[IMC-Editorial] Kucinich the Kulturbärer

[The Sacred Earth Society]

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Kucinich the Kulturbärer
By Stephen Dinan
Stephen at radicalspirit.org
 
With current polls showing John Kerry leading at 60% for the California
primary next Tuesday, I begin to wonder if our culture of innovation,
independence and frontier adventure is beginning to fade.
 
C¹mon California: Kerry?
 
Two months ago, Kerry hardly registered on the radar here. Most thought him
too patrician, too dull, or at least too conservative on issues from the
Iraq war to NAFTA to gay marriage.   Few people in California contributed to
his campaign.  Top honors went to Dean and Kucinich in terms of donors and
number of volunteers.  Both have revolutionary fire and some
shoot-from-the-hip West Coast attitude.   They are bold, authentic, and
willing to rattle conventional opinion.  They give speeches straight from
the heart and aren¹t afraid to go off script.
 
Kerry is safe.  He is the frightened man¹s bet for the race against Bush.
He¹s the compromise candidate, a man about whom we will say, ³I suppose
that¹s the best we could hope for.² He has the pedigree, the power broker
network, the height, and the moderate positions on everything. When many
people I know talk about voting for Kerry, it is with a sigh of resignation
rather than the hurrah of freedom.
 
It does not have to be this way.
 
Californians have been seduced by the media trance that has ordained Kerry
the winner.  However, we in California are supposed to CREATE the spell of
the media rather than be seduced by it.  We make the magic of movies and
push the frontiers of technology.  We innovate, pioneer, and explore.  We
don¹t march to the beat of the establishment drum.
 
Next Tuesday, I would like to see some spunk in the California vote, some
fire to send to the convention. Let¹s tell the party that we want
substantial change.  We want a rainbow of color rather than shades of gray.
We want nectar of the gods rather than stale bread.  We want a Democratic
Party that doesn¹t feel like it has had the lifeblood sucked from it.
 
I don¹t want to believe that California has sunk into numb lethargy. This is
an oasis of idealism, a Petri dish for the future.  Do we really line up in
the Kerry corral just because he¹s won the popularity contest so far? Or do
we set our own course and chart our own destiny?
 
Here is the simple truth:  if you are interested in positive social change
on ANY front, from the environment to trade reform to peace to organic food
to health care reform to economic justice to personal growth to electoral
reform to busting corporate corruption to reducing discrimination to gay
marriage, Dennis Kucinich should be your man.
 
In fact, if you have ever
°       shopped at Whole Foods
°       stretched into a yoga asana
°       carried a protest sign
°       read Noam Chomsky
°       sung along to Bob Marley
°       admired MLK, Gandhi, or Mandela
°       ... bought Julia Butterfly certified products
°       resented multinational corporations
°       resonated with Ani DiFranco lyrics
°       reminisced about Burning Man
°       worried about child labor in Indonesia
°       approached an issue holistically
°       homebirthed
°       or any of a thousand other things that put you a bit ahead of the change
°       curve, then Dennis should be your man

That said, the great thing about Dennis is that while he advocates a boldly
progressive platform, he does so with very ordinary, middle-class America
packaging.  He¹s just as comfortable with bowling and polka as he is on
stage surrounded by hip-hop artists or a drum circle. He offers substantial,
deep, visionary change in a way that everyday people can understand.  In his
home district, for example, he¹s made a business of converting Republicans
into Democrats and now wins with 75% of the vote in a previously Republican
district.
 
Dennis is like a bridge over which the major changes of an emerging culture
can enter mainstream politics.
 
More traditional Democratic populations are vital in this cultural shift,
and Dennis has impeccable credentials to reach them, authoring legislation
that helps regular working class families across the board rather than a
powerful elite.   However, it¹s the folks stretching the change envelope
that I¹m speaking to at the moment because I believe you are the key to
breaking this campaign through to the next tier.  You are the ones that lead
the revolutions: the activists and the artists, the rebels and the dreamers,
the eco-freaks and the idealists, the healers and the hipsters, the
meditators and the musicians.
 
We¹ve got to lead the way in reminding California of its roots and its
destiny: to blaze brightly for the rest of the world.  Hawaii has laid the
groundwork, with a second-place finish for Dennis and 27% of the vote
despite a virtual media blackout. Let¹s outdo Hawaii¹s results in
California.
 
So send a positive change message to the Democratic establishment by voting
for Dennis next week.  Neither Kerry nor Edwards sends a meaningful message
for change now. They are the safe candidates. If you want to play it safe
and scale down on your dreams, they are your guys.  If you want to go boldly
towards the future, Dennis is your man.
 
Making this statement is even more important now that the media tidal wave
is sweeping Kerry along and threatening to wash the progressive wing out of
the party and into Nader terrain. A vote for Kerry is now a wasted vote.  A
vote for Dennis is a signal for change and a protection of the progressive
base in the Democratic Party.  It is a clear notification that the NEXT
America is waking up and taking a stand.  It states that the movements that
have been gathering steam across this country for decades are beginning to
feel their power and use it.
 
The Swedes have a relevant term ­ kulturbärer.  A bearer of culture.  It
refers to someone or something that acts like a sherpa for a culture as
whole, carrying it forward. In a very real way, Dennis is a kulturbärer.  He
is an expression of the convergence of all the movements for positive
change: social justice, consciousness, peace, sustainability, women¹s
rights, gay rights.  He¹s at the leading edge of these trends, integrating
them and talking about them in a way that conventional folks can really
understand. Dennis represents an emerging culture that is growing up and
starting to feel its power.
 
The only problem is that the emerging culture, which is actually vast,
doesn¹t recognize its potential yet.  Change movements have been splintered
and thus have felt small. Together, they are enormous. The sociologist Paul
Ray has studied this culture and pegged its size at 50 million in America
alone.  50 million people that share an increasingly similar new vision for
America and a new vision for the world!  However, they are stuck thinking of
themselves as less powerful and less numerous than they actually are.
 
This emerging culture needs to feel its strength.  It can do that in a
substantial and meaningful way by rallying behind a kulturbärer, someone to
hold the torch in the public sphere.  Dennis Kucinich can be our
kulturbärer.
 
Bear in mind that he may be ignored.  And ridiculed.  And dismissed.  And
disrespected.  And you may feel pain when you watch it happen. But also
remember that agents of change are always treated that way and that it is
part of the process of cultural growth.  In that spirit, I encourage you to
see that when Dennis is dismissed, know that he is taking that hit for you,
for your children, and for the planet.  Someone has to carry the torch for
the emerging culture into politics and as Dennis does so, the entrenched
power structures will resist. That is why our kulturbärer must be so
resilient.  
 
Fortunately, he is.  He¹s perhaps the most optimistic person I¹ve ever
known.  He wakes up each day excited and hopeful.  Even after getting
dissed, dismissed, and marginalized, he keeps his eyes clear, his heart
compassionate, and his compass set clearly on the future goal.  He knows
that he is carrying the torch for a movement that will produce a major
evolution of our country.  Carrying that torch is a sacred role and he
therefore carries it with dignity, optimism, and honor.
 
Do Dennis the honor of voting for him and supporting him so that a new
vision of America can emerge.  It is time.  We are ready.


For more information on the campaign, see:
www.kucinich.us 

*****
I sometimes get requests for previous articles I've written on the campaign.
Since many of them have been posted somewhere on the web, I thought it would
be easier to attach this list for those who want to read more. At some
point, I will consolidate them. Thanks for your interest!

> Kerry¹s Achilles Heel (2/26/04)
> not yet posted that I know of
>
> Healing the Rift (2/23/04)
> not yet posted that I know of
>
> CPR for the Democratic Party (2/21/04)
> http://www.denniskucinich.us/article.php?story=20040221145605622
>
> A Risk-Free Nader in 2004 (2/20/04)
> http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17919
>
> Sending a Message to the Democratic National Convention  (2/19/04)
> http://www.opednews.com/dinan0204_progressive_message.htm
>
> Bush, Kerry or World 5.0?  (2/12/04) Addendum (2/13/04)
> http://kucinich-oregon.us/archives/kucinichworldpeace/000056.html
>
> Wake Up Torchbearers (2/2/04)
> http://www.americans4kucinich.com/torchbearers.cfm
>
> Dancing with Dean, Coming Home to Kucinich (1/21/04)
> http://www.opednews.com/dinan0104_dean_kucinich.htm
>
> Two Waves of Change (1/13/04)
> http://www.opednews.com/dinan0104_kucinich.htm
>
> A Story to Light the World (12/19/04)
> http://www.imwithdennis.com/article259.html
>
> Strategic Compromises and Burning Flames (10/21/04)
> http://www.presidentkucinich.com/PK_pages/Local_Campaign/burningflames.htm

Also, I have another article, written in the days before the Iraq war, that
relates to why I believe that for us to take the next evolutionary step as a
nation, we need Dennis as our President.  It was written before he declared
his candidacy but it is clear to me that he is the man to carry the torch
for true global leadership for America.

> True Global Leadership
> http://www.radicalspirit.org/online/writings/trueglobal.cfm













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