Special Episode: People Powered Democracy Town Hall
Full show notes at https://hoosleft.us/
Welcome to the HoosLeft Podcast, a show about Indiana politics, history, and culture from the unapologetic perspective of the social democratic left. My name is Scott Aaron Rogers, and I’m recording from Bloomington.
I don’t have a traditional episode for you this week, but I do have some great content for you. This past Saturday, I attended and streamed live the People Powered Democracy Town Hall from the Unitarian Universalist Church here in Bloomington. The event was standing room only as community leaders, legislators, constituents and grassroots organizations gathered to discuss healthcare, education and voting rights. State Senator Shelli Yoder and Representative Matt Pierce talked about current legislation moving through the General Assembly, with particular emphasis on cuts to Medicaid and public education. Local Republican officials including Senate Majority Leader Rod Bray, State Reps Peggy Mayfield, Dave Hall, and Bob Heaton - as well as Congresswoman Erin Houchin - were asked to participate, but either declined or ignored the invitation.
The purpose of this event, which featured speakers from the Indiana Rural Summit, Reverse Citizens United, Hoosier Action, Indiana Coalition for Public Education, and the Bloomington chapter of Medicare for All Indiana was to make meaning of how dark money has negatively influenced our legislation with an emphasis on healthcare and education policy that will directly impact Hoosiers.
Real quick, before we turn to the town hall, I’d like to take a minute to thank you all for your support - for liking and sharing on social media, for forwarding our articles and podcast episodes, for commenting, leaving reviews, and providing feedback - and especially for the financial support paid subscriptions provide. Your contributions have helped me make meaningful connections with fascinating people from across Indiana, and beyond. We are building a network of Hoosiers dedicated to making this state, and its government, work for all of us, not just the elite few. I would like to dedicate my full time to you, this community, and Indiana’s future; but I need your financial support to do so. All I’m asking is $5 a month, or $50 a year, to help me write more, research more, organize more, and keep improving HoosLeft. So please, visit HoosLeft.US for all of our articles, episodes, archives, and again - if you can - consider a paid subscription while you’re there. We’re also on Facebook, Bluesky, YouTube, and TikTok at HoosLeft, and I’m still on Instagram, Threads, and Twitter at scottrog78 and scottrog78@hoosier.social on Mastodon. Tell the others. Let’s build a radically-democratic Indiana together. Thanks again.
Now, here is the People Powered Democracy town hall recorded Saturday, February 22nd.
That was the People Powered Democracy town hall from Bloomington this past Saturday. I’ll have links to all of the organizations represented on the panel in the show notes.
Now, if you’ve listened to this whole thing, I don’t want to keep you much longer. But I do want to revisit the words of Indiana Rural Summit organizer Michelle Higgs, channelling political scientist Erica Chenoweth, who
argues that nonviolent campaigns are more likely to succeed because they can recruit many more participants from a much broader demographic. Nonviolent protest seems to be the best way to get that widespread support.
She explains, “Numbers really matter for building power in ways that can really pose a serious challenge…to entrenched authorities…There weren’t any campaigns that had failed after they had achieved 3.5% participation.”
If indeed movements that have mobilized 3.5% of their population in sustained, nonviolent, active participation achieve their aims, then this transformative vision gives me a renewed imagination for change.
And Michelle went on to detail how few people it actually takes to build a real movement, how - if each of us mobilized just ten people, we could seriously challenge entrenched power.
For entirely too long, most of us have taken our freedoms for granted, assuming they were safe forever or that someone else would take care of things. That fairytale is over. We have only ourselves. Individually, we don’t stand a chance - but together, if we organize, we can still achieve a just, equitable future.
I’ve included links to a lot of great organizations. Get involved with one or, if there isn’t something in your area, start something yourself. Real democracy is invigorating and contagious. Let’s make it go viral.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments. Or holler at me on social media - on Facebook, Bluesky, YouTube and TikTok at hoosleft and on most other social media sites at scottrog78. You can also email me at scott@hoosleft.us.
Thanks to everybody who participated in this town hall, with one last swipe at the cowardly Republicans who wouldn’t face their own constituents. Thank you for listening. If you can, head over to HoosLeft.US and help support this project with a paid subscription. Again, hit me up on social media with your feedback, tips, ideas, and concerns. Please forward the show to a friend and have them to forward it to another friend. Let’s keep building this project - and truly democratic state - one conversation at a time. Until the next one, this has been the HoosLeft podcast. I’m Scott Aaron Rogers. Love each other, Indiana.
Links:
Indiana Rural Summit: https://indianaruralsummit.org/
Reverse Citizens United Monroe County: https://reversecitizensunited.org/
Hoosier Action: https://www.hoosieraction.org/
Indiana Coalition for Public Education: https://indianacoalitionforpubliced.org/
Medicare for All, Indiana - Bloomington: https://www.facebook.com/groups/H4CHP/
Indivisible Central Indiana: https://www.facebook.com/groups/IndivisibleIndianapolis
Erica Chenoweth TED Talk: https://tedxboulder.com/speakers/erica-chenoweth
HoosLeft on Social Media:
https://www.facebook.com/hoosleft
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https://www.instagram.com/scottrog78/
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