Congressman Keith Ellison, Minnesota Democrat, addressed an audience (h/t The Blaze- Full versions below) at the Network of Spiritual Progressives Conference in June of this year, where the lawmaker gave his views on how he views the nation’s national security and our borders among other issues. Mr. Ellison also tells audience members a bill he proposed and co-sponsored called the “Global Marshall Plan.” :
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None of us can say security is not important. We need to define what security is and how we actually secure our country. No security policy position can be premised on military might. It can’t happen. it doesn’t work like that. The way it works is that we are country again guided by ideas of equity generosity and engagement in our relations with other nations and those philosophical ideals create safe borders.
And God willing one day the border will become an irrelevancy.
The fact is it’s time for us to ask for a critical question and that is how are we going to shape a progressive foreign policy agenda that provides a platform for the US government in the 21st century? It is not enough to critique what others have failed to do properly. We have to envision a progressive philosophy of interacting with the world and I submit to you that we should envision a philosophy based on equity, generosity, and engagement. Let me tell you what I mean by equity.
Our commitment to equity means that we as progressives we acknowledge that we are stewards for each other and future generations. We as progresses have never accepted the notion that it is okay for the powerful to simply wield power without regard to the needs of other people. As progressives since we acknowledge we are stewards for each other and future generations.
This is why I’d introduced and co-sponsored legislation at both the micro and macro levels that underscores the need for social and environmental responsibility. I don’t want to go to all these bills I supported. Who cares about all these bills I supported? But there is one bill that I do need you to know that I had been fighting for and that is a bill for the global Marshall plan. A bill for a global Marshall plan is about equity.
Equity? How so? Equity in being when we engage with another country or another region of the world that we are not looking to simply how to get the most and give the least…right? How to get their sugar, how to get their oil, how to get their uranium, how to get their stuff and give them nothing or give the elites of that country a little bit so that they can keep the others in line. How can we break away from that?
How can we have a policy based on equity? Some of us in the progressive movement -the hairs on the back of our neck bristle when we talk about trade but you and I know there’s nothing wrong with trade in and of itself.
Something is wrong, however, when we have the attitude that my oil is under your sand and so I am going to get it from you and I am willing to end your life to do it and ruin your society . Equity – the idea that we should trade value. Things we need for things they need … a value. This is something the American people will benefit from.
Halliburton may not benefit from it. They may not like it . British Petroleum may not like it. You know Lockheed Martin— they may not like it . A lot of people may not like it , but you will like it because you will get things you need and other people around the world will get things they need.
