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Transition to real democracy

Evanston, IL POP-UP NEWSLETTER: New City Manager, GPI (economic metrics), Renewed U.S. Women’s Movement

CONTENTS A. New City Manager (with “local foods” bonus)B. Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI): Better economic metric for Illinois?C. Renewed U.S. women’s movement: National convention, webinars, women’s bill of rights TO: — Evanston voters, media, political groups, businesses, activists, institutions— Residents in my neighborhood (Nichols Neighbors)— Some non-Evanston voters with Evanston connections & interests Read in your […]

Evanston, IL POP-UP NEWSLETTER: Participatory Budgeting, Lakefront Misconduct, UBI, Local Foods

CONTENTS: Four new blogs + 2 news items on the following topics:— Local Foods— Participatory Budgeting— Universal Basic Income— Lakefront Misconduct Report TO: — Evanston voters, media, political groups, businesses, activists, institutions— Residents in my neighborhood (Nichols Neighbors)— Some non-Evanston voters with Evanston connections & interests Hi, all —I don’t know how much more energy I’ll […]

FUNDED SOVEREIGNTY: Universal basic income for participatory democracies

I first came across the term “funded sovereignty” in a book by Native American scholar, Barbara Alice Mann. Her 2000 book, Iroquoian Women: The Gantowisas, is an eye-opening read for anyone who believes in the ideals of the U.S. It is also sanity-inducing for anyone who’s been disappointed in the implementation of those ideals. Mann’s book […]

A CONUNDRUM: Transition to a Gift Economy — Who gifts to the mothers?

In my lifelong search for women’s public authority, I’ve been studying the gift economy, especially the maternal roots, as facilitated by scholar/philanthropist Genevieve Vaughan and many other women. Vaughan’s websites are filled with resources featuring scholars from around the world: articles, videos, event proceedings, etc.— Original website  Gift Economy— Newer  Maternal Gift Economy Movement A new anthology […]

U.S. MONEY SUPPLY: Why the numbers ($$ + time) don’t add up for most of us (American Monetary Institute conference, Nov. 5-7, 2021)

This is an email that I sent to some Chicago-area foundations about the upcoming 17th annual American Monetary Institute conference. My hope is to engage them in learning about and funding deep monetary and banking reforms that would have a high impact in redressing systemic and growing inequalities in the U.S. political economy. As U.S. […]

EVANSTON, IL: Stop or slow “5/5 TIF District” proposal

Evanston, Illinois is in a crisis of public trust. The root causes of this crisis are thousands of years old (erosion of women’s personal and public authority), hundreds of years old (moral and logical contradictions in the U.S. Constitution), decades old (acceleration of climate disruption and economic disparities), compounded by national and global events of […]

PUBLIC TRUST in Evanston, IL: Sexual Harassment Complaints Buried for Years, Weeks, Days

On July 16, 2021, current elected officials and residents first learned of a long-standing complaint by female lakefront staff of sexual harassment by male lakefront staff (including supervisors). From a public trust point of view, there were additional egregious problems:— Although City staff received a petition signed by 50+ women in July 2020, no one […]