Granny D, 97, Still Fighting for Change

Preaching love and campaign-finance reform, 97-year-old “Granny D” spoke in Chico Monday.Surely one of America’s oldest political activists, Doris “Granny D” Haddock is renowned for promoting her cause by walking across the country when she was 89.

The new laissez-faire philosophy, which she called “neoliberalism,” creates wars and drains money from vital government functions, like police, fire protection, schools and health care, she said.

The solution is publicly funded political campaigns, she suggested. Since politicians depend on big corporations to finance their campaigns, they do the bidding of those companies once they are in office. If the public paid for campaigns, elected officials would really follow the will of the people, she said.

Haddock suggested Americans are “drones” who go to work each day, watch television each night to “receive instructions on what to buy,” then go to sleep to rest up so they can work long hours the next day.

“That’s not freedom by any name,” she said.