Tue. Mar 19th, 2024

About

Vote. Work. Buy. These are the basic activities of our daily lives, and all of them are in serious need of reform in America.

The community-minded blog of mindchangingUSA is a nonprofit forum that is dedicated to reforming policies of work, consumption, and voting in America by educating a citizenship regarding its rights as voters, workers, and consumers.

Although there are many issues that affect our lives as voters, workers, and consumers, mindchangingUSA focuses in particular on trends that are in need of vital reform:

  • #VotingRights: Many states are attempting, or have already attempted, to pass legislation that restricts the rights of voters to fair, transparent, and responsive election systems. Such attempts include Voter ID Laws and Voter Redistricting, or “gerrymandering,” which are thinly veiled attempts to suppress racial and political minorities from access to free and fair elections. More recently, there is a growing effort to utilize propaganda about “voter fraud” to justify these attempts, even though social scientific research and peer-reviewed studies have shown no such fraud.
  •  #WorkRights: The decline of unions and the rise of “at-will” employment and so-called “right to work” laws have severely impacted the ability of workers to organize and improve the conditions of their employment in all areas: wages, workplace safety, and benefits including health care. As a result, all workers in this country are experiencing unfair work conditions in the form of stagnant wages, insecure and contingent employment, and lack of access to health care.
  •  #ConsumerRights: The rise of multinational corporations and democratic elections financed by wealthy contributors with a primarily business-driven agenda has conspired against consumer rights to fair and transparent information that makes ethical consumer decisions more difficult and restricts their power to resolve problems with companies who conduct themselves in an unethical and illegal manner. For example, consider the causes of the Great Recession in 2008, in which financial institutions conspired to sell toxic assets to consumers, who then lost their jobs, their homes, and their livelihoods. More recently, the trend of corporations with privacy agreements that strip consumers of their ability to sue companies who mislead them, and force them into corporation-sponsored arbitration has also hamstrung consumers from protecting their rights.

Our educational aim is to promote public discourse among policy makers, public officials, and citizens about the significant need for reforming work, consumption, and electoral politics in America, particularly in terms of the growing problems of underemployment, overwork, stagnating wages, increasing debt, eroding benefits, limited vacation and leave, contingent and insecure work, income inequality, conspicuous consumption, sustainability, gerrymandering, and restrictions on voters’ rights to access at the ballot box.

We currently accept submissions from professionals, advocates, and concerned citizens alike who are working in areas related to these topics. We encourage contributors to think beyond the divisions of partisanship and ideology. There are no specific recommendations for submissions, and individuals and organizations are encouraged to submit content that will engage the the broader public about these important issues. Submit your resume along with other supporting materials that document your area of expertise, along with a cover letter to editor@mindchanging.org.

Content should be around 1000 words and proof read. Images should be in JPG format and less than 100 KB. Video clips should be no more than 5 minutes and less than 500 KB.

The views expressed in this blog belong solely to the contributors and editor of this website. No content can be copied, reproduced, or distributed without express written consent of the author and editor.

Real reform starts with being informed.

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Tom Bombadil, Editorial Resources Director

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