‘We The People’ seeks students to fight corporate dominance

Presenter: We The People, a new political party in Oregon, is seeking support from students to battle corporate domination. For the Lane County branch in Eugene, Alan Cohen:

Alan Cohen (We The People): As a student at Vassar College in 1971, I participated along with almost all the students I knew in teach-ins and in a march on Washington, learning about and protesting the war in Vietnam. Along with three other students, I also canvassed door-to door for (1972 presidential candidate) George McGovern.

[00:00:29] Canvassing was the most valuable experience. People invited us into their homes and talked seriously with us about their hopes, desires, and beliefs. Many disagreed with us, but nearly all were genuinely glad we were engaging in this civic activity.

[00:00:45] Young people have tended to shy away from politics recently. Protests have become more popular than direct political engagement. However, while the 1999 Seattle World Trade Organization protests and Occupy Wall Street were broad-based, sustained demonstrations and had generous media coverage, they had very little impact on policy.

[00:01:09] That is in part because today corporate America has control of all three branches of our government at the national and state and sometimes at the local level. Successful politicians are funded and lobbied by the rich and those most who play ball are offered lucrative jobs when they leave public service.

[00:01:34] Voting records indicate that they serve corporations and the rich and ignore the wishes of the people, which means that at present, we are living in an oligarchy of, by, and for the corporations and the rich and not a democracy of, by, and for the people.

[00:01:52] The major problem in America today is this corporate dominance, which has created an unequal distribution of wealth, inequality of opportunity of influence on our government and before the law. While 75% of the population approved of how our government conducted business in the 1960s and early 1970s, only 20% do now.

[00:02:17] And nearly our entire substantial increase in productivity over the past 50 years has gone into the pockets of those enjoying the top 0.1% of wealth. I have recently suggested in Eugene Weekly how this may have come about.

[00:02:35] Whatever the cause, at the federal level, though more than 60 % of the population wants single-payer health care and free public college education, and is opposed to the money released into politics by Citizens United, these issues are not taken seriously by elected officials.

[00:02:54] Leaders of large corporations, as represented by the Chamber of Commerce, no longer believe in the safety net. They believe in redirecting that money to corporate welfare and to decreasing taxes.

[00:03:08] As a result, except for Medicaid, the federal government has been decreasing its economic assistance to state governments. And so at the state level, at present here in Oregon and throughout the country, we are on the verge of addressing our deficits by cuts in funding for worthy programs and by increases in regressive taxation.

[00:03:31] David Loveall and Ryan Ceniga are Lane County commissioners whose campaigns were funded (according to a May 22, 2025 Eugene Weekly article) by Community Action Network, a PAC that provides funding to right-wing candidates.

[00:03:49] And they have voted to rezone TV Butte in Oakridge from forest land to allow the creation of a new gravel mine, despite no local or regional demand for the gravel and the Lane County Planning Commission’s unanimous decision to deny the application on July 24, 2024.

[00:04:13] We The People is a new political party and the Lane County branch (website at wtplane.org), invites you to participate in its development. We will be focusing exclusively on diminishing inequality, primarily by taking positions on issues that a majority of the public supports: single-payer health care, free public college education, a $20 minimum wage, what was $15 if you look at the changes due to inflation since 2016, etc.

[00:04:52] We will accept no funding from corporations or the rich and will choose only public service candidates of, by, and for the people—candidates willing to vote according to polls taken among our membership as issues arise. We plan to run candidates locally to challenge the many candidates who run unopposed and to replace those who serve corporate interests like Loveall and Ceniga.

[00:05:17] Students, your participation would certainly be heartening and educational and it could help to solve our problems with corporate domination. Acting simultaneously at local, state and national levels while we address issues of parking, housing and electricity here in Eugene, we can aim to replace most of Congress and the presidency at the national level.

[00:05:40] By focusing exclusively on inequality, we can represent the economic interests of 99% of the population. And if we get sufficient coverage, we should be able to win nearly any election we enter. To achieve our ambitious ends, we will need your help, your expertise with social media, your idealism, your energy, your research, and your ideas.

[00:06:04] Please visit our website, contact us at WeThePeoplePartyLaneCounty@proton.me, join the party, sign up for our newsletter, and come to meetings every other Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., meetings upcoming Oct. 3, 17, and 31; Nov. 14 and 28. Thank you for listening.

[00:06:29] Presenter: Alan Cohen encourages students to join We The People, a new political party with ballot access in Oregon.