Door Hanger Advertisement: Write-In Joe Kopsick for U.S. House of Representatives on November 3rd, 2020 (Versions #2, #3, & #4)

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Created on July 30th and August 26th, 2020

Published on August 26th, 2020

Edited on August 29th, 2020

Advertisement: Write-In Joe Kopsick for U.S. House of Representatives on November 3rd, 2020 (Versions #2, #3, & #4)

Click on images, and/or open in a new tab or window, to enlarge and see in full detail

Images created on July 30th and August 26th, 2020

Published on August 26th, 2020

Edited on August 29th, 2020

Response to the Green Party Youth Caucus's Candidate Survey

Q1: Name?

A1: Joseph W. Kopsick.







Q2: Email?

A2: jwkopsick@gmail.com





Q3: Phone?

A3: 608-417-9395

Q4: Position Sought?

A4: U.S. Representative (10^th District).

Q5: State?

A5: Illinois.






Q6: Are you running as a Green? If not, why not?

A6: No, I'm running as a write-in candidate, and trying to form a Mutualist Party in Illinois. The Green Party declined to nominate me by one vote.






Q7: Have you sought and have you been endorsed by your local party and your state party? If not, why not?

A7: I tried to get nominated by the Green Party but approval failed by one vote. I tried to get nominated by the Libertarian Party before that, and David Rych was nominated instead. I was the only person whom the state Libertarian Party ran somebody against, although I was told that it was in error and I would have been nominated if I had contacted the right person in time. But the way I lost the nomination at the state convention makes me doubt that; electronic voting failed, and then in the paper ballot round I was handed a ballot filled out with the name of my opponent instead of a blank ballot. Ideologically I am right between the Libertarian and Green parties, so I probably failed both parties' tests because I am not strongly aligned enough with one party or the other. But I believe that candidates in the middle will get more votes, while still promoting a large number of Green Party interests, because I believe that the radical middle is closer to where the average undecided and independent voter is. I want radical, swift change, but I also want lasting, constitutional reform, so I tend to mention the Constitution and the need for balanced budgets more than the average Green seems to appreciate. But the need to protect the environment, anti-war issues, and small parties' need for election reform, are progressive values that will always be important to me.





Q8: What other groups have endorsed your campaign?

A8: None so far, although I am in contact with Black Lives Matter, Stepping Stones (a sexual abuse recovery organization), and the local Green and Libertarian party chapters, concerning legislative matters related to issues they care about. My campaign manager and I are working on reaching out to more groups, including on social media.





Q9: How does your campaign help build the Green Party?

A9: Growing the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, and the number of independents in elected office are major goals of mine. I like to remind Libertarians that the party's co-founder David Nolan was a "Geo-Libertarian". This means that in terms of economics and tax policy, Nolan believed that Land Value Taxation is the most efficient, and least harmful, form of taxation. Milton Friedman praised L.V.T. as well. This means that Greens and Libertarians are much more compatible on environmental and tax issues than they think they are. I will promote things Greens and Libertarians agree on: decentralization, anti-war issues, civil liberties and police brutality reforms, and re-orienting tax policies across the nation in a manner which focuses on preserving the environment and the quality of land. I will advocate replacing all or most current forms of taxation - except for mineral resource exploration fees - with a tax on the unimproved value of land, and on the disuse and abuse of land in a way which makes it unusable by other potential human owners and by native species.





Q10: How does your campaign help empower youth?

A10: One of my top three issues is protecting children, together with reforming education. My proposed constitutional amendment, SKA (the Safe Kids Amendment), would reform education and child trafficking laws in a manner which protects children from kidnapping while also providing them with the skills and education they need to have middle class careers. I support bringing wood and auto shops, and other trade skills courses, back to high schools, but only for upperclassmen, and only with waiver systems, and on campuses separate from freshmen and sophomores. Additionally, as part of SKA, all states should be prohibited from allowing people under 17 to get married. I will also push for a full congressional investigation into the crimes of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.









Q11: How do you foresee your campaign advancing liberation for frontline communities?

[Author's Note: “Frontline communities” refers to communities on the front line of potential ocean level rise due to sea ice melting which results from less and less ice melting each year due to harsher summers between those melting seasons.]


A11: Tax policy should be re-oriented so as to focus on using punitive taxation to disincentivize the degradation of land, water, and air. Sourcing all of government's taxes from the misuse and abuse of land, will help prevent environmental degradation, while improving our economy. It will help production occur with the minimum amount of pollution necessary, and for each community to set up Community Land Trusts would help ensure that no pollution and mineral extraction occur without fully compensating the community (through paying taxes and compensating the community's health costs). Refocusing a huge portion of our political economy on environmental issues and land use, will help ensure that the land is responsibly developed, without either sacrificing the environment, or sacrificing too many jobs too quickly. I additionally support a tax on land hoarding, and I support ending all subsidies to all forms of energy, to end the rigging of the energy markets.





Q12: How do your foresee you campaign advancing anticapitalism and ecosocialism?

A12: If the question is "How do you foresee your campaign advancing ecosocialism?", then my answer is that I hope to promote Georgist (land-oriented), Mutualist, and socialist values and policy proposals, by discouraging the collection of rent, interest, and profit, but without prohibiting them. I will make it clear that these things are symptoms of the problems of monopoly; government grants the monopoly right to collect rent, interest, and/or profit to a given bank or business or certified lender. This rigs the economy; therefore rent, interest, and profit should decrease. They will only go away completely, when monopolies are broken up and defunded. I support removing all taxpayer supports of monopolies and oligopolies, to give socialists (and people wishing to build voluntary communes) the opportunity to participate in the economy with everybody else.





Q13: How many doors do you think your campaign can knock on? How many calls can it make?

A13: My campaign currently has only a small number of volunteers, but we are in the process of finding more volunteers. We will be spreading awareness about mail-in voting, as well as the push to make mail-in voting more difficult.



Q14: What kind of events and community involvement will your campaign have?

A14: My campaign will attempt to hold meet-and-greets, including candidate question-and-answer sessions, at local libraries, and possibly private events. We have held one meet-and-greet so far; in March in Lake Bluff.





Q15: How much money does your campaign anticipate fundraising? And how?

A15: We are not actively fundraising. My campaign manager has donated some gifts to the campaign, in the form of paying for campaign literature and signs and advertisements to be printed. But I want to set a good example for other congressional campaigns, by not accepting corporate contributions, and having my campaign be funded (thus far) by myself and my campaign manager. I hope that other candidates follow my example, and I hope that this helps get money out of politics.



Q16: What other groups will you seek support from?

A16: I will seek support from any and all parties, clubs, interest groups, and organizations that support civil liberties, peace, environmental justice, racial justice, equal protection of minorities, individual rights, increased ballot access for third parties and independents, decentralization of powers not specifically delegated to the federal government, and serious fiscal reform.






Q17: What parts of the district do you think you are strongest in and why?

A17: I'm not sure. Due to my message of promoting economic reforms that would make the markets more free and more fair, I suspect that I will do the best in areas with large numbers of young people, low-income voters, and people who do not identify strongly with either the Democratic Party or Republican Party. I also believe that making environmental issues a top priority will help appeal to people across my district, because many people in Lake County live near places where industrial pollution has recently taken place.





Q18: What forms of support would you ideally like from the Youth Caucus?

A18: I would like your endorsement, but what really matters to me are the individual write-in votes on Election Day (as well as your members' trust in me as an independent citizen-legislator). And if your members and supporters could share links about my campaign, I would appreciate it.






Q19: What is your current online and social media presence?

A19: I am active on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and other sites.





Q20: Website?

A20: www.joekopsick.com (under construction).




Q21: Facebook?

A21:
- Personal: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012735515034
- Campaign Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/586988188625917/
- Mutualist Party of IL page: http://www.facebook.com/MutualistPartyIL/?modal=admin_todo_tour





Q22: Twitter?

A22: http://twitter.com/JoeKopsick





Q23: Other?

A23:
- My blog: www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/

- My platform: http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2019/08/expanded-platform-for-us-house-of.html
- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/JoeKopsick4Congress





Q24: What is your media plan for your campaign?

A24: I believe that it will not be necessary to attempt to garner media coverage during the second half of August, because I suspect that the fact that I have made it into the League of Women Voters' debates throughout the month of September, will gain me some media coverage, without any effort on my own behalf. But I am interested in reaching out to independent media, freelance journalists, and reporters who are used to covering independent and third party runs.

Responses Written and Published on August 17th, 2020

Joe Kopsick for Congress Yard Signs

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Created and Published on August 7th, 2020

Originally Published Under the Title

"Joe Kopsick for Congress Yard Sign"

First Image Created and Added on August 7th, 2020

All Other Images Created and Added on August 17th, 2020

Door Hanger Advertisement: Write-In Joe Kopsick for U.S. House of Representatives on November 3rd, 2020 (Version #1)

Created and published on July 30th, 2020

Title Edited on August 26th, 2020

Advertisement: Write-In Joe Kopsick for U.S. House of Representatives on November 3rd, 2020 (Version #1)

Created and Published on July 30th, 2020

Second Image Created on July 30th, 2020

and Added on August 6th, 2020

Title Edited on August 26th. 2020

Joe Kopsick for Congress Campaign Advertisement, Featuring QR Codes

Created and Published on July 3rd, 2020

Set of Q.R. Codes for Joe Kopsick's 2020 Campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives

     Using an app such as "QR & Barcode Scanner" or "Bar-Code", or "QR Code Reader", scan the following QR codes (Quick Response codes) to see important links about Joe Kopsick's 2020 campaign for U.S. Representative from Illinois's 10th congressional district.

     The QR codes that lead to links where you can sign the petition to get Kopsick on the ballot, are codes #10 through #14. These will allow you to find out if you're registered to vote, find out if you live in Illinois's 10th district, sign the petition, and send invitation to others to do the same!

1. List of most important campaign links

(on the Aquarian Agrarian blog)

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/02/links-to-most-important-documents-and.html

2. Questionnaire which allows the reader

to score themselves according to

how much they agree with the candidate

(on the Aquarian Agrarian blog)

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/05/political-questionnaire-are-you-joe_12.html

3. Joe Kopsick for Congress /

Mutualist Party of Illinois

(Facebook group)

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/07/description-of-facebook-group-joe.html

4. Mutualist Party of Illinois

(Facebook page)

http://www.facebook.com/MutualistPartyIL/?modal=admin_todo_tour

5. Kopsick's statement about the foundation

of the Mutualist Party of Illinois

(on the Aquarian Agrarian blog)

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/07/announcing-formation-of-mutualist-party.html

6. Detailed 2020 platform

(on the Aquarian Agrarian blog)

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2019/08/expanded-platform-for-us-house-of.html

7. June 2020 press release

(on the Aquarian Agrarian blog)

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/06/local-us-house-candidate-seeks-to-form.html

8. Campaign video on Ukrainegate

and Brad Schneider

(YouTube)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq1l0FVHu6c

9. Kopsick's infographic about police killings

(on the Aquarian Agrarian blog)

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/06/resisting-unlawful-arrest-by-police-in.html

10. Find out if you're registered to vote,

and make sure your "Congressional (Federal)" district

is the 10th district

(government website)

http://ova.elections.il.gov/RegistrationLookup.aspx

11. Find out if you're eligible to sign

the petition to get Joe Kopsick on the ballot

(on the Aquarian Agrarian blog)

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/07/requirements-to-sign-petition-to-get.html

12. e-Petition to get Joe Kopsick on the ballot

(click "Sign Document",

open an internet explorer,

click "Sign In with Mobile Browser",

click "Get Started",

click "Start" at the top-right,

and fill in the form,

beginning with "Signature Field")

(if this doesn't work, try the one below)

http://app.signnow.com/webapp/document/ea1ff1fceb49415e8e75996303b9c9113cc1dfd1?fieldinvite_id=443b98ffbb9243258a41eb31eb4fa50a83278f18&mobileweb=app_only&route=fieldinvite

13. e-Petition to get Joe Kopsick on the ballot

(click "Sign Document",

open an internet explorer,

click "Sign In with Mobile Browser",

click "Get Started",

click "Start" at the top-right,

and fill in the form,

beginning with "Signature Field")

(if this doesn't work, try the one above)

http://app.signnow.com/webapp/document/ea1ff1fceb49415e8e75996303b9c9113cc1dfd1

14. Link to send to people to invite them to sign the e-petition

(click "Sign Document",
open an internet explorer,
click "Sign In with Mobile Browser",
click "Get Started",
click "Start" at the top-right,
and fill in the form,
beginning with "Signature Field")

http://signnow.com/s/rNDNFfUW?form=true

15. First e-mail update, for volunteers

(on the Aquarian Agrarian blog)

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/06/joe-kopsick-for-congress-campaign-2020.html

16. QR code leading to this page you're viewing now

(on the Aquarian Agrarian blog)

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/07/set-of-qr-codes-for-joe-kopsicks-2020.html

Create your own QR code for free at http://www.qr-code-generator.com/

Written and Published on July 3rd, 2020

Why Mutualism?: Building a Party on Freedom and Fairness (Announcing the Foundation of a Mutualist Party)

Graphic created for use by the Mutualist Party of Illinois

Designed by Joe Kopsick

     The Mutualist Party of Illinois was founded in June 2020 by Joseph W. Kopsick, as part of his independent campaign for the United States House of Representatives from Illinois’s 10th congressional district.

     Upon the occasion of the foundation of the party, its founder Mr. Kopsick - also the party's first candidate - had the following to say:

     “American states need mutualist parties because the sharper and deeper the left-vs.-right divide grows, the more there will develop a need to resolve the differences between - and moderate the extremes of - the far-left and far-right.

     Without a party throwing itself between the others, to protect the many factions of American voters from one another, the wealth gap will deepen, and the effects on our society will be profoundly tribalizing and isolating.

     We need a political philosophy based on mutual respect, to govern Illinois and to govern America. Most importantly, respect for each other’s human rights, and for alternative political and economic viewpoints. We must build a political party that values freedom and fairness equally, and sees human rights and natural liberties as one and the same. If we build that party, it will be in a unique position to resolve the social and economic conflicts of the day, and of the future. 

     Americans know all too well why we need a new party; the Democrats and Republicans are no longer trustworthy. But what good will it do to choose a new party, if it represents a biased form of government? After all, handing all control over to either working people in a socialist system, or to property owners in a capitalist system, could present its own biases and prejudices. So why not choose a party that’s fundamentally based on virtues like fairness, equality, compromise, and moderation?

     It’s not that the other political parties don’t have anything valuable to contribute; they do. It’s just that the Green Party, and socialist and communist parties, represent explicitly left-wing economic standpoints; while the Libertarian Party, Constitution Party, the Conservative Party of Illinois, and others, represent explicitly capitalist or right-wing standpoints. Well, not every American is a student of economics! Not every voter knows whether they are economically left-wing or right-wing! So give them a party that is acutely aware of the growing left-vs.-right divide, and aims to do something about it.

     Mutualism has implications in politics, ethics, money and credit, society, and even biology.

     Through direct action and mutual aid - simply put, “helping each other” - we can act directly to solve social and economic problems, without asking the state for permission, or turning the solution to the problem into a hyper-regulated, government-licensed job.

     Most Americans are still unfamiliar with what the Libertarian Party and the libertarian movement want, but many know that they want everything to be voluntary. The libertarians support voluntary exchange, and so does the Mutualist Party. We just want to remind libertarians that exchanges must be not only voluntary, but also mutually beneficial. That is, everyone who is involved must benefit, even third party actors who aren’t aware that they’re affected by a decision.

     The Mutualist Party supports all mutually beneficial voluntary exchanges and transactions in which no third party is harmed. We want to make it known that no person should be expected to sacrifice in any economic or social situation. A person should only sacrifice if they truly and genuinely want to do it, and understand that they may not “sacrifice others” without their permission; someone who sacrifices must take the responsibility and consequences wholly upon oneself. Also, no person may “volunteer others”; that is not true volunteering.

     In addition to mutual aid and mutual exchange, mutual protection and defense must occur. This really just means “protecting and defending each other”. The purpose of the military sector of the government is to provide an avenue through which the government and the people may pledge mutual loyalty to one another. If the police protect the residents, then the residents will want to become citizens, and they will want to become police officers and volunteer for the military. The public trust has been shattered, especially over the last two decades, and it needs to be revived.

The Mutualist Party will be the party to revive the public trust by bringing reciprocity and trust back to the relationship between the people, our political institutions, and those who administer the law. The Mutualist Party will end the legitimization of violent force by this police state, and it will do that by taking the force out of enforcement.

     We will ensure that all police responses to reports and accusations of non-violent crimes, are met with a non-violent administration of law and a de-escalation of force, not a ramping-up of force and escalation of violence in the name of establishing public order. That is not order; that is violence, and the purpose of government is to avoid violence, not use it to solve all of society’s problems.

     Government cannot be a “civilizing force” in people’s lives, by legitimizing violence. We must respect the right of the accused, not to be subjected to violence, unless they are proven guilty of a violent crime with absolute certainty.

     A society in which each person respects the other person’s right to agree to alternative political, social, and economic arrangements, will be a voluntary society with mutual respect for each other’s freedom to live differently (unless and until those freedoms start to interfere with other people’s freedom).

     The Mutualist Party of Illinois wishes to promote the study of Mutualist economics, occupancy and use norms (“O&U norms”, for short), Proviso-Lockeanism, and the works of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Josiah Warren, as well as the similar fields of Georgism and market socialism, and the hybrid Geo-Mutualist school of economics. We want Mutualist and Georgist economics to be taught in schools, as alternatives alongside socialism and capitalism.

     Mutualists want the prices of goods to be no higher than the cost of the labor and capital it took to produce them; this is called the “cost principle”. We want free competition and free cooperation at the same time; we want total freedom of opportunity to compete against anyone, even monopolists and the government.

We want to recognize people’s right to keep whatever they produce on top of the land, without having to pay taxes or rent. In a mutualist economy, monopolies, wage theft, housing fraud, predatory lending, excessive taxation and unnecessary fees, congressional insider trading, and fractional-reserve banking (usury) will become things of the past.

     No longer will the public be expected to foot the tax bill to protect the property and wealth of corrupt companies, environmentally harmful resource extraction operations, or unfinished construction projects which serve no purpose to the public.

It will be easier to start a family business, but it will also be easier to start a cooperative enterprise. It will be easier to form a union and strike and boycott, but it will also be easier to become an independent contractor. It will be easier to file a patent, but the patent won’t last so long that people are unable to afford the product, or legally use alternatives to it. It will be easier to produce consumer goods (as long as you do it in a healthy environment), but we will know much more about the products we consume.

     There’s something in Mutualism for everyone! All it takes is getting workers and consumers to talk to each other directly, so they can make decisions that benefit us all.

     The Mutualist Party of Illinois will be the party of free land, free credit, free competition, and free cooperation. We want free and open markets, moderated with the fairness provided through equal protection under the law.

     Mutualists believe that freedom and fairness don’t have to be balanced; society becomes totally free only when each of us treats others fairly, and it becomes totally fair when each and every one of us is afforded freedom over our own affairs.

If those who have no property, also have no realistic way to ever fully own property, then the American dream is no more. If those who have done wrong and served their time, have no chance of ever having meaningful participation in our civic institutions, then the phrase “justice for all” (in the Pledge of Allegiance) means nothing.

     The Mutualist Party will restore the American dream, public trust in government, and worker and consumer faith in our economy.

     Join my campaign for the U.S. House, and this effort to establish a Mutualist Party in the State of Illinois. Together, we can build a unique, grassroots movement that doesn’t fall prey to the biases of so-called “normal politics” where all parties are in it for themselves.

     The Mutualist Party is in it for the people of Illinois. The Mutualist Party is in it for the American people. Mutualism is in it for the people of the world. A world in which everyone has access to opportunities, is a world in which nobody will tolerate being unfree, and nobody will tolerate unfair treatment.

     But we can get there; through building a free society based on mutual respect and trust, genuine volunteering, and reciprocity; delivering on our promises. Not just because we want to make sure that people get compensated for all the work they do (and we do); but because humans are innately social creatures. We care what happens to each other.

     Our ability to protect, defend, and care for one another, is what determines the future of human survival on this planet, and whether we live in harmony with the planet and other species living upon it. A party that protects the environment, will itself receive the mutual protection of the planet.

     That is why we need Mutualist and Georgist economics; one system focused on a fair economy, and the other focused on the land itself.

     Please help the economy, the planet, and each other, by joining the Mutualist Party today. We don’t want your money, we just want to work with you to the extent that you want to work with us.

     That’s how you negotiate, and build coalitions, but it’s also how you know when you’ve found something that is non-negotiable. Until that happens, it’s how you make sure that everyone involved in a transaction is comfortable, and can easily go their separate ways when their interests diverge.

     That is how you foster an economy, and a society, in which both individuals and groups can flourish, and in which nobody goes hungry while others have much more than they need. Hardly any government would be necessary, if it were not “necessary” to protect the immense wealth of the rich against the bodies of the poor.

     A society in which nobody has to consider stealing - whether from a store, or from their employee - will be a society in which openness, respect, and trust will flourish. The Mutualist Party will get the boot of taxation off of the throats of hard working employees as well as small businessmen alike, instead of pillaging from both of them while pitting them against each other.

     It’s time to knock some sense back into our government and our economy.”

     To join the Mutualist Party of Illinois, e-mail Joe Kopsick at jwkopsick@gmail.com, or call him at 608-417-9395, and ask to sign the petition to help establish the party (and also helps Kopsick get on the ballot in 2020).

     Facebook users can like the page Mutualist Party of Illinois by following this address: http://www.facebook.com/MutualistPartyIL/?modal=admin_todo_tour

     Facebook users can also keep up on Mutualist Party of Illinois politics by visiting the Joe Kopsick for Congress (IL-10) / Mutualist Party of Illinois group, which can be found at the following address: http://www.facebook.com/groups/586988188625917/?ref=search

     The online e-petition to help Kopsick get on the ballot, is available at the following links:

     http://app.signnow.com/webapp/document/ea1ff1fceb49415e8e75996303b9c9113cc1dfd1?fieldinvite_id=443b98ffbb9243258a41eb31eb4fa50a83278f18&mobileweb=app_only&route=fieldinvite

     http://app.signnow.com/webapp/document/ea1ff1fceb49415e8e75996303b9c9113cc1dfd1

A Mutualist-Anarchist flag

Image not created by the author of this blog

Written on June 30th, 2020

Edited on July 1st and 3rd, 2020

Originally Published to This Blog on July 3^rd, 2020