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By Bill Shein
December 15, 2011

Two notable events took place on Tuesday, though few may have noticed the vital connection between them.

The first was a long-overdue speech by Attorney General Eric Holder addressing shameful efforts, in more than two dozen states, to limit democratic participation by restricting early voting, adding unnecessary ID requirements, and curtailing voter-registration drives. These efforts, which impact millions of otherwise-eligible, low-income, young, old, and minority voters, are perhaps the greatest threat to voting rights since the Jim Crow era.

Underwritten by corporate-backed groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council, the goal of this crackdown on voting is simple: Close the door on a truly representative democracy. Because those who profit from today’s unjust status quo know they must block massive citizen action – whether it’s Occupy-style uprisings or huge turnout on Election Day – in order to maintain their grip on power.

Their disgraceful campaign brings to mind the words of John Adams, who said, in support of substantial property requirements for voting, that if everyone could vote, “an immediate revolution would ensue.” (Adams also worried that women might demand the vote, too. The horror!)

To advance that necessary political and economic revolution, we need to combine 2011’s growing movement of citizen empowerment with massive participation in, and urgent reform of, our electoral system. The two can, and perhaps must, go hand-in-hand if we want an economy that doesn’t continue to tilt dramatically toward the wealthy.

It won’t be easy. Billions spent by corporate interests on campaign contributions and lobbying have narrowed the range of what’s possible in Washington and Boston – especially when it comes to campaign finance and election law. With both major parties feeding at the same trough of corporate money, the kind of bold action we’ve long needed on employment, housing, climate change, corporate personhood, electoral reform, and other vital issues never even sees the light of day.

That’s why three years into a Wall Street-fueled economic meltdown, a tiny elite – say, about one percent? – is doing just fine. Meanwhile, many more – oh, I don’t know, around 99 percent? – lose homes, jobs, savings, health care, and hope.

The economic facts are grim. A recent Princeton study found that those who lost jobs during 2007-08 and are working again now earn, on average, 17.5 percent less. Yet corporate profits are soaring, enabling even more spending on elections and lobbying.

It seems that American workers are supposed to be content with whatever scraps are tossed down from the plutocrats’ table. Mainstream media discussion of monthly job reports focuses only on the number of new jobs. But few politicians or pundits ask, “Do these jobs pay a living wage? Are they permanent and durable? Do they include sick and vacation days so parents can stay home with sick children or earn paid time off? Do they provide opportunities for advancement?”

Which brings us to Tuesday’s second notable event. In Springfield, the innovative Wellspring Initiative held an event to announce a $200,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to advance precisely the kind of economic development we need. Combined with $100,000 raised locally, its plan is ambitious.

Modeled after the Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland, Wellspring aims to build large-scale, worker-owned cooperative businesses right in the heart of Springfield. With both public- and private-sector partners like Baystate Health, UMass-Amherst, Jobs with Justice, and Springfield Technical Community College, these new ventures will tap into the $1.5 billion spent annually on goods and services by the city’s largest institutions. Currently, less than 10 percent of that spending takes place within Springfield.

As in Cleveland, the Wellspring cooperatives will be rooted firmly in the community. They’ll keep resources and jobs and expertise local. They’ll pay a living wage and train employees for advancement. And thanks to worker ownership, employees will participate in democratic decision-making and see their equity stake grow with the business, providing a clear path out of poverty to a brighter future.

We need this model in Pittsfield and across the country: Robust local enterprise that enhances the well-being of workers and invests, for the long term, in our communities.

One thing is certain: We can no longer allow transnational corporations and the anti-democratic public policy they champion to dominate our society. Even when staffed with good and decent people, these institutions have one goal: Profit. Their nature is to drain wealth from our communities. They lay off workers and move operations to low-wage countries, destroying local economies in the U.S. (e.g. General Electric, anyone?). They distort elections. Ultimately, they serve the interests of Wall Street analysts, not those of local citizens.

It’s time to combine the fight for broad democratic participation with a campaign for smart economic development along the lines of the Evergreen and Wellspring cooperatives. By doing so, we’ll advance both political and economic democracy – two fundamental requirements of a just, fair, and compelling future.

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A longtime democracy-reform activist, Bill Shein feels the ground shifting. And he likes it. (You can support Bill’s current crowd-funded book project here.)