The reality of politics.
There's an old meme that I find inspirational:
"Think globally, act locally."
By all means, get involved in national elections!! Choose a candidate who represents your views will -- if there IS such a creature -- &
do good stuff on her/his/their behalf.
...but
realize its limits.
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First, the stark reality of party affiliation.
I was chatting (at a bar, naturally
) with a guy I know who's about my late Dad's age. Harley is mostly a calm Republican (assuming that's still legal
), or at least believes he is.
I chuckled. "Harley, you're not a Republican, any more than I'm a Democrat."
He looked very baffled, so I explained. The following figures are based on the realities of small-town upper Midwest but can be readily tweaked for anywhere.
I said, "The main key is money.
"In the past year, of you haven't donated at least $100,000, you're NOT a national-level Republican.
"If you haven't donated at least $10,000, you're NOT a Midwest-level Republican.
"If you haven't donated at least $1,000, you're NOT a state-level Republican.
"If you haven't donated at least $100, you're NOT a county-level Republican.
"If you haven't donated at least $10, you're NOT a city-level Republican."
He admitted, somewhat sheepishly, he'd made no donation.
"Well, whatever," I said. "Let's go for the bonus round, with actual acts of activism. How much time have you spent
- as a delegate?
- staffing a campaign office?
- making "get out to vote" phone calls?
- putting mailings together?
- delivering yard signs?
- driving people to the polls?"
He admitted he'd done nothing.
"Neither have I. We don't
belong to any party. At best, we are commodities -- or rather, we possess a commodity: one vote. That is all that we are worth. And nobody can verify what we actually do with it."
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My city has almost 8,000 residents. Through a fluke, I now live about 100 feet away from the mayor. I spent a couple hours chatting with him & his wife tonight (at a bar, naturally
). I know his brothers well. He still considers my late Dad to have been a great friend.
Dad was the cemetery's sexton (a position now held by my brother). After Dad died, among the well-wishers I shook hands with were a state Senator & a state Representative (who's since an airport commissioner & chairman of the public health commission).
And Mom used to babysit a guy who went on to become majority leader of the state Senate. When she was concerned about the possibility of me getting drafted, or if I was having problems (inevitable, really) with getting financial aid for college, she would send him letters & sometimes call him directly.
I don't have any actual "clout," but I certainly DO have a cordial relationship with local power.
And as much as I wish Bernie Sanders could've had a turn at leading this nation in a sane direction, the fact is that I can affect my "village" much more through direct personal connections than I possibly could through one measly vote.
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People who say they want to change the world ought to be carefully scrutinizing who is running for office within a small radius.
Skip the city council. Elect smart, open-minded people to the school board & the library board, because those people DIRECTLY affect the intelligence of children.
Worried about how local housing laws might be used against poly families? Learn how you can work to get someone sympathetic onto the zoning commission.
If there's no good candidate, then FIND one.
Better yet, run.