admin January 30th, 2008
A few short weeks ago, instead of “touring” with my new book, I “got toured.” I was the lucky recipient of a whirlwind up-close look at living democracy emerging in Burlington, Vermont.
My host was the indefatigable Yiota Ahladas, head of the Center for Community and Neighborhoods in the city’s Community and Economic Development Office. Last fall she’d heard me speak, using living democracy “stories” drawn from all over the planet. So, she must have thought: Wait a minute! Lappé should see what we’re doing right in her own backyard.
So from meeting to eating, from viewing to “vanning” through town, I was immersed for two and a half days in the Burlington experience.
Continue Reading »
admin January 26th, 2008
Most of the day I’ve had my nose in a new book, Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (And Stick You with the Bill) by David Cay Johnston. He arms us chapter and verse with how our economy is rigged–all, infuriatingly, under the banner of “free market” orthodoxy.So as Barack Obama’s star rises, I ask myself, if he is the Democratic candidate, how can supporters encourage him to spell out the real depth of the crisis of our democracy and solutions that cut deeply enough to address it? Johnston’s book defines a piece of the crisis brilliantly. I wrote Getting a Grip, though, because I’ve lost patience with Continue Reading »
admin January 21st, 2008
Okay, maybe you weren’t here at all in 1968, but if you were, I’m sure you remember the year of the Poor People’s March on Washington, the year King was gunned down.
Today, Martin Luther King Day, is a good time to ponder the impact of his work, and the civil rights movement more generally, on my life’s path. This historic turning triggered my first act as an organizer–helping launch a program at Earlham College in 1966 to prepare inner-city highschoolers of color for college. Then, the big step: I became a door-knocking organizer for the National Welfare Rights Organization in Philly. For a shy kid from Texas, it didn’t come naturally. But the women who opened their doors to me became my friends and soon we were actually accomplishing things. Then, something happened that changed my life forever. Continue Reading »
admin January 19th, 2008
Anna and I are thrilled that the Invisible Revolution, a brief video produced by brother/son Anthony Lappe, is featured this week at karmatube.org. There you’ll find a quick hit of rich images of our heroes around the world who are pushing the edge.
Want to know more? Join us on the journey that changed our lives forever by reading our book from which the video grew, the national bestseller Hope’s Edge. The lessons we learned helped inspire Anna to write Grub and me to write Getting a Grip. Let us know your thoughts!
Frankie
admin January 17th, 2008
(Frances) This afternoon I got to field questions in an on-line discussion set up by the Study Circles Resource Center whose work in bringing democracy to life I’ve valued for decades.
Some questions were pretty challenging. One I had fun with was, What should we ask the candidates? Here are my responses: Continue Reading »
admin January 7th, 2008
(Frances) I’ve lost too much sleep lately watching the primary returns and debates.
My stomach tightens when I realize how little voters and media are focused on what to me is the mother of all issues—the role of corporate influence in elections and in law-making.
Money will continue speak louder than our collective common sense and we’ll be unable to address our deepening local-to-global crises unless our next president seriously tackles this problem, pushes unrelentingly for public financing of elections, and refuses corporate money. Continue Reading »
admin January 1st, 2008
On this first day of 2008 I’m about to go live with Rose Aguilar on KALW radio in San Francisco, 91.7FM. She wants to talk about “possibilities” awaiting us in 2008.
Outside, the snow is falling. Hmm… what will I say?
Could this year be the beginning of the wake-up? Enough people finally realizing that blaming George Bush or even replacing George Bush — that neither is enough. Instead we can go to the root: We can change the system that corrupts our political choices—the system that generates 61 Washington lobbyists for every congressperson and elects a president who trammels constitutional principle.
In Getting a Grip I argue that elections plus a market do not a democracy make. Continue Reading »
