April 15th – TAX Day in America
Come one come all, it’s time for more Vox Populi Radio!!!
Today, in front of the Federal Building in Los Angeles, California, on behalf of nearly a thousand KickStarter backers and everyone on Team Vox, we proudly announce, the launch of Season 2.
I’ve always believed in the power of symbolic actions. Ghandi, King and Mandela famously and with great attention to the significance and emotionality of time and place marched with their people to peace and freedom.
In America today, it’s not likely that any one person or will capture the imagination of our people. The issues are too complex and the politics too divisive. What is called for is an improved mode of conduct.
The founders of this Nation fixed in word and sanctified with the lives of patriots, the notion that all people should be free to peacefully and without fear of violent reprisal speak our minds.
Their premise conferred extraordinary responsibility on each and every citizen, on all free people. They ensured that this right to free speech be protected by the full weight, might and measure of the law.
The Right to Free Speech did not come with a Rule Book, a Best Practices Pamphlet or a basic list of Do’s & Don’t’s. Sadly, as is historically and predictably true, we human beings so often fall short of our potential.
Despite the extraordinary advancements in our world, self-inflicted wounds abound and danger is at our doorstep. People exercise their franchise, but often vote against their own self interests, because of the money and influence that is allowed to drive the public conversation.
So where should citizens look to for help, for inspiration for cooperation? We should look to each other. While there are many places and many sophisticated ways for people to relate to each other, there is a shortage of places to go where they can experience a fresh and nuanced discussion with people they may disagree with.
Vox Populi is a dream of mine. I have a conviction that when people gather and communicate in a respectful manner, even with radically divergent viewpoints, beautiful things can happen.
Together, we can sharpen our own arguments and discover their limitations. Together, we can learn the strength of others points of view and reaffirm our stances. All of these things can happen free from judgment and ridicule. By conducting ourselves in this manner, we invite others into the discussion, people who have much to offer but no appetite for meanness or arguments.
This is the mission of Vox Populi Radio. We invite you to sit at the table, to speak, to listen and to learn. At the very least, that’s what I plan to do!!!
Sean Astin
#RaiseYourVox