29 May 2022
WHEN IT COMES TO GOVERNMENT, WHY DO WE TRY?
I have to say, my depression and anxiety skyrocketed last week. It is not from the normal minutiae of which there is plenty. Instead, I think it is that sinking sense of hopelessness of comes with knowing that we have been down this road over and over, that government never changes, not even for the biggest crises. At the very best we get new players via elections, but mostly the background people, the people in the wings, keeps its own political players in place, and life goes on, business as usual.
Here in Hudson County, we just finished a mayoral election. In Hudson county we have a very strong Democratic Machine. They decide who wins, not the voters, not to overlook the fact that both candidates were Democrats. I do not think Republicans exist here. If they do, they don’t vote because they have no candidate. And speaking of not voting, even winning is not without embarrassment. Our two-term incumbent mayor, the Popular Pride of the Peninsula, won with only 8% of registered voters, less than 1% over his opponent. Can you imagine being “The Man” with only 8% of registered voters coming out for you, and then calling his 8% a grand sweep with less than 1% over the opposition) We should all be embarrassed with a 16% turn out rate.
It would be easy for naysayers to discredit me as I am not a part of the Machine, but I have been involved in city politics, and I quit when it became obvious that I would never accomplish any of my goals because I did not and would not have enough political weight. I have since asked for things from local politicians, namely my useless city councilman (“I’m a third term Town political figure” as if that gives him any credibility). For his last four years in office, all my neighborhood got was “It’s not in my realm of power” (POWER?!?! He’s our freaking representative!, follow up on something!). We need traffic safety measures for all of the children in my neighborhood who are forced to play in the street, and we need street sweeping … something our taxes pay for but we’ve never gotten.
The biggest and latest failure in government is the spate of school shootings. I have written about it so many time over the past several years and here we are today, no further along. Why? Lobbyists own politicians. Politicians own power. Power owns the office, and the goal is to stay in that office as long as the heart beats (OK, I give, I think some of those in office are actually dead and propped up like mannikins). So, none of us are surprised that when the gun lobbyists say jump, our leaders say “how high?” And for those who plead the Second Amendment, it is sadly not a black-and-white answer and the defenses for gun rights can be twisted in whatever way best suits the argument.
The big political test (again) at the moment is gun control. The right to bear arms was for the purpose of forming a militia in defense against a foreign power. One man. One gun. Look at the Swiss for how well this works. It is honestly admirable. But here there are ineffective approaches to responsible gun ownership and display of your gun might. If you do not own a pickup truck onto which you can mount your 7-gun gun rack, you can buy the one that attaches to the back of the front seat headrests so that your children can play with the guns in the back seat while you drive. Novel approach to parenting. Americans, as individuals, can have as many guns as we can buy, legally acquired or not, and most disturbingly, military grade and capacity. Good God, do you really need to shoot Bambi in half with bullets to killl him? Who in the hell gave you the right to show up at school to see how many children you can pick off because we all know a second grader might outwit you if you only had a single-round gun. Rather than beat the dead horse, and the one before that, and the one before that, and … well you get it, let me just say that not even being at the end of the fifth month of 2022, the United States has suffered 214 mass shootings, and 17,300 gun related deaths (120 deaths per day due to gun violence!). I encourage you to go here for more details. We are sadly a gun culture. It goes right down to the toys we were given as children for birthdays, Christmas, or simply because we asked. My lunatic grandmother gave me toy guns any chance she had … and my parents promptly threw them away. I didn’t have a cap gun …. I had caps and a sharp rock. I did not turn out so bad.
There is the requisite outcry taking place right now regarding gun control. Political leaders will promise changes to gun laws until the next big story or news cycle, All we will get is lip service and empty promises. We have been trained not to expect anything better.
Blessings,
Noor