PRISM

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A Manifesto. 

A path.  A way forward.

To a new New York.  A New America.

A New World.  

A New Age.

“We will begin as a whisper. The calm before a storm. We will grow, like vines on castle walls.

We will devour this system from the inside out.

We are PRISM. We are the collective.  They are the few. 

We are the many.”

THE WORLD AS IT IS

We are stuck. Stuck in a primordial, animalistic, hellish base phase of our evolution — not because we lack the capacity for something greater, but because a small, well-organized, insatiably greedy minority has engineered it that way.

They thrive on the chaos they manufacture. They commit corruption in plain sight while the rest of us are too exhausted, too distracted, or too ground down by surviving, to organize against them. Greed is one of the most harmful diseases on earth — not simply because of its noxious affects on the greedy, but because it metastasizes outward, poisoning everything in its path.  A great cost at the majority’s expense, for the benefit of so few.

The system has been designed, refined, and weaponized to keep working people too tired to fight back. Too broke and broken to organize. Too divided to act. Too apathetic to care. Too confused to discern the truth.  And it has worked — until now.

All throughout history, those who have stood for a unified humanity have been belittled, ridiculed, discredited, and in too many cases — assassinated. Malcolm X. Martin Luther King. Abraham Lincoln. John F. Kennedy. The pattern is not coincidence. The powers that be have always known: once an idea builds genuine kinetic momentum, there is no turning it back.

They fear us awakening more than they fear anything else. Because once we wake up, there is no going back to sleep.  Their jig is up. 

Dreams do not belong only to those who can afford them. Dreams are a birthright. This current state of the world needs to die. We need to usher in a New Age. One where all are free to create, live, express, work, dance, and love — without oppression. Without worry. Without fear.

Our collective soul aches for this.

CODE OF ETHICS

The Golden Rule

It is that simple: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

We must strive to treat one another, our environment, and our wildlife the way we treat gold, assets, currency, heirlooms. We treat those baubles like treasure, while treating each other like disposable commodities. This is completely antithetical to our best natures — to whom our collective soul aspires to be.

What happens when we begin treating one another like we treat "valuables"? I think that is when miracles happen. I think that is when, finally, all things will  become possible. I think that is when fantasy worlds can be manifested into reality.

Futures are not created alone. It’s a group effort. It will take all of us to build the world we want to see. 

CORE VALUES

Truth

Without truth, everything falls apart. Laws must be developed to mitigate misinformation and disinformation. Media outlets must be held accountable for sowing chaos into our society by utilizing brainwashing tactics, lies, and stupefying the public.

Propaganda has been used since we have been fluent in language. We must dismantle the control of dishonest forces — corporate, political, and ideological — at all costs.

Unblind Justice

So-called "blind justice" has not worked for the general public. Lady Justice has been blindfolded and spun around by the elite class like a player in a child's “pin the tail on the donkey” game. The elites circumvent laws by connection, corruption, or capital. They are held to a completely different standard than all the rest of us. We must destroy this double standard — at all costs.

Our Lady Justice will one day be un-blindfolded, so she can use all her necessary senses to assert the law fairly across the board. Most petty crimes are committed by those just trying to get by in an impossible, unjust system. Circumstance must be taken into consideration. Nuance must be properly taken into consideration.

Compassion, Care and Respect for All

The health of our wildlife and our planet are vital to our survival. Selflessness and empathy must be at the core of governance and educational curricula. These are not "woo-woo" concepts. The absence of these values is the root cause of the dysfunction and rot in our society. We are all truly ONE. When one of us is oppressed, we are all oppressed.

“Save Gaza, save the world”.

Capitalism with a Socialistic Heart and an Altruistic Attitude

The idea of capitalism is not inherently an evil one. The idea behind this economic, societal  framework makes sense, theoretically. The harder you work, the bigger should be your reward. But this current version has evolved into its most destructive state — one that uplifts the worst of us and presses down on its best.

One's business empire would not exist without the masses doing the brunt of the work. If a business owner's employees have afforded them the luxury to live in a mansion, have multiple homes, extravagant vehicles, and private jets — then not one of those employees should be struggling to pay their bills or put food on the table.

Profit sharing — anywhere from 2 to 5%, growing to as much as 10% — on top of a thriving wage and fair paid time off and benefits package, would rebalance the playing field without destroying the motivation to create. It is a drop in the bucket for those at the top. It is a world of difference for those at the bottom.

Infinite profit growth is impossible. No matter the amount of growth, it will never be enough. We must recalibrate and find a healthy balance that serves everyone — not just a select, lucky few.

Egalitarianism

All those who do the same line of work must be compensated equally. No questions asked. There should be harsh financial penalties for companies and corporations that discriminate against employees in any capacity.

If America truly is a "free country" — and we are to constantly flout that idealism as a talking point — then we must actually live it. We must breathe it. We must practice it.

Gone are the days of rigid gender roles, forced belief systems, and designated behavioral patterns based on gender, race, and class. We must embrace our diversity because it is the very thing that makes life so beautiful.

RADICAL PRINCIPLES

Radical Vision

We need to wake up from the brainwashing we have been dealt since childhood — that "it is as it is" attitude, and we can only take incremental steps forward, are the only realistic paths. This is a complete fallacy and a useful lie that the powers that be deploy to make us believe that a future beyond our wildest dreams is impossible. Think about why “they” fight so hard against forward thinkers. It is not for nothing. We are the antithesis of everything they stand for.  We want joy, they want misery.  We want love, they want hate.  We want peace, they want war.

If we allow the opposition to designate what is and isn’t possible, we do ourselves and our future generations a disservice. It is only when we forcefully put our feet down, take the reins and demand the direction our country takes, that we will actually have a shot at building the world we know is possible.

Radical Optimism

The road ahead will not be easy. The opposition has every possible advantage: money, power, influence, government control, technology, and a blooming garden of propaganda. We, on the other hand, have something they will never have:

Love. Strength. Kindness. Passion. Creativity. Empathy. Truth. Character. Authenticity.

And most importantly — numbers. There are more of us than there are of them. 

Most of us are decent and kind. The world in its current state brings out our more base, self-serving natures — but that is not who we are at the core. We are a social, connective species. Even the most antisocial of us lights up at genuine, bonding moments.

Radical Accountability: The Lemon Laws for Politicians

The fact that Americans tolerate dystopian levels of incessant corruption from so-called leaders, will never cease to amaze me. We must implement a political tribunal of some kind — a formal mechanism by which elected officials face immediate accountability when there is valid, documented public outcry of improper or unlawful behavior, or when campaign promises are blatantly broken.

In the same way that we expect a product to work as advertised, we should expect a politician to engage in their duties as advertised. If we have lemon laws for cars, we should have lemon laws for politicians.

After a number of provable instances of misconduct, with evidence, an official should be dismissed from office and barred from ever holding office again. Every further unethical deed during the expulsion process should result in fines and possible short-term, unpardonable incarceration. No more waiting out corrupt officials until the next election cycle, we want to oust the egregiously flippant behavior before it is able to take root and cause more damage than necessary.

Radical Transparency

There should be a government app allowing registered voters to directly interact with elected officials — a platform for virtual town halls, polls on upcoming legislation, and direct constituent feedback. We already vote for game show singers via app. We certainly have the capacity to apply these tools to an actual democracy.  Elected officials should hold virtual town halls before voting on major bills — giving the public a direct voice on policy that will affect their lives, while giving officials real insight from people who might see things from angles they have not considered.

Radical Unity

We need to begin valuing unity and releasing the "everyone out for themselves" mentality. Our power is in our compassion, our empathy, our ethics, our connection, and our numbers. That is our strength. Republicans play politics like a team. Yes, a team of hyenas that will eventually eat one another, but a team nonetheless.  We must embrace a true team mentality — allow the flow of a hive mindset. When we can, we lift one another up. Become hype-men for one another. Work as a unified front.

THE AGENDA

What We Will Abolish (The list will grow)

•  The two-tiered justice system

•  Tax loopholes for the wealthy

•  Tax-exempt status for organized religions

•  The Electoral College

•  All non-defensive wars

•  Money's influence on politics

•  Supreme Court life appointments

•  Unlimited term limits for elected officials

•  Privately owned prisons

•  Qualified immunity for law enforcement 

What We Will Build (The list will grow)

•  Universal basic income mechanism (UBI) generated through the New York State Bank 

•  Universal state healthcare — paid for by the state, and guaranteed low cost medication

•  A thriving minimum wage of $27 effective immediately

•   Profit sharing 

•  A Universal Union Agency overseeing unions across all sectors

•  An extensive vacation, sick leave, maternity, and paternity package for all workers — including gig workers and contractors

•  A shortened work week: 4 days with an eventual move to 3

•  An aggressive green infrastructure and energy independence agenda

•  Codified universal equal rights and protections under a renewed constitution

•  Term limits for all elected officials

•  Total gun reform

•  The Justice Trials — holding the Epstein class to account

•  The Climate Trials — holding corporations guilty of the most egregious environmental crimes to account

•  Reparations on a tiered scale, dependent on historical and societal severity

•  Expanded services and programs for people with disabilities and special needs

•  Community centers 

•  Government-funded legal aid modeled on Section 8 — legal representation for all legitimate cases

•  Lemon Laws for Politicians — mandatory accountability tribunals for misconduct

•  A government transparency app for direct constituent-to-official communication

PRISM'S VISION FOR NEW YORK — AND BEYOND

PRISM will strive to incorporate only the best aspects of proven socio-economic systems — socialism, aspects of communism and capitalism and beyond — to forge a path forward. No one gets left behind. Everyone benefits. Everyone gets a real shot at achieving their goals and living a joyful, dignified life.  We will look to models that have already worked: the healthcare systems of virtually every other modern nation, the social safety nets of Nordic countries, the hate speech enforcement standards of Germany, and the financial reforms that have been proven to reduce inequality globally. We do not need to reinvent the wheel — we need the courage to actually roll it.

We need to cultivate an economic climate where people are freer to create, express themselves, and share their gifts with the world. We deserve a financial system not controlled or manipulated by a small few. We deserve a universal thriving wage. We deserve a system based on actual value — not debt.  We want to improve on the dreams our forefathers had for this country and expand on them exponentially. New York can be a blueprint for what the rest of America has the potential to become. We can be the example that inspires other struggling nations toward a future we can all be proud to hand to the coming generations.

We are meant for more than a rat race. We are meant for more than survival of the fittest. We are meant for more than struggle, scraps, crumbs and a system designed to keep us small.  For so long, an evil minority has found innumerable ways to fool us, bind us, cheat us, enslave us, and silence us. We need to remember that we are the majority.

There are more of us than there are of them.

The PRISM movement can be the wake-up call. The alarm clock.  Once we all wake up, there will be no turning back. No going back to sleep. There will be no shutting us down. We will remember our strength, our voice, our numbers, our power.

We are meant for the limitless reaches of our wildest dreams.

We are PRISM.

We are one.