The Road of Reform

California is a "place apart." The polarization between us and them is increasing. The actions of the federal government for some time now has not reflected the will of California voters. And many people are asking why. Why are we so wealthy and powerful in so many ways but our ability to wield national and international power is very limited? The electoral process is a specific area which limits the power of this state. Also the structure of the Senate is another disproportional institution. The generally liberal and progressive politics of the Golden State are structurally prevented from achieving an effective national voice. To be sure the "soft power" of California is very substantial our most important export is what can be called culture in the form of media, movies, television, academics, and art.

The strategic question for California is how to implement a gradual and permanent power restructuring of the United States. To reflect a more equitable distribution of power. This is an enormous task there are many variable and perspectives to take into consideration. including the following issues:

- Would the population support this?
- How to leverage the current political camps?
- Taking advantage of the coming economic/energy crisis?
- Dealing with the inteference of the US intelligence community.
- How to handle corporate influence in power politics?
- Identifying key issues and trends related to them.
- The role of foreign governments and diplomacy in our position.
- identifying the linkages and depencies of the state and federal levels
- three pillars of debate: primary energy sources, security, and interdependence
and how the state and regions can take power in these areas.
- economy and currency (the role of the dollar)

This is a long-term project, rather a series of projects. It involves forming an office to collect and analyze the intelligence. Also forming alliances in key elite circles. Identifying certain parties and using their ideological causes and reframing them in terms of a state vs. federal paradigm. Also an alliance and meta-organization of NGO's are crucial to leverage the power of the elites. Eventually California will be in a position to choose to between complicity and cooperation in the drift towards a fascist America or taking a moral stand and protecting her citizens and their rights. This situation will help catalyze people into making a decision, and any work in promoting California ahead of time will pay off at this point when the rhetoric heats up and people must choose sides. If California is able to make a clear stand against the federal government and back it up with real actions like using her state forces to protect her citizens from federal agents. Protecting her citizens from draconian federal laws etc...

Long term issues need to be addressed, the most pressing are the demographic, and energy issues and how they relate to economy. Our dependence on the car and the suburb is going to become very untenable in an energy-defficient future. Particularly in Southern California which is poised on the brink of chaos.

A plan of regionalisation and visionary solutions solutions can work. A two-pronged effort of state support and regional initiative can and must be promoted. An energy tax must be implemented on gasoline in order to fund the transition. A massive educational project must be undertaken to support this tax and tie it to the future well-being of our state. The alternatives are grim, the results will be long-term impoverishment of future generations.

But the message must be both hopeful and realistic. To be sure this will require massive state involvement on the infrastructure level if long-term results are to be achieved. This all underlies the importance of weaning California from the rest of the country if we are to achieve more independence. But we don't intend to merely respond to the changing needs of an ever changing popular opinion. This is where the inspiration of visionary leadership comes in.