You are cordially invited to The Last-Shot-Do-or-Die-Ultimate-Armageddon-Game-Show-Happy-Hour with Nick and Jamie

Dearest Friends and Family,

As we all know, the fate of the world literally hangs in the balance.

In order to do what I can to push the world back to the side where it doesn't self-destruct, I am co-hosting A Night of Fun and Fundraising to Save the Goddamn World with my good friend, Nick Rosenthal*.

And you are invited!

The photo in the image above is from our 8th grade yearbook, you can see the full 2-page spread at the bottom of this post. It’s quite good!

If you want to come (or if you don't), donate $50 (or more) to any group (Swing Left, Movement Voter Project, Joe Biden/DNC/DSCC, Black Voters Matter, The Sunrise Movement, Jaime Harrison (SC), Raphael Warnock (GA), Sara Gideon (MA)...) that is fighting to help Democrats win in November. Of course, the idea is that you would donate $50 more than you would have otherwise, if not for this event, but I’m not too worried about it either way.

Send me proof of your donation (dunbarjameslu@gmail.com) and I'll send you an invite to a Zoom Party on Saturday, October 17th, at 7pm (Pacific Time) where we will have fun! Nick and I will entertain you (or at least humiliate ourselves semi-publicly at your pleasure) for at least one hour (but possibly many, many more, we don't have anywhere to go!).

We will play games and you will have the opportunity to win prizes. There will be light refreshments (served by you), with a signature cocktail and suggested menu. (Actually, we will be strongly encouraging you to serve yourself heavy refreshments, followed by some carb-heavy drunken munchies and a bunch of water so you don't feel like shit in the morning.)

If you donate $100 or more, then in addition to your ticket to our Game Night, you will also be eligible to receive 1 of the 100 remaining books of The Universe Verse. (Signed of course!) That's right, there's only 100 left. The Universe Verse will soon be out of print! I'm willing to give away up to 50 of the remaining books, to anyone who donates $100 or more. If there are more than 50 people who donate $100, then the 50 books will go to the 50 people who donate the most to Democrats between now and October 17th.

If you can't donate much money, donate a little. Or donate your time. Email or call your friends and family and ask them to contribute. Write letters with Vote Forward. Either way, if you email me and tell me what you've done, you'll get a chance to win stuff too! I'm trying to get at least 100 people to contribute at least something to this event.

I really hope you'll join me!

Last shot, do or die,

Jamie

PS, feel free to pass this along to anyone you know who might be interested. EVERYONE is invited!

* As you may know, I've been reaching out to the people I know and care about, people like yourself, and asking them to consider joining me in taking action to save the world from terrible devastation. This has been a deeply gratifying activity and I strongly recommend it. Please, talk to your friends and family and ask them to consider contributing to this election. Especially if you've been feeling a little starved of meaningful social connection. I really think this is the most meaningful thing you can do with your social connections right now!

One of the people I had the pleasure of reconnecting with is Nick Rosenthal. Nick and I were the best of friends from Kindergarten to 8th grade at a small private school in Berkeley called Black Pine Circle. Nick and I were inseparable for years and shared a very unique life experience, which has certainly added an interesting angle to our friendship.

You see, we are both the only son of a self-publishing guru. Nick's father is Ed Rosenthal, who is world-renowned in the field of cannabis cultivation. My father is Ian Dunbar, world-renowned in the field of dog training. Both founded publishing companies to popularize and profit from their knowledge and both are celebrities in their respective worlds.

I reached out to Nick about the election, with my whole 1% idea and he told me that yes, he'd been donating, and yes, he'd given more than 1% of his income already, and that he was actually kind of thinking about doing something more, like a live fundraiser.

I told him he should definitely do it, that there is no way he would come to regret it, and as soon as I said that I knew that the same was true for me and so I needed to co-host it with him.

So he's e-mailed all of his friends and family and I'm emailing all of you.

Please join us, we'll have fun!

This is the yearbook page that Nick and I created together for our 8th grade yearbook. As you can see, we already had our eyes on November 2020…

The 1% Challenge

The coming US election is going to be a BIG DEAL. America is driving off a cliff and we are poised to take the rest of life on Earth with us. But if Democrats can take back control of the White House and the Senate, and retain the House, and do so in a landslide, we have a real, once-in-a-lifetime chance to address some of the major problems that are destroying our country: the assault on America’s democratic institutions and principles, wealth inequality, racial injustice, climate change, a counterproductive criminal “justice” system, and insufficient affordable housing, health care, and education. And of course, this pandemic!!!

But we need to win, and win BIG, and that’s only going to happen if everyone contributes. That means YOU!

If you are struggling financially, then think about giving time. If you are too busy, consider giving money.
Can’t spare either? That’s alright, the most important resource is inspiration. Spread the word!

Please think about donating money to some of the wonderful organizations that are working strategically to help Democrats win this election.

Consider donating 1% of your wealth or income to any of the following organizations: Swing Left, Movement Voter Project, Joe Biden (even better, use my friend Tracy’s Biden fundraiser link) and the DNC/DSCC/DCCC, Black Voters Matter, The Sunrise Movement... or any organization of your choosing.

Please donate your time to Vote Forward’s letter writing campaign to increase voter turnout in swing states. Letter writing is believed to be one of the most effective known tactics to boost turnout. 1% of a day is 14 minutes.

Need extra help? No problem, we will send you the printed letters and as many stamps as you need - just ask: Send requests to Act4Nov3@gmail.com

One of the most powerful actions you can take, without using much time or energy, is to share this document with others. There are a lot of Democrats who understand how important this election is, but are not FEELING the urgency. Send this Call to Action to those folks you have meaningful relationship with.

Why you should consider joining the 1% Challenge

Here’s a PDF version of this document that you can download.
It has been formatted for printing onto a 8.5” x 11” sheet of printer paper.

Why You Should Join the 1% Challenge

Check out the 1% Challenge

When we look at the state of the world and our country we are terrified. Between the assault on America’s democracy, the climate crisis, wealth inequality, racial inequity, the oppressive and counterproductive criminal "justice" system, and the lack of affordable healthcare, education and housing, we think that our country needs to make some really big changes, and that we need to make them soon.

We worry that if Donald Trump gets re-elected, or even if Biden wins but Republicans retain control of the Senate, it's going to cause irreparable harm to our country and all the people and creatures on this planet. We are worried about what it would mean for the future of our lives, our children’s lives, and the lives of all of our loved ones. We believe all of our lives will be dramatically worse if Democrats do not win in a very big way in November.

Obviously, Democrats are not perfect. And there’s a huge range within the Democratic party. But the GOP has surrendered themselves to Donald Trump and that has created an even starker contrast between centrist Republicans and centrist Democrats. The GOP has given their blessing to Trump’s attacks on our democratic institutions and his blatant attempts to disenfranchise millions of Americans and abuse his power for personal political gain.

So while no politician is perfect, almost all Democrats are going to be better than their Republican counterparts. Any Republicans that remain in office are going to use whatever power they have to resist and obstruct any serious efforts to solve the problems we need so desperately to address.

So we've been giving a lot of thought to what we can do to help Democrats win this election. And we think there are three main resources that we have to contribute to this cause: time, money, and inspiration.

Before we go any further, we would like to acknowledge that these are scary and challenging times. We are writing this from a place of privilege and we recognize that. There are a lot of people in America today who don’t have any time or money or energy to spare. There are too many Americans who are struggling just to survive. If you are among them, then your first priority must be to take care of yourself and your loved ones. 

But we should all be thinking about what we can contribute to this cause. It’s not just about money. Time can be a valuable resource as well. So can your social connections. We all need to step up right now. The stakes are too high to sit on the sidelines. 

Every person and every family is different. We have different resources, different strengths, and different limitations. But we can all find a way to contribute, and right now, it’s absolutely critical that we all figure out how we can best contribute, and that we ask the people we know to do the same.

This will be more fun and more effective if we do it together with the people we love and care about.

MONEY

Money certainly isn’t everything, but it can be a very powerful thing. If you have money to spare, it is a very easy and convenient way to make a difference. 

The more money you have, the more money you should give. We believe this is true for moral reasons, and also for reasons of rational self-interest. 

As a result, we think that it’s better to think about monetary contributions in terms of a percentage of what you have, rather than a dollar amount. The value of a dollar varies greatly depending on how many dollars you have. As a percentage, 1% may sound like a small number, but if you have a lot of wealth, it can be a very sizable amount. 

We believe that extreme wealth inequality is an injustice on its own. Currently, the three richest Americans have as much wealth as the bottom HALF of all Americans. 1 in 10 Americans live in poverty. This is a bad way to distribute wealth if we’re trying to maximize happiness, because the more wealth a person has, the less likely it is that additional money is going to increase their happiness. 

If you are living in poverty, $100 can buy a lot of happiness. If you are a billionaire, $100 is meaningless. Once you get to a certain level of wealth, you can already afford to buy all of the stuff that will reliably make you happier. At a certain point, additional wealth is no guarantee of additional happiness. At this level of wealth, happiness is derived from behavior, relationships and a sense of purpose.

In fact, if you are wealthy, giving away money is actually one of the few reliable ways to buy happiness! 

If you are wealthy and progressive you are probably worried about this election. Investing money in the future of America, but donating it to Democrats for this election will feel very good at a time when there is a lot to feel bad and anxious about. 

There is nothing that feels so good as being part of something bigger than ourselves, something noble and historic. We are presented with that opportunity now.

It’s also important to think for a moment about where America’s wealth has come from. We love America and we think this is an amazing country that has done some wonderful things and made some invaluable contributions to the world. We are, in many, many ways, proud to be Americans.

But we are also aware that some terrible things have been done by Americans, and that those terrible actions were a big part of our country’s founding. America could not exist today, with all of its wealth and power, without the genocide of millions of Native Americans and the kidnapping and enslavement of millions of Africans. 

And we are also aware that there has been a lot of injustice in the policies and practices that have governed America over the years. And we are aware that those injustices have not been rectified, as evidenced by the huge differences in the distribution of wealth in America today between races. The average Black American family has 1/10th of the wealth of the average White American family. That’s a terrible injustice.

To be clear, we do not think that wealthy Americans are bad because they are wealthy. Many Americans are rich because they worked hard and built something valuable. One of the wonderful things about America is that it is possible to become wealthy by being smart, talented, hard-working, or lucky, without having to do anything unjust or exploitative. 

The problem is, a certain level of injustice and exploitation was baked into America from the very beginning, and has been a part of the system of American capitalism in many ways for a long time, so regardless of what any one individual has done to accumulate wealth, all wealth in America has been tainted by a certain amount of injustice.

So what should we do with this information? 

We believe this knowledge means that those with more wealth than their fellow Americans have a responsibility to use some of their wealth to try and right the wrongs of America’s past. 

We believe that this election is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use wealth to elect leaders who are serious about taking bold steps to solve some of America’s worst injustices, and try to reverse the rising inequality and polarization that is tearing our country apart. This is a chance for America to follow through on some of the lofty promises and ideals that make this such a special country, a country that we love.

America was founded on some very admirable and noble ideals about freedom and equality. Those are the principles that make us deeply proud to be Americans. But if we want to make those ideals into a reality for all Americans, we have to fight for them, and we have to do it right now!

TIME

Everyone gets 24 hours in a day and 168 hours in a week. Of course, the amount of free time that each of us has varies wildly. If your job requires a lot of your time, or you care for young children, or elders, or people who are sick, you may have very little time to spare.

On the other hand, if you don’t have a job, or you don’t have other people that depend on you for care, you may find that all of your time is free.

We both have small children and full time jobs and limited childcare/school, so our free time is pretty limited. That said, we’re still trying to dedicate 1% of our time to this cause. 

We live in California so our options for helping Democrats in crucial swing states are limited. If you live in or near a swing state, you have a lot of other options about how you might invest your time. Check out Swing Left to find good actions based on where you live.

If, like us, you don’t live in a swing state, one easy thing you can do is write letters or postcards that help get out the Democratic vote in swing states. If you’re interested in giving this a try, but you don’t have the resources, please send us an email (Act4Nov3@gmail.com) and we will help get you the supplies you need.

1% of a day is 14 minutes. 1% of a week is 100 minutes. We think that’s a good place to start, but feel free to adjust that number according to your capacity.

INSPIRATION

Whatever contribution you can make is wonderful. But whatever contribution you make is going to be inconsequential on its own. Unless your name is Jeff Bezos, you can’t write a check that's going to tip the scales. 

If you really want to make a difference you have to magnify your contribution with the most potent resource you have, you social connections and your ability to inspire.

Even if you gave 100% of your time and 100% of your money, it wouldn't make a difference in this election. But if you give 1%, and then you convince a handful of people to join you, and you ask those people to ask others to join us, and so on, then maybe we actually can make a difference. 

Especially if we all make an effort to ask the wealthiest, most connected, most progressive people we know!

DO WHAT YOU CAN

We understand that these are challenging times. Financially, emotionally, physically, life is hard right now in a lot of ways. Even for the most privileged among us. It’s easy to feel apathetic. It’s easy to feel depressed and worried. It’s easy to feel fatalistic. But these feelings are not going to help us. This is a big moment in history. We’re not going to get a second chance at this. If you can contribute to this cause with time, money, inspiration, please do so. Please encourage your friends and family to do so as well.

It will make you feel better. Especially if you do so with the people you care about.

With all of this in mind, we created this document. We’re going to use it as a tool to start some conversations with the important people in our lives. We hope that you will consider doing the same.

How to Use the 1% Challenge

Here is what we would like everyone to consider doing:

1. Take 5 minutes to think deliberately about how important this upcoming election is. Think about American democracy, the pandemic, the climate catastrophe, wealth inequality, racial injustice, mass incarceration and the militirization of our police and everything else about our country that is in desperate need of improvement.

2. Take 5 minutes to think about what resources you have to offer. How much money do you have? What’s your annual income and your net worth? How much free time to do you have? How many friends and family do you have?

3. Take 5 minutes to think about what you should contribute to the cause of winning this election and saving the world. What can you spare? Think about what you could contribute without endangering you and your family’s security. As a starting point, think about 1% of your time, annual income or net worth. Think about the diminishing marginal utility of money, and how, at a certain point, the best way to purchase happiness is by giving money to others in a meaningful way.

4. Make a commitment to contribute a specific amount of something: time and/or money.

5. Make a commitment to write emails to, or make calls to a specific number of people that you know and care about, to start a conversation with them about contributing to this election.

6. Write down your commitments in the form of a number. Consider sharing your commitment(s) with one or two of your best friends, as this will increase the likelihood you’ll follow through, and encourage them to contribute as well.

7. Fulfill your commitments:

Contribute Money - This one’s pretty easy. Do it now, your money will be more useful now rather than later. You might consider donating to Swing Left, Movement Voter Project, Move On, Joe Biden and the DNC/DSCC/DCCC, Black Voters Matter, The Sunrise Movement... or any organization of your choosing. There are limits to how much you can donate to specific organizations, but for many organizations there is no limit. See below for more information about these specific groups.

Contribute Your Time - Be smart and prioritize the most impactful actions. For most people, we believe Activating Your Network is going to be the most impactful action you can take. After that, it depends on your location. Swing Left can help you find actions based on your location. There are a bunch of other guides to taking action in this election, here’s a good example. If you’re not in a swing state, you can always write letters to likely Democratic voters in swing states with Vote Forward.

Activate Your Network - Write individual emails or make calls to all the people you know and care about. Ask them if they are fired up. Ask them if they are contributing. Ask them if they are activating their own networks. Encourage them. Give a little push but don’t be too pushy. A lot of people are overwhelmed right now, so be understanding of anyone who doesn’t want to contribute. Move on to the next person. You’re trying to connect with the people who are worried about this election, they want to contribute, but they need a little more motivation or direction. There are a lot of people like that, and I bet you know a lot of them.

Swing Left is a progressive political group in the United States that was created following the election of Donald Trump in 2016. The group was founded to create an easier way for Democrats to volunteer in their nearest swing district. If you donate money to Swing Left they will try to direct your donation to the elections where it will have the most impact, focusing on districts that have multiple critical elections and campaigns that have not attracted a lot of money yet. They direct the donations they receive primarily towards candidates, but they also fund some organizations that are working to win this election for Democrats.

Movement Voter Project is an organization that works to identify and raise money for the best and most promising local community-based organizations in the states and districts that will be most important in this election, with a focus on groups that are driven by youth and communities of color. In this way, MVP is doing work to win this election, and every future election, by building political power and capacity among people who have traditionally not had much power in American politics.

Move On is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee that has been around since 1998. Move On has been a leader in modern, progressive, political mobilization for over two decades, and pioneered many of the current tactics used to organize and empower progressive citizens in the digital age.

Black Voters Matter is an organization whose goal is to increase power in marginalized, predominantly Black communities. BVM is not primarily an electoral organization. They are first and foremost, a power building organization, and while they believe that voting and electoral organizing is one way to build power, it is by no means the only way. Nevertheless, we believe that supporting BVM will help Democrats win this election, and future elections, and is also a good way to contribute toward overcoming racial injustice in America.

The Sunrise Movement is a youth-driven movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process, by enacting a Green New Deal. Sunrise is well aware that a Green New Deal is only possible if Republicans are replaced with Democrats so they are currently focusing all of their energy on the 2020 election.

Joe Biden is a good man who has dedicated his life to public service. Initially, we were not very enthusiastic about his candidacy. To be honest, we were not particularly excited when he won the nomination. But maybe, in a way, that’s a good thing. Donald Trump has been a very exciting president. Exciting isn’t always good. Also, Joe Biden’s personal story, defined as it is by loss and public service, provides a very stark contrast to Donald Trump’s story of privilege, greed, and the worshiping of “winning”. Tragedy, grief, and loss are important elements of the human experience, elements that Joe is intimately familiar with.Many of us are dealing with these things right now. I am excited and enthusiastic to elect a president who can console, who can soothe, who has the wisdom that can only be gained through loss.

The Democrats are not perfect. No politician or political party is perfect. But America is a two-party system and Donald Trump has taken the Republican Party completely off the rails, which means we have to support Democrats with everything we can muster. The only alternative to electing Democrats is electing Donald Trump and Republicans, which is a death sentence for American democracy and the fate of the world. The advantage of donating to the DNC/DSCC/DCCC, is that the money will be allocated strategically, hopefully targeting the races that will benefit the most.

The 1% Challenge (Printer Friendly)

This version of the 1% Challenge document is designed to be downloaded and printed onto standard, 8.5” x 11” printer paper, to produce a handy hand-out. (Right-click the document below and then save the image to your computer.)

2020 US Election Action Pledge

I made this document to help Democrats win the 2020 Election. Please download it and ask the people in your life to sign it. You probably know a lot of people who are anxious about the upcoming election. Let's take that anxiety and turn it into productive action and let's start now!

This Action Pledge is a tool that you can use to take the impact of your time and energy and multiply it exponentially. The power of each of us as individuals is negligible, but if we can inspire others to join us, we can produce a meaningful impact.

(If you've got ideas, skills, or connections that could make this concept better, please, let me know. If you'd like to take this concept and modify it yourself to help Democrats in 2020, go for it!)

Download this document as a fillable PDF using THIS LINK.

How to fill in the Action Pledge:

1. Write your name in the first empty field "(YOUR NAME)".

2. If the second fillable text field "(THE PERSON WHO ASKED YOU TO SIGN THIS)" is blank, write the name of the person who asked you to sign this pledge. (If no one asked you to sign this pledge you can leave this area blank)

3. Check the box next to one or more additional actions that you are willing to commit to completing in the next month. Fill in any relevant details. There is more information on all of the Suggested Actions and Organizations below.

4. Sign and date the Action Pledge. Scan your completed Pledge or take a photo of it and send the photo to the person who asked you to sign this pledge. Keep the original and post it somewhere prominent.

5. Complete your actions within one month! One of those actions is getting 3 more people to sign the pledge, and so...

How to get other people to fill in the Action Pledge:

1. Reach out to someone you know that is worried about the upcoming election. Ask them if they would be interested in joining you in taking action now to ensure Democrats win in November.

2. Give them the Action Pledge and the Pledge Manager. You can download this Pledge as a fillable PDF using THIS LINK. You can enter your name in the second text field "(THE PERSON WHO ASKED YOU TO SIGN THIS)" and then save the PDF file before you send it or print it out.

3. Explain to them how to fill out the Action Pledge. Ask them to send you a photo/scan of their completed Action Pledge and post their original copy somewhere prominent. Explain to them how to track the pledges they collect in the Pledge Manager.

4. Record the details of their pledge (Name, Date, Action Commitments) in your Pledge Manager document. More details below.

5. Follow up two weeks later to see if they're on track to complete their commitments. Follow up one month later to see if they completed their actions. Ask them if they would like to renew the Action Pledge for the next month.

Tips for getting people to sign the Action Pledge

• People will be much more likely to sign the Action Pledge if you ask them individually and if you let them know that this is something that you think is important. 

• Do you feel silly asking other people to sign an Action Pledge? That's fine. You can say so: "Look, I feel kind of silly, but my friend asked me to do this, and I think it's actually a really good idea, so I wanted to ask you if you'd consider joining me..."

• Don't get hung up on candidates. It's easy to disagree about which Democratic presidential candidate is best, but we can all agree that we want the Democrats to win and there are plenty of organizations/actions that support this goal.

Suggested Actions

This is, by no means, a definitive list. These are just the things that I came up with by myself and by asking the people I know. I am not an expert and the suggestions I’ve made reflect my personal situation: a US citizen living in a non-swing state. If you have suggestions you think I should add, or if you’d like to make changes yourself, you are more than welcome to! You have my permission to edit and customize these documents in any way you think will be helpful for electing Democrats in 2020. I created this document in Photoshop, just email me if you would like a copy of the original document so you can customize it yourself.

Get ___ more people to sign this Action Pledge
Getting other people to sign the Pledge is the heart of this whole concept. Let’s harness the power of the pyramid scheme to promote progressive political action.

How many people can you recruit? Well, how many people do you know who want to remove Trump from office? Keep in mind that you can ask people to make small commitments. Most people should be able to donate $10 or recruit 3 additional people. It’s OK to start small, and hopefully people will be inspired to do more once they’ve gotten started.

Donate $$$ equivalent to ____ x Lunch / Dinner Date / Weekend Trip to one of the groups below or to: _______________________
This is a bit confusing, I know. I wanted to make a way for people to write down some indicator of how much money they were going to donate without having to write down a specific number because a lot of people are shy about money. So please circle one of the items Lunch / Dinner Date / Weekend Trip and then think about how much you would typically spend on that. If you are willing to donate a multiple of that amount, you can write that multiplier down in the first blank field. So, for example, someone might donate the $$$ equivalent of 3 x Dinner Date.

The organizations listed at the bottom of the document are the ones that I think have the best plans for defeating Trump and electing Democrats to the most important positions of power in 2020. If you know of other organizations you think are good, please let me know, I’d love to hear about them.

How much should you give? I think it’s helpful to think about discretionary purchases like a Dinner Date or Weekend Trip. How much do you spend on indulgences like that, and how important are they compared to the situation we find ourselves in? I certainly don’t mean to suggest that people shouldn’t treat themselves to nice dinners and special vacations, but I do think it’s worth pausing for a moment to consider priorities.

Start a (Swing Left?) Fundraiser and raise $ ______
I think that Swing Left is one of the best places you can donate money right now and they make it very easy to start your own fundraiser so that you can solicit donations for 2020 and keep track of how much money you manage to raise.

How much should you try and raise? How many people would you feel comfortable asking? How many people would you feel uncomfortable asking? I would say that the stakes are so high right now that we should all be willing to overcome a little social anxiety. What’s a little awkwardness compared to potential armageddon?

Join a local (Indivisible?) group / Attend a local meeting
Indivisible is an organization that supports local groups that take progressive political action. There’s probably a chapter near you. Or maybe there’s another group that’s dedicated to progressive political action. Find one, join it and go to a meeting and meet some new people.

Write ___ (Vote Forward?) letters to infrequent voters in swing states
An organization called Vote Forward can provide you with names and addresses of infrequent Democratic voters in swing states. They also provide a template for a letter you can send to these voters. By hand-addressing these letters and hand-writing a brief note about why you think voting is important, you can have a measurable positive impact on voter turnout.

How many letters can you write? According to Vote Forward, about 20/hour. And they make it easy to host a letter writing party. Get together a few friends and you can easily write a few hundred!

Travel to a swing state to spend ___ hours registering voters or canvassing
If you are capable of traveling to a swing state and registering voters, that’s awesome. I haven’t really looked into the best way to go about doing that, so if you know of good resources for that sort of action, please let me know!

Suggested Organizations

I’m not an expert on political mobilization organizations but after a little research, these are the people I found doing work that I thought seemed most exciting. If you know of any other organizations doing valuable work, please let me know!

Swing Left
Swing Left’s strategy is to focus resources on the Super Swing States, the states which are not only swing states for the Presidential election, but where there is also a Senate seat up for grabs, or control of redistricting is at stake, or all three. Visit their website, enter your zipcode and Swing Left will generate a list of actions you can take. If you’re in a non-swing state like me, they will probably include writing letters with Vote Foreward, attending or hosting meetings or donating to their funds. Their funds raise money for key races so that the Democratic candidate that wins the Democratic Party nomination in their race will have a big check waiting for them the day after the primary is over, when the money will be most needed and most useful.

Movement Voter Project
The Movement Voter Project’s strategy is to raise money for grassroots, local groups in the swing states and districts where that money is likely to produce the most impact. They support local groups with local knowledge and connections, who know what it’s going to take to win elections in their communities. They think strategically about which organizations to fund using a few key principles. They target: places where there are multiple important races, places that are not receiving ample support from elsewhere, places where there is the potential to make a multiplier effect, and in the places they target, they support multiple local groups to create a whole political mobilization ecosystem.

The Democratic Party
Nothing special or surprising here. I’m just kind of assuming that money donated to the Democratic Party is going to be spent strategically to win power for Democrats in 2020, and I figure some people may want a more mainstream option than Swing Left of the Movement Voter Project.

Indivisible
Indivisible started with a guide for taking action to resist the Trump administration. It has grown into a collection of thousands of local, grass-roots groups, each one dedicated to connecting people in their community to figure out how to promote progressive politics. Go to their website, enter your zip code and find a local chapter to join!

Vote Forward
Vote Forward makes it easy to write letters to infrequent Democratic voters in swing states. They provide addresses and letter templates, you hand address the envelope, hand-write a short personal explanation of why you think voting is important and then you sign the letter and hold onto it until a few weeks before the election. Randomized trials have shown that a hand-written letter like this can have a measurable, positive effect on voter turnout, more than anything else you can do without actually traveling to a swing state.

Pledge Manager

This document goes with the Action Pledge document above.

Use this document to track any pledges that you collect (starting with your own pledge). This provides a place for you to record who made the pledge, when the pledge was made, and the date it should be completed by, as well as the specific actions that were committed to. This should make it easier for you to follow up over the course of the following month to see if your friends are on track to complete their pledges in the one-month time frame.

Regardless of whether they are successful or not, you should celebrate whatever they did accomplish and ask them to consider making another set of pledges for the next month! Keep the momentum going!

The Green New Deal

Have you heard much about the Green New Deal?

I think it's the most exciting and meaningful thing I've ever heard of in my entire life and I'm going to start talking about it, and climate change, a lot more with my friends and my family and the public. 

The world's scientists are telling us that 10 years from now the Earth is going to be an uglier, scarier, dirtier, more dangerous place, with less biodiversity and more death and destruction. And it will be getting worse. And every single one of us will be looking back and feeling like idiots for not doing more and not doing it sooner. Those of us with children are going to feel particularly stupid and guilty. Just imagine what it will be like when they understand how badly we dropped the ball.

We are all privileged Americans with real power and a responsibility to do something about this problem, and start doing it now.

I want you to get fired up about the Green New Deal. I want you to support it and promote it. I want you to own it. In order to do so, you don't have to think it's perfect, you just have to believe two important things:

1. We urgently need to do something BIG to stop climate change

2. We need to do something BIG to save the American middle class and prevent inequality from increasing

If you believe those two things, then you need to get behind the GND. We can't wait for the next solution to come along. This is it. The time is NOW. 

Transforming our economy so that it doesn't emit carbon and treats people a little more fairly and humanely is going to be a huge undertaking, but fundamentally it is a problem of political will. We simply need to convince our fellow Americans that this is in their best interest (and in the best interest of ALL LIFE ON EARTH!).

Below I'm including some more information on the Green New Deal: what it is, why it’s important, and my responses to common concerns and objections. In the next few weeks I hope to add more content here to promote the GND.

If you want to support the GND, please consider doing the following:

Call your Members of Congress and ask them to please support the Green New Deal. Tell them it’s very important to you and your family.

Join the Sunrise Movement. Donate to them. Sign their petition.

Talk about climate change and the Green New Deal with your family and friends. Build support. See if you can get more people excited about the Green New Deal, people who are also willing to call Congress and sign the petition.

Together, we can do this!

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What is the Green New Deal (GND)?

The GND is a non-binding resolution that is gaining momentum in Congress, declaring an intent to pursue two primary goals:

1. Transform the US economy as quickly as possible from one that emits carbon to one that does not.

2. Provide a good green job, with a living wage and health care for any American that wants to work to fight climate change.

Why is the GND important?

We are poisoning our planet with carbon. The world's climate scientists recently released a report stating that climate change is actually worse than we thought and that if we don't make drastic changes to society in the next ten years we will all suffer some terrible and irreparable consequences. Ten years is not a lot of time and our attempts at incremental action on the issue have so far proven woefully inadequate.

At the same time, the middle class in America is disappearing. It is getting harder and harder for people to secure a good job that provides a living wage and health insurance. 

We need a plan that is BIG enough to fix these problems, and BIG enough to get people excited about fixing these problems.

How does the GND plan to achieve the primary goals?

When it comes to cutting emissions, the GND lists a lot of specific steps that will probably need to happen, but it does not specify exactly how those steps will be taken, in large part because we don't know yet, we have to figure it out. 

When it comes to providing good jobs, the GND does not specify exactly how this will be achieved, but it does commit to making the process as fair as possible so no Americans are left behind, especially the people most affected by climate change and the people who have been left behind during past government jobs and assistance programs.

Who is promoting the GND?

This is not a new idea. The term Green New Deal was first coined over ten years ago, and Obama was very interested in the idea. In 2016 it was a part of Bernie Sander's platform. 

The current swell of enthusiasm for this idea is the work of a group of youth climate activists, called The Sunrise Movement, working with freshman congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, riding the momentum of the 2018 midterm elections, where the Democrats took back control of the US House of Representatives.

Recent polls have shown wide-spread support for the core ideas from a wide range of Americans. One poll found support from 92% of Democrats and 64% of Republicans!

When will the GND be passed?

Maybe never. It's a big, bold idea, and a major departure from the status quo. There are a lot of powerful people who will fight hard to stop it, and curre,ntly it is only supported by a minority of Congress. 

On February 7, 2019 Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey introduced the Green New Deal resolution with another 71 congressional cosponsors, included many Democratic presidential candidates!

Senate Republicans want to put it up for a vote, because they think they will be able to use it as a political weapon against Democrats. 

But they're wrong. The Green New Deal is on the right side of history, and it's our job to make sure our politicians endorse it, and that they don't come to regret it.

If you want to save the world, please tell your Senators and Representatives that climate change is the most important issue facing America and that the Green New Deal is good and critical for America's future. 

And then you please tell your friends and family to do the same thing. And then tell me about it, because I'd love to hear about it!

UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

nothing is going to get better,

It's not.

If you're skeptical about the Green New Deal and not sure you want to support it, please keep reading. Below I've addressed the most obvious concerns and include links to some good articles. If, after all that, you're still skeptical, please let me know, I'd love to know why.

Let's do this!
Jamie

Good GND Reads

Full Text of the Congressional Resolution

Vox – The Green New Deal, Explained

Vox – GND Intro Video

The Sunrise Movement Donate

NYTimes Opinion – The Green New Deal Is Better Than Our Climate Nightmare

FiveThirtyEight – Is The ‘Green New Deal’ Smart Politics For Democrats?

Common Objections to the Green New Deal

The Green New Deal is...

...not perfect. 

It's true, the GND is not perfect. But the threat of climate change is very real, we're already locked in for a tragic amount of future suffering, and the US has only moved backward in the past few years. We need to do something, it has to be bold, and we can't sit around waiting for the perfect plan. Every day we delay makes the job harder and makes our future lives less pleasant. 

And to be honest, the GND is hardly even a "plan". It's a non-binding declaration that we should, literally and scientifically speaking, "Save the planet before it's too late". How can you not sign on to that? How can you not own that and celebrate and promote that? What are you waiting for? This is the only climate change idea that has rallied any enthusiasm in America in the last half a decade, if you pass on this one, when do you think the next one is going o come along? And who's to say that one will be any more to your liking? 

Look, I believe sincerely in the importance of skepticism. I like to look at things and poke holes in them and crittique them as much as anybody. But when it comes to saving the world, if you don't like this plan, you better come up with a better one and then build a political movement around it VERY QUICKLY because every day the problem gets worse.

...too vague

It's true, the GND is vague on a lot of points. It doesn't claim to have all of the answers. I believe that is a good thing. At this point, it's just trying to build a coalition of people that are excited. If momentum builds for this non-binding resolution, future versions will have to get more detailed. As details are added and specifics are worked out, it will almost certainly get harder to keep a broad coalition together. Especially when details start to emerge about how we might pay (or not pay) for this enormous project. But first, we have to rally as many people as possible around the core concept of prioritizing the health of our planet and the American people.

...too expensive.

Yes, the Green New Deal is expensive. But so was going to the moon and inventing the atomic bomb and the internet. So was fighting the Nazis. When civilization is on the line, does it really matter how much it "costs"?

Whatever it costs, it will pay for itself in the future. Every dollar we spend fighting climate change will have an unbeatable ROI. We're not building a wall or a battleship that's going to fall apart over time. It's not a "cost" it's an investment. An investment in America, in our technology, our infrastructure, and most of all, our people. 

Eventually, the world economy will have to switch to clean technology, we can't keep burning coal and oil forever. The countries that develop those clean technologies will earn a colossal amount of geopolitical power AND goodwill.

As Americans, the people who make "US Dollars" we have a pretty special opportunity. We can print more money if we want to. Especially if the dollars we spend create economic value. And when we put money in the hands of working people, they spend it. It circulates and re-circulates through the economy, supporting shops and restaurants and local businesses. It certainly does a lot more to stimulate the economy than tax cuts for the wealthy.

Furthermore, there are a number of very good and worthwhile taxes that could help pay for this: A carbon tax is the most obvious, a higher maximum income tax for the wealthy, inheritance or wealth tax, a tiny transaction tax on stock trades. 

Finally, climate change is going to cost us a whole lot more if we don't do anything about it. The economic costs of a world that is 2 or 3 degrees Celsius will be measured in the trillions, and the price tag will keep climbing until we fix the problem. We'll pay the price in lost economic activity, destroyed property, and human suffering and death. Some of these expenses will be predictable, like the land lost to rising seas. But much of it will be impossible to predict and cause all the more suffering as a result. 

...too ambitious/unrealistic

Yes, the Green New Deal is ambitious, and yes, unrealistic in the current political climate. But the whole point of the Green New Deal is changing the political climate as quickly as possible to one where the Green New Deal becomes realistic.

Scientists and Democrats have been asking for incremental changes for decades and had limited success. Incrementalism could work if we had the time. We don't have the time. Rationally speaking, now is the time to panic!

Obviously, no radical political idea like this one will pass the US Congress in the next few years, but we need to push the conversation as far as possible as quickly as possible if we're going to mitigate the increasingly inevitable climate catastrophe. 

...too Democratic/liberal/socialist

The climate change goals shouldn't be a liberal/conservative issue. It's a matter of science. 
Scientists are saying that changes are coming to our climate. And with those changes, we are guaranteed to see more conflict. Between storms and fires and droughts and heatwaves and floods, millions of people are going to die and millions more will be forced from their homes. When people's islands sink into the ocean and their crops fail, those people are going to go looking for somewhere to live, and some of them are going to try to come here. 

It's going to be quite a nightmare for any Americans concerned about national security and our borders. 

At that point, it will really will take an army to defend our borders and keep illegal immigrants out of America.

Wouldn't it be far better, far more effective and far more humane to raise an army now, to mitigate the damage of climate change so that the world of 2030 has fewer refugees and conflict.

That army is the Green New Deal. 

If you think the GND is too liberal, I'll assume you dislike the idea of increasing the size of the federal government because you think all government is inefficient, corrupt, or inept. But the Armed Forces is a giant federal government jobs-and-training program. 

Do you respect the Armed Forces? Do you think the Army is inefficient, corrupt, or inept?

There's also the matter of national security by way of the economy. America needs energy to function and, if it comes to it, to fight. So long as our economy depends on foreign sources of energy, we remain more vulnerable. If we can generate energy sustainably in America, we would have a significant geopolitical advantage over our international rivals.

We would be putting America First and we would Make America Great Again.

We're not going to win the 21st century with more coal. We're going to win the 21st century with an Army of Americans working on inventing, building and perfecting the clean energy technology of the future.

...going to help Trump win re-election

I agree that beating Trump in 2020 is an important goal for anyone who cares about the planet, but I think that Trump won because he got people excited. If Democrats can get people excited I think we'll win. 

"Build the Wall" & "Lock Her Up" worked for Trump, I think "Green New Deal" and "Save the Planet" and "Good Green Jobs" might work for us.

Better to tackle climate change alone without any sort of public works or federal jobs programs

First of all, do you like both ideas? If you like the idea of prioritizing the climate and you like the idea of a federal jobs program, but you don't like it from a strategic standpoint because you're worried it will turn some people off, I say to you, 

Get over it! 

If this is what you believe in, then NOW is the time to FIGHT for it with all you've got. If you believe the whole planet is in peril, (which is what SCIENCE tells us) then you have to take action now, and if you want to think about how to be more strategic, while you're taking action, that's great. But sitting back and thinking, that's not how I would do it, while you are otherwise inactive? That's not going to cut it.

There's no way that we can adequately address climate change without transforming the US Economy. This is a once-in-a-lifetime transformation and if we don't make sure that it's going to benefit a large number of Americans, then there are a large number of Americans who will not be motivated to support it.

I don't like the federal job guarantee

The middle class in America is dying. It's harder and harder to get a good, secure, job with a living wage and basic medical insurance. To get a good job, you have to pay for an education that gets more expensive every day, which means going into debt before you even get started in life.

Yes, a federal jobs guarantee is going to be a logistical nightmare to figure out. But we are capable of organizing and mobilizing on a grand scale. Think of the Army. The army also takes in regular Americans with a variety of skills and backgrounds who are willing to work hard and it trains them all until they become very effective at what they do.

But this would be an army that's spread throughout the American countryside. All across America, there would be people making good money. And what do people do with money? They spend it. So it would be a huge infusion for all the shops and restaurants out there. Towns in rural America will have a shot at revitalization, as people working on our energy infrastructure spend their Green New Deal dollars. 

Shouldn't any American who is willing to work hard be able to secure $15/hr and basic medical care? There was a time when the private sector provided these opportunities but that's clearly no longer the case.

I don't have time to save the planet

I know a lot of people are busy and have more pressing concerns. But you don't have to spend a lot of time to make a real difference. This is a problem of political will so there a handful of things you can do to save the planet without investing too much time. 1) Call your Member of Congress and tell them that you vote on one issue, the climate, and you want them to support the Green New Deal. 2) Vote. 3) Tell other people to do the same. You needn't tell everyone, just a few close friends or family. 

There, you did your part, thank you!

Climate change isn't that urgent

Maybe not. Climate science is very complicated so it is hard to know exactly how urgent the situation is. But almost all climate scientists agree that it's going to be very bad and that it is very urgent. There's certainly a range of outcomes since we're headed into unprecedented territory, but the legitimate scientists agree that they are all bad.

Climate change isn't a problem at all. It's a conspiracy

I'm pretty sure that if you believed that, you wouldn't be reading this, but I'll give it a go anywas.

Yes, there are people out there, including some scientists who will tell you that climate change is not real. They might even tell you that climate change is a conspiracy orchestrated by Democrats to expand government power and take away your freedoms.

I think there are some obvious reasons why people might say that. The first is money. There are a lot of people with a lot of power making a lot of money from the way the economy is set up now. Those people have a major financial interest in disputing the reality and severity of climate change by spreading lies and misinformation, and those people are certainly bankrolling some of these climate skeptics.

Another reason some people might doubt climate change and think it's a conspiracy is that they are a Republican and they think Democrats are bad and anything a Democrat says is a lie.

Even if climate change is a conspiracy and thousands of scientists and government employees are secretly working together to fake a crisis, you still have to admit that clean, renewable energy is the way of the future, and that smokestacks and pit mines and industrial waste is not pleasant in your backyard? And wouldn't you admit that it would be nice to know that if you needed it, you could get a job working $15/hr and get health insurance?

Maybe not such a bad conspiracy after all... ;-)

The proponents of the GND are hypocrites because they drive cars and ride in planes

Personal consumption decisions are not going to save the planet. We need society-wide political solutions. Sure, every little bit helps and I applaud anyone who trades in their car for a bike or eats vegan or keeps their thermostat at 60 in the winter, but we need to build a broad coalition and we can't afford to shun anyone who fails to live up to our standards of what a green lifestyle looks like. 

It's far more important that we change the rules by which our society functions, so there is no option but to live a sustainable lifestyle. If people are willing to fight for that, I believe that's the most important thing.

I don't want anyone to take away my car/air travel/beef/AC...

The GND doesn't say that we need to eliminate anything except net carbon emissions. The GND doesn't have to eliminate the parts of our economy that emit carbon, but it does need to find a way to offset those emissions. Yes, cars and cows and air travel and lots of other things currently emit carbon, so we will need to figure out how these things can exist in a sustainable society, but we don't necessarily need to eliminate them. 

A big part of that is going to be pricing them fairly. Currently, things that emit carbon are cheaper than they should be because we don't factor in the cost of the carbon. If we start to include the effect of climate change in the price of goods and services that emit carbon, they will cost more, and people will consume them less, but that's only fair.

The cheap gasoline and beef we are consuming today is destroying the planet. If we want to eat meat and burn fossil fuels we should all pay their true cost.

Bernie Sanders - The Human Lorax

There is no book that’s been more inspirational for me than The Lorax. There is no politician that’s ever inspired me more than Bernie Sanders. So when Saturday Night Live made a joke about Bernie Sanders being “The Human Lorax,” you can imagine just how inspired I was. At that moment, I knew that I would have to make something like this.

If you’ve not heard of him, Bernie Sanders is a senator from Vermont who has spent his life in politics standing up for the middle class and the working poor, struggling mightily to ensure the rich and powerful people and corporations in this country pay their fair share, and don't gain excessive control of our political process.

I’ve never known another politician who not only claims to share my values so closely, but also has such a clear record of honesty and sincerity. You may not believe in all of the things he says, but you know that he certainly does. He clearly does not say things just to get elected, he says them because he believes them to be true, and he believes them to be important for the good of America and all of its citizens.

I agree with everything Bernie has to say, and I believe that the policies he is promoting will make America a happier, healthier place, with more security, more freedom and more prosperity, enjoyed together by more people. And I’m not the only one who has been inspired. When he started his campaign he was widely dismissed as a radical without any hope of victory. Not any more. His campaign has now received more contributions from more people than any in history.

So, if you haven’t already, please visit berniesanders.com/issues and read what he has to say. Or watch a speech or an interview. If you like what he’s saying, please consider supporting him, even if it’s just with a few bucks.

Print the two images below and color them in yourself to make your own Bernie Lorax poster