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Population Health Forum Advocating for Action Toward a Healthier Society |
Actions to Take 1. Fight for JUSTICE to reduce the gap between rich and poor. It's better for health! Being active as a public citizen is good for your health. Examples of health promoting activities involving justice issues include: Get poor people out to vote. The USA has the lowest voter turnout of all democracies, and it is the poor and the young who don't vote. Some authorities feel the US situation is not an accident but was desiged into the constitution and continues to the present day. A society of non-voters is potentially more explosive than one in which most citizens regularly vote. Center
for Voting and Democracy Voter Turnout The Center is dedicated to fair elections where every vote
counts and all voters are represented. As a catalyst
for reform, we conduct
research, analysis, education and advocacy to build
understanding of and support for more democratic voting
systems. We promote
full representation
as an alternative to winner-take-all elections and
instant runoff voting as an alternative to plurality elections
and
traditional
runoff elections.
International IDEA | Voter Turnout contains much information on voting by countries. Mark Franklin's Home Page Mark is a political scientist at Trinity College on Connecticut. He has calculated average voter turnout among nations for the past 40 years. His forthcoming book on voter turnout with this information can be accessed on his site. Champion
progressive taxation. Rethink the corporate
McGovernment system where corporations rule the world. MoveOn.org: Democracy in Action is working to bring ordinary people back into politics. With a system that today revolves around big money and big media, most citizens are left out. When it becomes clear that our "representatives" don't represent the public, the foundations of democracy are in peril. MoveOn is a catalyst for a new kind of grassroots involvement, supporting busy but concerned citizens in finding their political voice. Our international network of more than 2,000,000 online activists is one of the most effective and responsive outlets for democratic participation available today. Citizen Policies Institute is a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible educational organization, working to strengthen our democracy and solve our social, cultural, and environmental problems. Our plan combines guaranteed economic security with universal community service. Basic Income Guarantee (BIG). The basic income guarantee (BIG) is the government insured guarantee that no citizen's income will fall below some minimal level for any reason. All citizens would receive a BIG without means test or work requirement. BIG is an efficient and effective solution to poverty that preserves individual autonomy and work incentives while simplifying government social policy. Some researchers estimate that a small BIG, sufficient to cut the poverty rate in half could be financed without an increase in taxes by redirecting funds from spending programs and taxes deductions aimed at maintaining incomes. Basic Income European
Network. This site represents European perspectives
that seem impossible to A basic income is an income unconditionally granted to
all on an individual basis, without
means test or work requirement. It is a form of minimum income guarantee that differs from those that
now exist in various Liberty and equality, efficiency and community, common
ownership of the Earth and equal
sharing in the benefits of technical progress, the flexibility of the labour market and the dignity of
the poor, the fight New America Foundation has
a variety of strategies to address structural inequalities.
An interesting one is the Asset Building stregies, as described
by Ray Boshara, which would give each infant born a sum of
money Statewide
Poverty Action Network.
Because no one in America should be poor, this Washington
State Income Equity Act of 2001 (HR 2691). Although current trends in taxation in the US are to cut corporate taxes even further (corporations paid 40% of the federal tax bill in 1940, and in 2002 paid 7.1%), there are alternatives, such as this bill. 2. Advocate for a child-supportive environment where CHILDREN get love, care, and opportunities to develop. The US has one of the most oppressive environments for children imaginable. We are the only nation that hasn't ratified the UN Declaration of the Rights of a Child that resulted from the conference in New York in 1989 that represented the largest gathering of heads of state up to that time. Ways of becoming involved center around acting to promote true family values. This includes support for pregnancy, and for the first few years of life thereafter. We have no federal laws on the books for maternal or paternal leave from work. We require mothers to go out and work and not nurture their children, who then are put into daycare situations and studies show that this leads to later behavioral problems and most likely increased mortality. The Children's Defense Fund. The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America, who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick or into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. UNICEF champions children's welfare world-wide. The Innocenti Research Centre looks at issues involving children and makes comparison reports available. Know and share with your neighbors. Communities where people trust and help one another are healthier than places with less cooperation. Active communities with high participation and civic involvement are the healthiest. The links between trust and hierarchy show that working for economic and social justice by the earlier steps will increase social cohesion and improve health. Spirituality is one way, for religious communities may have better health through that mechanism. Getting to know your neighbors and working together on community projects is another way that has health implications. In 2002 the Population Health Forum put on a one-day conference for the Pastoral Care Department at Swedish Hospital on Spiritual Care and Popualtion Medicine. It was argued that the benefits of sprituality were related to the social connections that such efforts produce. There are a number of groups studying these connections
and there are commercial web sites and vendors selling
various products. Where women’s status is higher, everyone’s
health is better. Many organizations work to improve the
status of women world wide. Coalitions of women working
for social gains
benefit all of us. Union
membership is one way for women to improve
their status. National Organization for Women. Since its founding in 1966, NOW's goal has been to take action to bring about equality for all women. NOW works to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace, schools, the justice system, and all other sectors of society; secure abortion, birth control and reproductive rights for all women; end all forms of violence against women; eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia; and promote equality and justice in our society. Having a sense of control in the workplace and at home decreases stress and is good for your health. America's best kept secret is that workers are the largest group of people in the world, and when organized, can wield incredible power. A sense of control and a decent workplace go along with the right to have a union and a commitment to end discrimination at work. We must improve working conditions for everyone. Working Class Resource Guide. This guide points to many ways for workers to gain power. American Federation
of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, an umbrella
federation of unions in the U.S. Allied constituency
groups include APRI, CBTU, CLUW, LACLA, APALA,
PRIDE AT WORK, ALLIANCE OF RETIRED AMERICANS,
and in Washington state the NATIVE AMERICAN COALITION. The Labor
Party (USA), a
national organization comprised of international
unions, including the Paper, Allied-Industrial,
Chemical and Energy
Workers; the United Electrical, Radi and Machine
Workers of America; the Brotherhood of Maintenance
of Way Employees; the American Federation of Government
Employees; and the United Mine Workers of American,
and hundreds of local unions (representing over
2 million workers), worker supportive organizations
and individual members. International Labor Organization (U.N. agency). Adopted in 1998, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work is an expression of commitment by governments, employers' and workers' organizations to uphold basic human values—values that are vital to our social and economic lives:
See recent reports: 2003 Time for equality at work, 2002 A future without child labour, 2001 Stopping forced labour, 2000 Your voice at work Washington State Jobs With
Justice,
fighting for jobs with justice and against corporate
greed since 1993. We are a group of academics, citizens, students, and activities across several nations that work to build support for changing the rules of society so that better health comes naturally. Join out list and come to our meetings, and consider organizing chapters in your communities. To
join our listserv send a message to listproc@u.washington.edu. |