FOR A WATERSHED IN HISTORY: ONE PROPOSAL FOR THE COORDINATING COMMITTEE OF UC-BERKELEY’S MARCH 4TH EVENT
by The Ox

Hah! Sure… we organize workshops for the day… and we manage to boycott classes, etc. The usual. [Pause.] What follows below follows a new paradigm. It allows you to do whatever else you want to do, whatever else you have to do. But it sets up an unprecedented playing field… which permits a new game to start up. http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/20/students and/or http://changinguniversities.blogspot.com/ might provide some background for the uninitiated.

This is a very rough outline of a very good suggestion, unedited. Don’t get caught up with the nooks and crannies. You can clarify, tighten-up as the need arises… confirm… research… and so on. BUT, for now, glance at it… and let me know what you think of the general thrust. It will take ZERO money. And so, if successful… or even if partially successful (to be defined upon request)… a monumental point will be made for society at large. About MONEY.

The people getting shafted in the UC system are not just going to “take over” the UC system, they’re going to “take over” the State of California via the gubernatorial office… out of which the Regents arise. Because the fundamental issues which are costing them too much of their life’s blood at present are directly linked to other state and national matters. And on that note, they’re going to “take over” in conjunction with other segments of society. This is not a proposal for the academic world to rule the roost. Rather, it is a plan which will make proper representation ‘cross the board possible. Again, by taking over the reins that come with the Sacred Seat of Sacramento.

A Governor of California can do many things unilaterally which can — overnight — impact not just on academic life throughout the state, but have a positive effect on life regionally, nationally and internationally. See http://oxtogrind.org/archive/311 for a taste… which bounces off of TOSCA at http://oxtogrind.org/archive/364. Read the latter matter first, if you will.

Before getting started, please note that elections in California are either fixed or possible to be fixed. As in fraudulent. As things stand, no one with heart, mind and soul in a healthy place — without career as the top priority — can secure the gubernatorial office*. With that as our starting point, I propose that part of what we do on March 4th is nominate a working figurehead candidate for Governor and a working figurehead candidate for Lt. Guv… to lead a group comprised of twelve unaffiliated, non-politician citizens… as write-in candidates in the upcoming gubernatorial election in California. I know that the Devil and the hard work is in the details, but we’ll get to that.

For now, think of it as our PRIMARY… unconcerned with validity, checks and balances, etc. Anal retentive souls step aside for the moment.

*If we actually won a gubernatorial election, we wouldn’t be allowed to take office. At that point — the juncture at which we were blatantly denied our just democratic deserts — that would be a point at which it might be worth getting our heads bashed in, getting arrested, etc. We certainly wouldn’t want to be successful, and then be told we have to leave the political stage so that some illegitimate gangster could serve at the helm. [We won't be spending any money, but we will have invested a ton of heartbeats... and, after all, survival is at stake.]

More than 16,000 students are currently enrolled in UC Santa Cruz. That makes them one of the smaller schools in the UC system. If you total up ALL the students in the various nooks and crannies of the system and couple them all with staff, faculty and workers (AFSCME, the UAW, UPTE, et al.)… you’ve got an enormous number of citizens. If those citizens each made it a point to get two other people involved on one of the UC system campuses for March 4th… well, then, I’m figuring that’s healthy number. [A mere fraction of the total participating would actually serve our purposes.]

Okay, so ALL those citizens show up to vote on one of the campuses. How do they vote? How do we verify their legitimate right to vote? How do we limit the field? We can discuss all that upon request. That’s actually the easy part to all this. The hard part is finding your passion, locating your imagination, directing your energy to a realm where it will do the most good for the most people. So that, in fact, we can survive, not just secure justice vis-a-vis tuition hikes and the like.

Okay, so — after counting the ballots — we come up by the Ides of March with the names of twelve individuals who will “take over” the reins in 2010 via an historic write-in campaign, giving us gubernatorial control in November. Those nominees, by the way, if elected will be able to rely on the expertise of a great number of experienced, honest alternative souls, some of which are listed at http://oxtogrind.org/archive/336. They do not have to be experts in engineering, law, management or any other particular realm. This will be a highly cooperative venture… a collective making decisions together on an equal basis… guaranteed to do a better job than any self-serving careerist ever did for California in its history. Being — in communal action — the first humane executive in its history. [I really have to laugh with a great deal of sadness in my heart when some poor, misguided ignoramus points out ot me that they don't want to come on board with TOSCA 'cause they believe we need a single person making decisions, that a group would never get anything done. Right, that's what we're lacking... leadership!]

Anyway, to cut to the chase… let’s use our imaginations to elaborate on what’s possible. What could be generated from this scenario being implemented.

It’s New Year’s Day, and I want to spend time with my family… all of whom should be rising momentarily. I put it to you that we can surprise ourselves. And — in the process — surprise the world.
http://www.artofeurope.com/larkin/lar4.htm
Phillip Larkin’s First Sight might be a sweet way to begin this New Year.

If you like that let me know ’cause I have other stuff to share with you.

I give you my life, my heartbeats…
Richard
P.S. I would like to secure the participation of Rage Against the Machine for UC’s March 4th (which is also Jeannette Rankin’s birthday, by the way!) event. However, whether or not we accomplish that… RATM can follow up our electoral-centered efforts as per http://oxtogrind.org/archive/458. This is an attempt at a Boston Tea Party dance. A 9/11-level shock to THE SYSTEM, not just the UC system. A revolution following new parameters. A non-violent revolution. Something that’s actually LEGAL… if the powers that be will allow this democratically-based proposal to flap its wings. Bloodless. Is that possible? Well, we will find out, won’t we? Your job — if you have vision — your job — if you can see — is to help others to self-educate. Your job is NOT — to use the Larkin imagery as a point of departure
here — to refine and define “Earth’s immeasurable surprise” ahead of time.

CONTACT Ricardo or Richard at tosca.2010@yahoo.com ASAP.