Conscious Choice: Two Minutes, Better World

June 2002

Two Minutes, Better World

by Molly Birk

In a perfect world, we would read newspapers and magazines daily, staying abreast of the current political agenda. We would write our Congresspersons whenever an important issue came up for a vote, voicing our opinion. And we would pass along our knowledge to friends so that everyone stays informed.

But who has time for all that? The world is a busy place, and unfortunately, lack of time can lead to apathy toward otherwise important political and social issues. We want to make a difference somehow, but with the amount of issues out there, it’s difficult to feel like we’re making an impact on any one of them, much less touching on them all.

TrueMajority.com aims to do the work for us. The free service, founded by Ben and Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen, monitors actions in Congress and notifies members with twice-monthly e-mails. Members can then learn more about the issue, click "reply," and a fax is automatically sent in their name to their Congressperson.

The campaign’s focus is based on ten principles centered on compassion, charity, and justice, which the organization describes as "a positive blueprint for moving forward in the post-9/11 world." Principles include an end to Cold War-era military spending and nuclear arms development, payment of U.N. dues, an increased focus on human rights issues, fighting hunger, and closing the gap between America’s rich and poor.

After September 11, Cohen recognized a desire in people to move forward as a society and make a difference in some way. So he started TrueMajority. The organization’s aim can be summed up by their slogan, "Give us two minutes, we’ll give you a better world." And that two minutes can take place from the comfort of one’s own home.

Internet-driven activism has been around for a while now, in various forms. We’ve all received e-mails where we sign our name to the end, copy and paste the text into a new message, and forward to our friends. We hope that at some point, the e-mail will reach its designated target, but wonder if we’re wasting our time. TrueMajority’s "one click activism" method is gloriously straightforward in comparison.

TrueMajority is making its presence known at a number of summer events, including the Rolling Thunder Down-Home Democracy Tour (which hits Chicago June 15), and the fifteen-city tour of musical group String Cheese Incident (appearing at Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin on July 12). At these events, TrueMajority sets up booths resembling those at a county fair and presents games that are fun while delivering a message. In the Knock-a-Nuke/Build-a-School game, for example, players throw softballs at nuclear weapons. For every nuke knocked down, a brand new school appears. The entrance "fee" for the games is registration to the e-mail list.

TrueMajority will also conduct a parade in eleven cities across the U.S., including a Chicago stop (date to be announced). The event features a five-vehicle caravan of theme cars highlighting vital issues in a fun, whimsical way. The School Bus, for example, is a double decker yellow bus that symbolizes the need to double federal funding for local school districts. The Piggies vehicle is a twelve foot tall piggy bank labeled "military spending," towing a much smaller "education" piggy bank, which in turn tows a tiny "world hunger" piggy bank, representing America’s humanitarian aid budget.

TrueMajority is a project of Priorities, Inc., a not-for-profit agency whose goal is to reduce military spending and increase education and social service spending. The project has been endorsed by several organizations, including the United Nations Association, Greenpeace, the Rainforest Action Network, the Interfaith Alliance, and Sojourners.

Visit www.truemajority.org to sign up.

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