LAKE WAITS FOR PEOPLE TO WAKEBy Mike FernerA rare, hybrid environmental campaign is underway to save a great lake – in fact, a Great Lake – Erie.That grand body of water, declared dead in the late 1960’s, experienced a textbook turnaround by the mid-80’s but is once again in critical condition every summer.1968 editorial cartoonJust as citizens of a previous generation finally held polluters accountable, they’re beginning to mobilize once again. That “Second Battle for Lake Erie” in the late ‘60’s and early 70’s was nec ...Continue Reading

Populism Is Not a Four-Letter WordBy James M. PricePopulism is a term frequently used in ways that foster confusion and controversy. It is sometimes thrown about in a disparaging manner, in conjunction with other words like demagoguery, to create fear about an idea or to discredit a political opponent. Establishment politicians and the corporate media often describe populists as those who use highly emotional rhetoric to present questionable ideas in an overly simplistic or opportunistic manner._What is Populism?_Webste ...Continue Reading

Rethinking the Constitution, Rethinking Democracyby the POCLADThe nomination and confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court has once again fueled long-suppressed public discussion about the intended and current role of the U.S. Constitution in promoting authentic democracy1 in our nation.Public fallout from Kavanaugh’s confirmation is similar to the reaction following two presidential elections within the last 18 years in which the candidate with the most popular votes lost the election due to the working ...Continue Reading

The Pushback Against Ending Corporate RuleBy Greg ColeridgeRising anger against the seemingly omnipotent power of corporations to dictate nearly every aspect of society has yielded predictable pushback from corporations and their minions (i.e. human, not small yellow creatures) in government. Laws against mass protests and stronger regulatory protections and increasing corporate SLAPP lawsuits to silence critics are just a few examples.Not as predictable has been pushback against efforts to reassert control over corpora ...Continue Reading

Dr. Gene Sharp: Prophet of Nonviolent Struggleby Jim Price“Dictators are never as strong as they tell you they are. People are never as weak as they think they are.”                                    - Dr. Gene SharpDr. Gene Sharp will best be remembered for his extensive writings on nonviolent struggle. He recently died, on January 28, 2018, at age 90. For almost five decades, Sharp assisted leaders of numerous popular resis ...Continue Reading

Knowing History is Key to Saying No to Corporate RightsReprinted from https://www.opednews.com/articles/2/Knowing-history-is-key-to-by-Greg-Coleridge-Corporate_Corporate-Constitutional-Rights_Corporate-Personhood_Corporate-Rule-180414-291.htmlby Greg Coleridge"If we want to get out of the mess we're in, we better find out how we got into it." -- Mark TwainNot sure Twain actually said that, but since so much witty wisdom is attributed to him, why not that one?What could have been the Sage of Hannibal's advice i ...Continue Reading

Learning, Training and Lobbying to End Corporate RuleMove to Amend National Leadership Summit, June 8-11by Greg ColeridgeInterest, energy and organized effort to end corporate rule has dramatically increased since POCLAD formed over 20 years ago. When Richard Grossman and Ward Morehouse gathered a few frustrated labor, environmental, peace and other activists together in various living rooms on Cape Cod in the mid 1990’s, the number of people in the entire country aware of and dedicated to abolishing constitutionally-an ...Continue Reading

POCLAD at the Democracy Convention by Greg Coleridge and David Cobb “Universalizing Resistance, Democracy Power” was the theme of the third Democracy Convention in Minneapolis in early August. The Convention’s eight separate but overlapping conferences each focused on a different aspect of democracy. “Democratizing the Constitution” was the conference where our workshop, “How Judicial Review and Lifetime Appointments make the Supreme Court a Democratic Threat,” was housed. Our session was well attended and received. ...Continue Reading

The Fourth of July Like You’ve Never Seen it Before by Mike Ferner This year, sit back with your favorite beverage, prop up your feet, and open your head to consider Independence Day in a whole new way. Previously, a POCLAD article about the American Revolution would usually relate how the democratic promises of the Declaration were left unfulfilled at the war’s end and a very undemocratic constitution was adopted six years later. We would likely list how the new constitution abandoned the ideals stated in the Decl ...Continue Reading

“Are Not Corporations People, Too?” … Encounters with Corporate Liberals by James Price As advocates pursuing the passage of the Move to Amend “We the People” 28th Amendment, we are periodically confronted by various critics who appear uncomfortable about a number of consequences which they believe would result from its passage. Some see it as an unnecessary overreach, because, they assert, the First Amendment political speech problem caused by allowing unlimited corporate contributions for or against political candi ...Continue Reading