. We must do it. Here is a list of five things we must do:
1: We must create a viable long term economic plan for Michigan and begin to
implement it. One clue, sucking up to big business is not a plan.
2: We must attack the problem of citizen abdication and demand participation.
Another clue, citizens will step up when there is real leadership and a plan.
3: We must deal realistically with crime in Michigan. A third clue, more cops
is not the complete answer, better cops is part of the answer.
4: In conjunction with that, we must spend whatever it takes to educate our
kids. A fourth clue, ignorance is the largest single cause of crime in America.
5: We must get our young people involved in the functions of government and
especially in volunteer operations. A fifth clue, we do not do that with top
down authoritarian rule or BS pre-structured town meetings.
When we create a plan around these five major issues, we will be well on our
way to a return to greatness for our beautiful state.
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