I’m done cataloging the sins of the past, and only interested in the wrongs of this administration for purposes of reckoning. I’d much prefer to look to the future and how to structure the kind of world in which we want to live.
For that reason, I have developed THE COMMON GOOD MANIFESTO
A Social Democratic Vision for a Free, Fair, and Honest America
America deserves a government that serves the people—not billionaires, corporations, lobbyists, or criminals. We can no longer pretend that democracy can survive under the weight of unchecked corruption, extreme wealth concentration, and systems deliberately designed to silence the public. The future belongs to a nation that is fair, humane, and honest. This manifesto outlines that path.
I. CLEAN GOVERNMENT AND REAL DEMOCRACY
We demand a democracy that cannot be bought.
Release the Epstein files and expose every abuser of power.
Overturn Citizens United and ban dark money in politics.
Abolish the Electoral College and protect equal representation.
Standardized, nonpartisan redistricting to end gerrymandering permanently.
Paper ballots nationwide—no unverifiable voting machines.
Two-term limits for all elected offices and mandatory retirement at 70.
No federal office for convicted felons.
Relentlessly prosecute political corruption, from the presidency downward.
Impeach, convict, and imprison Donald Trump and every handler who aided his abuses.
Democracy must belong to the people again.
II. A MORAL ECONOMY THAT SERVES EVERYONE
A just nation lifts people up rather than crushing them for profit.
Restore 1950s-era progressive tax rates, including a top bracket above 90%.
Eliminate the Social Security cap and tax capital gains for Social Security.
Establish a $25/hour minimum wage, indexed to inflation automatically.
Forgive all student loans and make university tuition-free for all.
Fund free, universal childcare for every family.
Dramatic pay increases for teachers, social workers, librarians, artists, and museum workers—the people who hold society together.
The economy should serve human beings, not the other way around.
III. UNIVERSAL RIGHTS FOR A DIGNIFIED LIFE
Healthcare, education, and family security are human rights.
Medicare for All—a single, public, universal system with no premiums, no copays, no deductibles, and no private intermediaries.
Replace the fragmented A/B/C/D alphabet soup with one simple, public plan for every American.
Abolish ICE and rebuild immigration systems around dignity, justice, and humanity. Every person deserves freedom from fear, poverty, and exploitation.
IV. A GOVERNMENT OF HONESTY, JUSTICE, AND ACCOUNTABILITY
We must rebuild a republic rooted in truth.
Government must be transparent, ethical, and relentlessly focused on the public good.
Corruption must be prosecuted, not tolerated.
Public office is a responsibility—not a path to power, wealth, or immunity.
A new political era begins when we demand nothing less than decency, fairness, and accountability.
THE PROMISE OF A NEW AMERICAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
We seek a nation where democracy cannot be bought, where work is valued, where families thrive, where rights are universal, and where justice reaches even the most powerful.
This is not radical. It is humane. It is moral.
It is the America we were always meant to build.
Please share this widely. If we don’t make it clear what kind of world we want to live in, we won’t get it. Ain’t no oligarch gonna just do this out of the goodness of their heart. If we speak loud together, maybe we can change the world!
FWIW, you have my full permission to share this and the Common Good Manifesto as far and wide as you like. And if you want to add your own bullet points, reshape the ideas, or build on them with your own vision — please, be my guest. This isn’t meant to be a personal project or a pedantic rulebook. It’s simply meant to plant seeds.
We spend so much time talking about the misdeeds of people who would derail democracy for their own gain that we forget the most powerful tool we have:
a shared vision of what the future could be.
This manifesto — and this note — are an invitation to shift the conversation. Instead of focusing on what’s broken, let’s talk about what’s possible. Let’s talk about what we want, what we dream of, what we owe each other, and how we lift the whole country up together.
If anything in the manifesto resonates with you, take it. Use it. Add to it. Share it with your family, your community, your faith group, your workplace, your school board, your circle of friends. And if you know someone younger, more energetic, better placed, or ready to lead — hand it to them. My real hope is that this becomes a spark in their hands. Maybe this can be a tiny piece of the starting point for a new New Deal — one built not on fear and scarcity, but on solidarity, fairness, and the stubborn belief that we really can do better.
Please do share. Speak up. Speak loudly. Speak together.
Because when enough people start imagining a better world in unison, that’s when the world actually changes.
I like it. One thing I would change however: "Establish a $25/hour minimum wage, indexed to inflation automatically."
Rather than a minimum wage, how about an equivalent UBI? That would automatically set a minimum wage - while simultaneously helping those who can't work.
See this accompanying piece I wrote to follow up on the first:
A Note to Accompany the Common Good Manifesto
(Please copy, paste, and share widely.)
FWIW, you have my full permission to share this and the Common Good Manifesto as far and wide as you like. And if you want to add your own bullet points, reshape the ideas, or build on them with your own vision — please, be my guest. This isn’t meant to be a personal project or a pedantic rulebook. It’s simply meant to plant seeds.
We spend so much time talking about the misdeeds of people who would derail democracy for their own gain that we forget the most powerful tool we have:
a shared vision of what the future could be.
This manifesto — and this note — are an invitation to shift the conversation. Instead of focusing on what’s broken, let’s talk about what’s possible. Let’s talk about what we want, what we dream of, what we owe each other, and how we lift the whole country up together.
If anything in the manifesto resonates with you, take it. Use it. Add to it. Share it with your family, your community, your faith group, your workplace, your school board, your circle of friends. And if you know someone younger, more energetic, better placed, or ready to lead — hand it to them. My real hope is that this becomes a spark in their hands. Maybe this can be a tiny piece of the starting point for a new New Deal — one built not on fear and scarcity, but on solidarity, fairness, and the stubborn belief that we really can do better.
Please do share. Speak up. Speak loudly. Speak together.
Because when enough people start imagining a better world in unison, that’s when the world actually changes.
What’s happening in the US isn’t chaos — it’s coordination through fear.
CEOs, judges, police and politicians don’t need to believe Trump’s lies — they just need to know that contradicting them now carries a price. So they hedge, stay vague, look away.
That’s how modern autocracy works: not with tanks, but with careers, contracts, courts and silence. Institutions stop defending truth and start managing risk.
When judges won’t even state who won an election, you’re no longer in a democracy — you’re in a system quietly training itself to obey power.
agreed, it’s a basic idea and if a bunch of clowns with masks hiding their identities are going around acting like law-enforcement they di legitimize actual law-enforcement
The unfortunate reality is that both political parties are heavily influenced by AIPAC and dark money 💰. Unbeknownst to many, both parties continue to fund ICE without meaningful limits, while simultaneously supporting the same laws, policies, and procedures that allow ICE to operate with near total impunity. Furthermore, numerous members of Congress and the Senate have direct or indirect financial interests in private corporations that profit from detention, logistics, and prison operations. This revolving door of profit is precisely why calls to abolish ICE are systematically neutralized before they can become reality.
"When one man attempts to overthrow the rule of law and, instead, assert himself as absolute ruler, the rest of us are under no legitimate obligation to obey him or his “party of men,” no matter the clothes they wear".
Indeed, we're under obligation to fight him and his goons tooth and nail in any and every way we possibly can.
.
The ICE goon squad isn't "enforcing" the law, they're >violating< it.
I know that the military takes an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws therein, but doesn’t every police officer also take that oath when they are sworn in? ICE is breaking the law every day - no police officer could get away with those methods. They have to have probable cause and due process. Why are the individual police departments not arresting ICE for breaking the law?
I’m done cataloging the sins of the past, and only interested in the wrongs of this administration for purposes of reckoning. I’d much prefer to look to the future and how to structure the kind of world in which we want to live.
For that reason, I have developed THE COMMON GOOD MANIFESTO
A Social Democratic Vision for a Free, Fair, and Honest America
America deserves a government that serves the people—not billionaires, corporations, lobbyists, or criminals. We can no longer pretend that democracy can survive under the weight of unchecked corruption, extreme wealth concentration, and systems deliberately designed to silence the public. The future belongs to a nation that is fair, humane, and honest. This manifesto outlines that path.
I. CLEAN GOVERNMENT AND REAL DEMOCRACY
We demand a democracy that cannot be bought.
Release the Epstein files and expose every abuser of power.
Overturn Citizens United and ban dark money in politics.
Abolish the Electoral College and protect equal representation.
Standardized, nonpartisan redistricting to end gerrymandering permanently.
Paper ballots nationwide—no unverifiable voting machines.
Two-term limits for all elected offices and mandatory retirement at 70.
No federal office for convicted felons.
Relentlessly prosecute political corruption, from the presidency downward.
Impeach, convict, and imprison Donald Trump and every handler who aided his abuses.
Democracy must belong to the people again.
II. A MORAL ECONOMY THAT SERVES EVERYONE
A just nation lifts people up rather than crushing them for profit.
Restore 1950s-era progressive tax rates, including a top bracket above 90%.
Eliminate the Social Security cap and tax capital gains for Social Security.
Establish a $25/hour minimum wage, indexed to inflation automatically.
Forgive all student loans and make university tuition-free for all.
Fund free, universal childcare for every family.
Dramatic pay increases for teachers, social workers, librarians, artists, and museum workers—the people who hold society together.
The economy should serve human beings, not the other way around.
III. UNIVERSAL RIGHTS FOR A DIGNIFIED LIFE
Healthcare, education, and family security are human rights.
Medicare for All—a single, public, universal system with no premiums, no copays, no deductibles, and no private intermediaries.
Replace the fragmented A/B/C/D alphabet soup with one simple, public plan for every American.
Abolish ICE and rebuild immigration systems around dignity, justice, and humanity. Every person deserves freedom from fear, poverty, and exploitation.
IV. A GOVERNMENT OF HONESTY, JUSTICE, AND ACCOUNTABILITY
We must rebuild a republic rooted in truth.
Government must be transparent, ethical, and relentlessly focused on the public good.
Corruption must be prosecuted, not tolerated.
Public office is a responsibility—not a path to power, wealth, or immunity.
A new political era begins when we demand nothing less than decency, fairness, and accountability.
THE PROMISE OF A NEW AMERICAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
We seek a nation where democracy cannot be bought, where work is valued, where families thrive, where rights are universal, and where justice reaches even the most powerful.
This is not radical. It is humane. It is moral.
It is the America we were always meant to build.
Please share this widely. If we don’t make it clear what kind of world we want to live in, we won’t get it. Ain’t no oligarch gonna just do this out of the goodness of their heart. If we speak loud together, maybe we can change the world!
Where can I sign?
You can sign by copying, pasting, and sharing everywhere you can think of doing so!
A Note to Accompany the Common Good Manifesto
(Please copy, paste, and share widely.)
FWIW, you have my full permission to share this and the Common Good Manifesto as far and wide as you like. And if you want to add your own bullet points, reshape the ideas, or build on them with your own vision — please, be my guest. This isn’t meant to be a personal project or a pedantic rulebook. It’s simply meant to plant seeds.
We spend so much time talking about the misdeeds of people who would derail democracy for their own gain that we forget the most powerful tool we have:
a shared vision of what the future could be.
This manifesto — and this note — are an invitation to shift the conversation. Instead of focusing on what’s broken, let’s talk about what’s possible. Let’s talk about what we want, what we dream of, what we owe each other, and how we lift the whole country up together.
If anything in the manifesto resonates with you, take it. Use it. Add to it. Share it with your family, your community, your faith group, your workplace, your school board, your circle of friends. And if you know someone younger, more energetic, better placed, or ready to lead — hand it to them. My real hope is that this becomes a spark in their hands. Maybe this can be a tiny piece of the starting point for a new New Deal — one built not on fear and scarcity, but on solidarity, fairness, and the stubborn belief that we really can do better.
Please do share. Speak up. Speak loudly. Speak together.
Because when enough people start imagining a better world in unison, that’s when the world actually changes.
I like it. One thing I would change however: "Establish a $25/hour minimum wage, indexed to inflation automatically."
Rather than a minimum wage, how about an equivalent UBI? That would automatically set a minimum wage - while simultaneously helping those who can't work.
I like that!
See this accompanying piece I wrote to follow up on the first:
A Note to Accompany the Common Good Manifesto
(Please copy, paste, and share widely.)
FWIW, you have my full permission to share this and the Common Good Manifesto as far and wide as you like. And if you want to add your own bullet points, reshape the ideas, or build on them with your own vision — please, be my guest. This isn’t meant to be a personal project or a pedantic rulebook. It’s simply meant to plant seeds.
We spend so much time talking about the misdeeds of people who would derail democracy for their own gain that we forget the most powerful tool we have:
a shared vision of what the future could be.
This manifesto — and this note — are an invitation to shift the conversation. Instead of focusing on what’s broken, let’s talk about what’s possible. Let’s talk about what we want, what we dream of, what we owe each other, and how we lift the whole country up together.
If anything in the manifesto resonates with you, take it. Use it. Add to it. Share it with your family, your community, your faith group, your workplace, your school board, your circle of friends. And if you know someone younger, more energetic, better placed, or ready to lead — hand it to them. My real hope is that this becomes a spark in their hands. Maybe this can be a tiny piece of the starting point for a new New Deal — one built not on fear and scarcity, but on solidarity, fairness, and the stubborn belief that we really can do better.
Please do share. Speak up. Speak loudly. Speak together.
Because when enough people start imagining a better world in unison, that’s when the world actually changes.
I've restacked it.
This is a great piece of writing.
Awww thank you so much!
Yes, yes, yes!!!
Without the rule of law, there is nothing but criminality. Nothing.
Abolish ICE. Deport ICE.
Abolish ICE. Deport Mu卐kRat, Theil, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch.
Thank you Officer Hodges, and thanks to the author for spreading truth.
There shouldn’t be if everyone isn’t held to it
What’s happening in the US isn’t chaos — it’s coordination through fear.
CEOs, judges, police and politicians don’t need to believe Trump’s lies — they just need to know that contradicting them now carries a price. So they hedge, stay vague, look away.
That’s how modern autocracy works: not with tanks, but with careers, contracts, courts and silence. Institutions stop defending truth and start managing risk.
When judges won’t even state who won an election, you’re no longer in a democracy — you’re in a system quietly training itself to obey power.
https://demandjustice.org/judicialreport/
agreed, it’s a basic idea and if a bunch of clowns with masks hiding their identities are going around acting like law-enforcement they di legitimize actual law-enforcement
Yep. This is all basic civics that too many seem to have forgotten.
A brilliant blog. Thank you.
The unfortunate reality is that both political parties are heavily influenced by AIPAC and dark money 💰. Unbeknownst to many, both parties continue to fund ICE without meaningful limits, while simultaneously supporting the same laws, policies, and procedures that allow ICE to operate with near total impunity. Furthermore, numerous members of Congress and the Senate have direct or indirect financial interests in private corporations that profit from detention, logistics, and prison operations. This revolving door of profit is precisely why calls to abolish ICE are systematically neutralized before they can become reality.
"When one man attempts to overthrow the rule of law and, instead, assert himself as absolute ruler, the rest of us are under no legitimate obligation to obey him or his “party of men,” no matter the clothes they wear".
Indeed, we're under obligation to fight him and his goons tooth and nail in any and every way we possibly can.
.
The ICE goon squad isn't "enforcing" the law, they're >violating< it.
I know that the military takes an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws therein, but doesn’t every police officer also take that oath when they are sworn in? ICE is breaking the law every day - no police officer could get away with those methods. They have to have probable cause and due process. Why are the individual police departments not arresting ICE for breaking the law?
Yes. As do all attorneys upon passing the bar. As do all members of congress - both chambers.
Thank you, sir, for your brave and righteous words- I believe in the truth and that it will prevail with people like you standing up for America.
Greedy terrorists
There is no excuse for his terrorism except greed
Trump is a pig
Murdering pig
Trumps whole regime are unqualified criminals
Gop =guardians of pedophiles
Fk gop
Get pissed people
RELEASE THE TRUMP/EPSTEIN FILES NOW
Fdt terrorism
Fdt terrorists
Fdt terrorist scotus and judges and ag’s
Fdt terrorist military
Fdt terrorist federal agencies
Big Education Ape: CHRISTMAS CANCELED: SANTA DEPORTED IN SHOCKING ICE RAID https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2025/12/christmas-canceled-santa-deported-in.html
The Rule Of Law is a Legacy of Fraud.