« The “No Coal Zone” with Mike Roselle. If Only…..
What Every Politician You Know Wants You To Hear »

Butts. In. Seats.

Published by , February 11th, 2009 Act Locally , Campuses , Climate Challenge , Climate Policy , Direct Action , Events , Political Participation , Politics , Power Shift Closed

Butts in seats.

These three words must become the GUIDING PRINCIPLE OF OUR LIVES for the next 16 DAYS.

We face a failing economy, a faltering climate, and a world of increasing anxiety & insecurity.  We also know exactly how to shift to a just and prosperous economy powered by clean energy…and this Power Shift will only happen if OUR generation works and fights for it.

Power Shift 2009 is the moment our generation will arrive, and jumpstart what history will look back on as nothing short of a civilizational revolution.  We each have only one mind-numbingly simple job for the next 16 days: 

BUTTS IN SEATS.

So here’s what to do: 
 

  1. Recruit like crazy between now and Saturday.  Talk to friends, have friends talk to friends, go to classes, go to clubs, and DON’T STOP EVEN IF YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT LOGISTICS.  They will work out.

  2. Register as many Power Shifters as you can at www.powershift09.org by this Saturday at midnight PST, to get the $40 dicount rate.  Use this discount code: p0wersh1ft.

Concerned this job is too hard?  Afraid you’re not up for it?  Fretting over logistics?  I assure you, none of your doubts will matter in 16 days, let alone a year from now.  What WILL matter a year from now is whether we look back and see that THIS was the moment we brought together a movement of courageous, determined young people strong enough to turn the tide.

Need some perspective?  Take a second to remember whose shoulders you are standing on.  Women were jailed for years fighting for the right to vote.  Blacks were beaten and firehosed for standing up for their rights in the segregated South.  People walked so long for the March on Washington the bottom of their shoes wore out.

Every generation must rise to its challenge, and this is ours.  We have the chance to live the most meaningful lives that have ever been lived…and it starts with butts in seats.

Go get ‘em.

Peace,
Zo

About Zo


Zo joined the youth clean energy movement at Clark University in 2003, finished an International Development degree in 2007, and chose to forgo a free master’s degree to organize full-time in 2008. Zo was raised in New Hampshire by his father Ariel and his mother Nancy. Ariel, born into a working-class Israeli home, married after serving in Israel’s elite paratrooper force, and, with little English, launched a housepainting business to support his young family. Nancy, born into a middle-class Jewish-American home, has juggled motherhood and employment in the corporate world, while somehow making a name for herself as an environmental & democracy advocate. Through long walks in the woods and long days on the painting ladder with his father, Zo learned that all creation deserves reverence, all children deserve a chance, and all work deserves care. Through his mother’s organizing for citywide recycling during his young years and now for election protection, Zo learned we all have a responsibility to each another, and, with a little courage and strategy, we all can make a difference. In his spare time, Zo is a Bikram Yoga enthusiast and has performed as a progressive folk-rock songwriter in the New England college scene. He may pursue music full-time, attend Rabbinical school, or take up holistic healing, after having attended to some of the converging catastrophies of the 21st century.

Community Picks

Plug In

Login to Post
Contributor Resources
Spread It's Getting Hot in Here
Apply for a Contributor account
Send Scoops Here
Terms of Use