ELECTION REFLECTIONS
A famous Republican once said, “There is no lobby for the unemployed.”
I’m guessing that the first folks who became disenfranchised with their vote were homeless people, SRO tenants, the unemployed, ex- ENRON employees, and the environmentallyselected couch potato-ists. Why are there fewer and fewer people showing up at the polls? Is this a trend? What does it mean, where will it end, and what will it look like when it gets there?
Yes, there is a trend. Yes, it is growing nationally. I don’t know where it’s headed, what it will look like, and I ain’t going there. As for why, anytime you get a large group of people doing something it will elicit a large number of opinions about why it is happening. I will go there and try to provide some insight to my reasoning. Voter turnout is a symptom of something not written in our constitution, and that is, a vote of no confidence in the government regardless of party. Politicians rank lower in the public opinion polls than repo-men, but higher than West Nile Virus carrying mosquitoes.
“Of the world’s 100 largest economies, 51 are now corporations, only 49 are nation states. The sales of General Motors and Ford are far greater than the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the whole of the sub-Saharan African continent, and Wal-Mart now has a (financial) turnover higher than the revenues of most of the states of Eastern Europe. Yet few of us are fully aware of the growing dominance of big business… But do governments really have more influence in our lives than businesses? Do the parties for which we vote have any real freedom of choice in their actions?”
If you want a snapshot, look no further than the current gubernatorial race in this state. All of that being said, I’m going to recommend that you not only register to vote, but that you actually go out and vote on election day. There are two ballot measures that I feel warrant special attention. They are Proposition N and Proposition R.
Prop. N is a sad political ploy put forward by a sad group of people for a sad political purpose. Psycho politics at its very worst. I can tell you one thing that I see this proposition doing, and that is making a desperate situation worse. What, do you think it’s fun being homeless (the writer mumbles under his breath contemptuously)? How does a media darling take a gold plated visit to New York, and think he knows how to solve the homeless situation without bringing homeless folks, the Local Homeless Coordinating Board, the Coalition On Homelessness, and other interested stakeholders to the table? But don’t get me started on that. The psycho politics is plain, put something forward that nobody can argue with, what person in their right mind wouldn’t love to solve the homeless situation, and the West Nile Virus carrying mosquitoes start to lose some ground against their closest rivals.
Ah, if it were that easy.
Let me ask you a question: Would you like to win the lottery? If you answered yes, you might be one of those people that glance at the voters guide on election day and say, “Oh look, there’s a proposition to end homelessness; I think I’ll vote yes on that… Oh look, there’s another one.”
Vote NO on PROP. N.
Another proposition to pay attention to is Proposition R. This proposition is being brought to you by the Real Estate Industry under the leadership of Tony (it’s over your head 3) Hall. I recently read an east coast weekly advertizing rag and picked up on this ad: 1 bdrm apt for rent. Nice den. $350/mo. plus utilities. First and last month’s rent in advance.
It’s not rocket science; if corporate real estate is paying for a proposition, you are going to pay the return and the dividends. This PROP is especially hurtful to senior citizens. Right, like they’re going to get a thirty year mortgage to change their apartment to a condo. “Yeah, but they can pass it on to their heirs.” That’s right; why just mortgage up the elderly, we need new blood to float this industry. We can all make money endlessly; get in on the action.
Tony Hall reminds me of the current Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, who spent $50 million of his own money to get elected. You just have to sit back and scratch your head and ask why. Just for the hell of it, let’s do the math. Okay, $50 million… four year term… let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and say that corporate interests are going to pay for his reelection… so, that’s eight years times the Mayor of New York’s salary… well, you figure it out; I’m sure it comes out to more than $50 million.
Let me ask you a question. Would you like to win the lottery? If you answered yes, you might be one of those people who glances at the voters guide on election day and says, “Oh look, I can turn my apartment into a condo.”
Vote NO on PROP R.
It is a sad commentary, indeed, when your vote, long ago sold out, is now required to prevent harm. But hey, thank God we’re in San Francisco — some other places it’s not worth the bother to vote.
Gross