Activist Saturday

Yesterday Bruce and I went to two events: "Money-Out, Voters-In," and afterwards, to the memorial for Aaron Swartz at Cooper Union.

At "Money Out, Voters-In" we heard a number of inspiring speakers. Mark Green pointed out that politicians must hear more from voters than from donors. He stated that this was what happened when the Watergate scandal broke. Rev. James Forbes, Pastor Emeritus at Riverside Church, said that voter suppression is an offense before God. He pointed out that buying an election is the sin of simony and is a moral and spiritual defect of the perpetrators. When one commits simony, his money perishes with him. (We can only hope this applies to the brothers Koch).

Jeff Clements of Free Speech for the People pointed out that the effort to secure fair elections without corporate money is a fight for our national soul. We need a 28th amendment overturning Citizens United so that the people, not the 1% or the big corporations make the rules for fair and free elections. Citizens United actually makes it illegal to try and level the playing field. It is most definitely a wrongheaded decision that will destroy our democracy.

In 2012, 159 people contributed 60% of the SuperPAC money, and 32 people contributed as much as all donors to both presidential elections. On local levels, companies buy seats on city councils and people who live in those communities lose the ability to govern them. This is a bipartisan issue: we must win our power back. So far 11 states have voted for the 28th Amendment.

Bill Samuels pointed out that we must get angrier if we are going to bring about this change and have campaign finance reform. In New York State, in the past 2 years only 1% of political contributions were under $1,000.

Susan Lerner of Common Cause pointed out that corporate money in elections is stopping us from having affordable housing in NYC and may bring in fracking. We must pass the fair elections law.

After the initial speakers, a musical interlude, and a comedy routine, we separated into groups for 3 teach ins. Bruce went to the teach in on getting the 28th amendment passed. I attended one about expanding the vote: bringing early voting to New York. Apparently there is already a bill in the state assembly and even the state senate is showing interest.

Because we wanted to attend the memorial for Aaron Swartz, we skipped the Corporate Wedding that was to take place at 26 Wall Street. I understand the bride was wearing a gown made of dollar bills. I hope I can find a photo of that!

The Aaron Swartz memorial was packed. Almost every seat in the Cooper Union Great Hall was taken. The place is full of history: Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglas, and many other historical figures have spoken there.

The memorial was hosted by Ben Wikler, a friend and ally of Aaron. Pete Seeger's songs played while photos of Aaron flashed on three screens. Pete Seeger could not attend but sent his grandson to read a statement honoring Aaron for his work to make this a better world for all.

The big takeaway, besides learning about Aaron and his accomplishments (for which he did not take much credit), was that we must hold the DA who made his life hell accountable for his relentless and cruel prosecution of Aaron, whose crimes were victimless. We must dismantle the (in)justice system that has the highest rate of incarceration, and of all the people in prison all over the world, holds 25% of them behind bars. We must dedicate ourselves to making the world a better place, as he did.

Aaron could have been wealthy, in fact he was independently wealthy, but he lived an austere life in a tiny apartment. Nothing he did was about himself or about making money. He believed strongly in the commons and he asked himself constantly which of his projects would do the most good; then he pursued those projects. He led the fight against SOPA and got so many signatures that the internet censorship bill was defeated. He believed that information and knowledge must be available to everyone, for free.

His quote: "With enough of us, around the world, we'll not just send a strong message opposing the privatization of knowledge - we'll make it a thing of the past."

Aaron Swartz was no saint in the traditional sense, but his fervor to work for the common good and use technology for a better world, his refusal to think first of himself, marks him as one of the great men of our time. I feel for his parents, his partner, his friends, whose grief is a personal one. I also feel for the rest of us, who would have benefited greatly from his genius and his altruism (rational altruism, as one of the speakers named it). We have lost a great mind and a great soul, and I feel for Aaron himself, hounded to the point where he saw no alternative but the end of a rope.

For the rest of us, life goes on, with, I hope, a rededication to the ideals that made us activists and made those who never even met Aaron show up at Cooper Union yesterday.