from the 2004 Presidential Campaign of Joel A. Wendt:
Joel A. Wendt: an alternative and independent candidate for President of the United States.
the basic idea: America is really the attempt by people to bring to life an Ideal - the Ideal that a "government of the People, by the People and for the People" will come into being. While it will never be perfect, each effort at bringing this Ideal into further incarnation is a worthy one. At present, other earthly powers (mostly an aristocracy of wealth) have corrupted the processes of government, having changed our Republic into a hidden oligarchy of wealth. Now We the People must again refuse to Consent, and insist once more that we are the fundamental source from which sitting governments receive their grant of power. We can do this in a very gentle way, by taking away from the politicians, and the self interested media, the depth and nature of the political conversation. We can't be passive anymore, but must be active in the process by which the public dialog is formed, and the Spiritual Ideal that is America is articulated. It is not only our right, but a duty and a necessity that Citizen Governance come forward in this way if we wish to mature our young Nation in the direction of its true potential. To a degree, this process is already unfolding, and in support of this I have stepped into the Circus of modern political life. While I offer much material on my various websites, it is my real hope that I can appear in public venues as a speaker, articulating this vision of America. As a consequence, the support for my candidacy that I most desire is to be invited to speak in public, and to engage in conversation. No money or other typical kinds of support are needed. See my websites for snail mail and e-mail addresses.
campaign website: "some thoughts on the nature of public life - and an offer of service"
http://ipwebdev.com/campaign
working papers available on campaign website: (some may yet be incomplete)
The Plan - an essay written prior to deciding to campaign
#1 Citizen Governance - the future of the Republic form of government -
#2 Election Processes in the Future - how citizen governance in practice eliminates the need
for conventional media and the corresponding demand for excessive amounts of campaign contributions -
#3 The Fundamentalist Impulse - the effect upon the future of those who want to reanimate an imagined past -
#4 The Problem of Terrorism - in the light of a reconsideration of the nature of foreign policy -
#5 Domestic and International Social Triage - ordering priorities from a citizen governance point of view -
#6 America's Growing Moral Debt - facing our own past in order to know what needs to be done for the future -
#7 The World in Balance - and the mystery at the heart of it all -
#8 The Administration of George W. Bush, the Rule of Citizen Governance and the United States Constitution
#9 Time for the Second American Revolution? - just see if you don't think so too -
#10 National Sovereignty and the Future of the Corporation
The 1998 announcement - an announcement to run for president written several years before the current campaign.
research website: Shapes in the Fire http://ipwebdev.com/hermit
a new kind of research into the nature of social and political life
some biographical material: http://ipwebdev.com/hermit/biogy23x.html
