I’m not a big believer in the power of voting. I tend to think that the law is too cumbersome and complicated to solve essential human problems of suffering, injustice, and irrational behavior. What is required is a change in consciousness at a profound level inside the majority of people on this planet. Voting is a stopgap at most, and perhaps also a measure of the current state of consciousness; given the low turnout and low expectations of voters, and the uninspiring lots of candidates and ballot measures, that measurement isn’t generally very encouraging.
This month there was a notable exception. Voters found their way through a morass of (intentionally?) confusing advertising and defeated an attempt by moneyed interests to further dismantle the protections government offers citizens against the unfettered libido of capitalism. Despite a propaganda campaign that left many Californians befuddled, grassroots organizers managed to convey their message about propositions 98 and 99 loud and clear. 98, which under the guise of protecting property rights would have left renters, homeowners, and small businesses vulnerable to evictions at the behest of large investors and their friends in Sacramento, was soundly rejected. 99, which reaffirms basic democratic principles and protects citizens from all but the most necessary and just uses of eminent domain, passed easily.
How sad that our hometown paper would not tell the difference. The Press-Telegram editorialized that 99 would change almost nothing. But that’s just the point. In the face of increasingly bold and unorthodox uses of eminent domain powers nationwide, this most democratic of all American states had no choice but to underline and enshrine something like the status quo. The alternative was to offer government and the big business interests to which it so often kowtows the keys to the homes and businesses of all 35 million Californians. “This land is your land, this land is my land?” More like “this land belongs to the highest bidder.”
But we stopped them. Good job, my friends, good job. In a rare show of citizenship and independent thinking, voters showed an ability to buck the public relations industry, educate themselves, and stand up for peoples’ government. Maybe there’s hope for American democracy yet.
But let’s not get too excited. Turnout was low. Many important races were uncontested, and the contests were, generally, not even close. The Press-Telegram didn’t help matters, glibly dismissing the insurgent Congressional candidacy of Peter Mathews, even while lambasting incumbent Laura Richardson for her financial tom-foolery. Voters gave Laura an easy win—no surprise, given the regal power of incumbency these days—but did they really recognize the choice before them? We count on our press to keep us informed—those of us who are not driven to rabid media consumption and endless independent research, that is. When the press tells us there is no real choice, we are likely to sigh and believe them. Thanks, Press-Telegram, for ending the election before it began.
But we can’t blame it all on the not-so-liberal media. If this country’s going to get on the right track, citizens have to step up. Many of my acquaintances had no idea there even was an election. Of course, apathy is understandable, given the inability of either major party to stop the war, bring down gas prices, or combat environmental crises, given the fact that George Bush became president because the Supreme Court pulled an equal protection rabbit out of its strict constructionist… er, hat… and given that California will play no real role in the presidential general election, as it is near certain Barack Obama will carry the state.
But then, that’s not quite true. California is, of course, the ATM machine of American politics. So if you’re rich, you get to play, making apathy (not to say bitterness) a sign of real working class credentials.
When you’re rich, lack of caring has a different name—it’s the contentment of privilege.
I, for one, rest easier knowing that with propositions 98 and 99, middle class Californians chipped away a bit from the privilege of wealth and can claim some contentment of our own.