Democracy on the Move

Systems of Oppression

Aaron Lerma drops by to talk about the struggle to dismantle systems of oppression in rural areas. Aaron grew up in a small town in a rural area near the border of the Midwest and the South. As a non-binary, trans femme, disabled, white and Latinx organizer, Aaron has experienced oppression first-hand. But rather than dwelling on personal experiences, Aaron organizes for a type of solidarity that promotes re-thinking the underlying structure of our society and challenging the capitalist mindset that promotes oppression through racial and class-based discrimination.

Righteous Indignation

In this short podcast, we briefly discuss the concept of wokeism and how it conforms to the idea of “Righteous Indignation.” We also suggest ways to overcome our differences by making an effort to see each other as humans, rather than being objectified within an “Us” and “Them” narrative.

Marcus Flowers

Candidate Marcus Flowers drops by to talk about his campaign to replace Marjory Taylor Greene in the U.S. House of Representatives. Marcus describes how the January 6 insurrection motivated him to resign his post the very next day and begin campaigning against Greene, whom he considers a threat to our democracy. He also discusses his experiences overseas, most notably how he observed - firsthand - how misinformation and disinformation radicalizes people with deadly consequences. Here at home, voting rights are under threat to the point where democracy itself is at stake. As Marcus states bluntly: “We’re at a point in this country where a hard thing is what we must do if democracy is to survive.”

Wokeism

The concept of wokeism goes deep into the soul of America, where a history that’s often cruel, unfair and unjust tries to reconcile with what we desire to be a modern, just society. The concept speaks of systemic racism and Critical Race Theory as it wrestles with a shifting demographic, where rule by old white men is no longer a given.

In this podcast we’re joined by Dr. Michael Karson, who offers a psychological perspective on wokeism. Dr. Karson teaches at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology. He has practiced clinical and forensic psychology for 25 years before entering academia. He has authored or co-authored several books on psychology, and he has written dozens of short - yet highly informative - articles for Psychology Today, the world’s largest mental health and behavioral science destination online - exclusively dedicated to the study of human behavior.

The article referenced in this podcast can be found on the Psychology Today website at https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/feeling-our-way/202108/the-psychology-wokeism

Phillip Caldwell Discusses School Boards

Phillip Caldwell stops by to discuss his campaign for the Board of Education at one of Missouri’s top public school districts. We talk about the difficulty that school boards across the nation face in the era of Covid, Critical Race Theory and budget challenges.

Unfortunately, school boards have recently found themselves ducking for cover in the political crossfire of an increasingly polarized society. It’s easy to forget that the top priority with every school board is to ensure our children receive a quality education in a safe environment.

Phillip brings new perspectives to this environment and shares some specific ideas he plans to implement should he win a seat on the school board.

Transparency

If information is the currency of democracy, then transparency is the means by which information reveals itself. Transparency is enshrined in our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but such transparency doesn’t necessarily mean that our government is forthright and honest. Citizens must participate and demand answers.

In today’s podcast, we examine a specific instance of transparency in action and discuss the roadblocks and stone walls encountered in this ongoing journey.

Trish Gunby

Trish Gunby, candidate for U.S. Congress - 2nd district in Missouri, drops by to discuss the Democratic party and the important issues in her campaign. Trish currently serves in the state house of representatives; she turned her district from red to blue back in 2019. During this podcast, we discuss voting rights, healthcare, justice reform, building for the future and workers’ rights.

The U.S. Congressional 2nd district in Missouri turned from red to purple in the past few elections, so this seat is hotly contested and may well flip into Democratic hands in this year’s elections. This will be a closely watched contest on a national scale.

China Unraveled

Jason Szeftel, a political and economic writer and podcaster stops by to talk about China. Jason has always been fascinated with China; he learned the language, studied in Beijing and traveled extensively throughout the country. He is familiar with China's culture, its people, its economics and its politics. His upcoming book, China Unraveled, chronicles the story of China’s many cycles of order and chaos, and it poses the question, “What does the next phase in China’s history mean for the United States and the world?”

China’s future clearly depends on trade because it cannot even begin to consume the volume of goods that it produces. It has become very successful as the world’s leading manufacturer, and yet, its success has brought numerous destabilizing changes within the country. It struggles to maintain a delicate balance between a highly globalized future and another plunge into a dark - often violent - period of chaos. China is not alone on the precipice; it has become such an integral part of the world’s economy that if it falls back into chaos, it could well bring the rest of the world with it.

Mo CRT

This week we examine how Critical Race Theory affects state legislation on education. We include audio clips from various legislators in the Missouri State House as they describe their fears and concerns that Critical Race Theory teaches indoctrination and sets the stage for young minds to accept the idea that racial identity dictates destiny.

We at Democracy on the Move don’t buy into this mindset, yet we feel it’s important to get an understanding of how racial fears promote extremist positions in education, including book-banning and personal penalties for teachers that dare speak about race in the classroom.

Is the controversy all a ruse intended to destroy public schools and replace them with for-profit private schools? Does equity and diversity training lead to Marxism? Who determines whether a topic should be banned in the classroom? These questions and more were discussed in the State House and now appear in this podcast.

An Inconvenient Minority

Kenny Xu, author of the book An Inconvenient Minority - The Attack on Asian American Excellence and the Fight for Meritocracy, stops by to talk about the Asian American struggle. Kenny’s book discusses the rise of Asian Americans to nation-wide prominence in attaining technical and intellectual expertise; yet at the same time, they become the victims of numerous policies, ostensibly written in the spirit of diversity, but in reality excludes them from the upper ranks of the elite.

Listen in as we discuss the idea of meritocracy and equal opportunity, and how these concepts have been sidelined in today’s society by a “progressive” movement that speaks in virtuous terms while exercising discrimination. To quote a passage in the book, “... the elite sphere of American life is not a meritocracy. It’s not something you can simply drill or study for, a place wherein you can get by on your pure grit. There are gatekeepers to this elite - and these gatekeepers carefully scan for race.”

This book can be found on Amazon