Waking up from Horatio Alger

Back when I was your age it seemed like everyone was middle class. Worker’s rights were a necessity of the past and we all could achieve the American dream. When this is the case unions and even government are obsolete and unnecessary. The America of the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s had completely given in to the myth of Horatio Alger, times have changed; history is playing out another one of its cycles before our very eyes. Parts of America are waking up from the fallacy that we can all be millionaires. On the other side the likes of McCarthy and Nixon have been reincarnated in other forms and shot up with a juice concocted from the old union-busters of the 1920’s and 1930’s.

By coincidence I traveled to Madison on the second weekend (or day 8) of the protest that began there following the introduction of the “Budget Repair Bill” and the 14 Democratic senators leaving the state. I arrived with a vague understanding of what was going on, and the point of view that the teachers, nurses, prison guards and other public workers were going to lose eventually; it was just a matter of time before the budget repair bill would be passed. I left 3 days later with the overwhelming belief that somehow, some way, they had to win.

Out-of-State Agitators

For someone like myself who had become politically numb, Walker and his union busting bill was a real kick in the balls. I’ve grown accustomed to being enraged and dismayed by American politics. Up until now I never felt like much of it really affected me, I was not invaded or invading. Yet such an overt attack on things that I hold dear made a cynic realize there is something that even they are compelled to believe in.

Wisconsin has responded. In the last 10 weeks in Madison and all over Wisconsin we have seen an acute arousal of civic engagement at all levels. People are in the streets voting with their feet, and they have started voting with their dollars too by boycotting Walker supporters. If we want to maintain the better parts of our democracy, not just in Wisconsin but in all of the country, we must not let this sentiment wane, instead it must expand.

There is no doubt that something amazing has begun in Wisconsin, but the truth is there’s nothing unique about the actions or the actors that make it an anomaly. The truth is this could happen anywhere, and should be going on everywhere. We are all Wisconsin, and we need to believe that we can make that kind of differences in our lives and societies anywhere if people stay engaged and organize.

Union Thugs

In a way, we should be thankful for what the republicans have done in Wisconsin because it has brought liberals together more than Obama or any other democratic politician ever could. We have grown closer to old friends, families have come together and we made friends that we never knew we had. I have watched news spread from friends in Wisconsin to Wisconsinites all the way from Anchorage to Miami; among people I had no idea had any interest or concern for politics in general. We have come to realize that we have a lot more in common than we ever thought we did, and that more than anything has been the power that Madison has had.

On the other hand we should be furious with Scott Walker and republican legislators as well. Not because we disagree with them, but because they have ignored every function of our democracy - except the one that got them elected in the first place. The have ignored court orders, fought open records requests, violated campaign finance laws, ordered law enforcement agencies to do duties outside of their constitutional responsibilities and perhaps stolen elections. I find it hard to believe Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election was turned on some sort of Daley-esque, Chicago style voting fraud. I also find it hard to believe that in one county they misplaced or failed to count 1% of Wisconsin’s total electorate, an amount that is basically 10% of the total votes in the county. In this case incompetence seems to be a smoke screen for either something sinister or to add to the overall perception that this administration is not transparent; the motive for which I cannot figure out for the life of me.

Perhaps the most disturbing is the overall reaction to and attitude towards the 100,000+ protestors who have marched in the streets of Madison over the past months. Not only have republicans in Wisconsin acted indifferent to the masses and their message, but in many ways they have shown a large degree of disdain for the people in the streets as well. They have written them off time and time again as outside agitators, union thugs and even slobs. This is unsustainable. Those who ignore the voice of the masses, and who continually ignore the rule of law are bound to reap the whirlwind. At this moment recall papers have been filed for 6 Republican senators in Wisconsin. Walker himself has admitted that all this excitement is making it pretty hard to conduct business. And I predict many more days in hearings and court rooms for Walker and his cronies.

I don’t know what ever made this new generation of tea bag republicans think that they could step on working people in the Midwest, but we need to show them that they can’t. From here on we need to keep going. It is essential that people get engaged and stay engaged. We must watch the news and think critically of it, we must all question authority, and for god’s sake we have to vote with our ballots, with our feet and with our dollars.

This is not about Wisconsin, not even to Scott Walker. Nor is it about the budget, layoffs, teachers, NPR, abortion or firefighters. This is about the future of our country, and our opponents already have their vision, now we must fight that vision at all turns and regroup and find our own.

Slobs!