I am wearing a colorful outfit because I want us to plan for a brighter future!

100 years ago "Progressives" believed in a brighter future through science and technology.

That continued into the 1960s. Remember "Star Trek"? Star Trek offered us a wonderful future vision where everyone is able to fulfill their greatest dreams. There is no want for material things. No greed. No hoarding.

Just endless exploration, growth and learning.

Activism took a turn for the worse 50 years ago when it became all about what we do NOT want.

I am on the Sierra Club board and I admit that our side is part of the problem. We might like solar power, windmills and high speed trains. Until anyone gets specific about where these things are going to go!

Most people voting for Trump are not hateful right wingers. Many of them eagerly would have preferred to vote for Bernie.

They PERCEIVED Trump as offering a positive vision of the future and a way to get there. They did not like Hillary's message that all is well. They preferred Trump's view that things are not great and that he knows how to make things GREAT.

If we want a better future, we have to start first by agreeing on what a better future would mean. What is our VISION?

Even Bernie was not offering a very visionary vision. He was offering the no-brainer stuff that every civilized country has had for years: Free health care. Free college. Good public transportation. The stuff that Republicans like Eisenhower and even Nixon used to want, too.

How about that Star Trek vision? That is my hope for the future. What is yours? Let's figure that out.

Then we have to go fight to make it happen!