You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: Stamp Money Out Of Politics with Ben and Jerrys.
Ben & Jerry have created a fantastically simple tool for building popular support to fight money in politics: they’re putting the message right on their money.
In an op-ed for CNN, they explained why they Stamp Stampede as only a pair of ice-cream connoisseur could:
"Democracy is the triple-deluxe droolworthy idea that the people can govern and be governed in turn, that We the People are the author and the subject of the law. In America, it's the idea that we can elect representatives who will rise above self-interest and work on behalf of the common good. We need a stampede to rout the special interests who have corralled Congress. And that's what we're doing.”
At StampStampede.org you can buy your stamps with phrases like "Not to be used for bribing politicians" and "Stamp money out of politics.” Then, you just start labeling your money — a practice which is completely legal and outlined on the website for those concerned about defacing federal property. A quick scan of the guidelines before deploying your stamp will also make sure you’re marking a part of the bill that won’t get it flagged by the Federal Reserve's and put out of circulation.
You can even get stamps with messages that support some of Stamp Stampede's partner organizations like WolfPAC and People For The American Way or tailor your message to address your specific concerns.
Stamp Stampede has a tumblr of people — some of them famous and even some legislators — posing with their newly labeled money and with already labeled dollars that they’ve received from the bank or as change. You can post yours to social media or send it to Stamp Stampede using the hashtag #GetMoneyOut.
This may sound like a very small act, but it’s a powerful one. The CNN op-ed laid out some pretty impressive numbers:
"The average dollar exchanges hands 875 times. That means if a thousand people stamp one dollar a day for a year, the message would be seen more than 300 million times. If 10,000 people do it, the message would be seen more than 3 billion times.”
Stamp Stampede can already boast having over 60,000 participants. If just a fraction of Best of the Left listeners joined in, we could put the effort to overturn Citizens United in people’s hands billions of times in 2016.
TAKE ACTION:
Get your stamps/get involved with: Stamp Stampede
Share your marked money with: StampStampede’s social media feeds
Follow the #GetMoneyOutthread
Sources/further reading:
"Here's How Ben & Jerry's Co-Founder Wants To Stamp Money Out Of Politics” via Huffington Post
"Stamp stampede on your dollar -- for democracy” by Ben & Jerry
"Stamp Money Out of Politics – STAMP STAMPEDE” via Democracy Matters
Hear the segment in context:
Episode #977 "Legal corruption and how to fix it (Money in Politics)"
Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich
