Money vs Voters

This week by a vote of 5-4, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of removing any limits to the amount of money a corporation or organization (like a labor union) can spend in support of a candidate running for federal office. This ruling strikes down 63 years of precedent set by previous supreme courts as well as severely weakening the McCain-Feingold Act, which set restrictions on the direct involvement large special interests could have on campaign finance.

Now, some might say the McCain-Feingold Act just resulted in the rise (beginning with in the 2000 Presidential Election) of what have come to be known as 527s, popularized to the point that they have been given their own verb, "swift-boated". McCain-Feingold, in a lot of people's opinions, has in no way addressed the issue it was supposed to address, money versus free speech. The efficacy of McCain-Feingold can be (and has been) debated to exhaustion, but at the very least, it was a proactive attempt to ensure the electoral process remains connected to the voters and not special interests.

The Supreme Court decision, according to some, has done nothing to significantly change the landscape of electoral politics, while others suggest the sky may be falling. The only certain reality of this decision is the fact that it has just become easier to influence an election with money and more difficult to hear the voice of the average voter. The argument could be made that corporations, unions and non-profit organizations are filled with voters too and making it easier for them to speak is a victory for free speech.

However, there is no way to know whether or not groups who might financially support a candidacy are actually speaking on behalf of the interests of that candidate's representative area or on behalf of a broader agenda. While, the voice of the voter in a particular election is ensured to be directly related to the interests of their area of representation. The ability for organizations to affect an election with endless amounts of money allow special interests, who may have absolutely no concern for a candidate's effect on their region, to have a significant hand in the futures of people thousands of miles away, all to further one particular cause.

Even more disturbing is the reality that the Supreme Court made this decision based on the case brought by a partisan organization, Citizens United, about whether or not they could disseminate ads to "On-Demand" cable services for their movie "Hilary: The Movie" during the 2008 Presidential Election as motion picture and not as a political advertisement, which fall under different regulation. A case, originally about whether or not a movie is treated like a motion picture or a political ad, has now opened the flood gates of financial influence on federal elections and potentially drowned out the voices of average people.

And once again, the fate of millions have been virtually decided by the few who decided to show up. This court decision, like many others will most likely go forward without many people paying any attention, that is until September, October and November come around and the Mid-term elections are front and center nationwide. However, what the now oblivious masses will discover at that time, is that the money train left the station while they weren't looking and there is nothing they can do to stop it.

Tragedy & Engagement

While driving around with my wife I began to think about Haiti. Not about the tragic events that have racked that nation or some of the stupid things that public figures have said regarding their plight. What struck me was a feeling of hope and the idea that in the face of all the things in this world that are wrong, depressing or sad, people still have the capacity to help those that they do not know.

Celebrities and artists from all walks of life and every corner of the globe, former heads of state with a plethora of differences between them have come together with thousands of the world's citizens to reach out to a devastated nation. With every global tragedy, be it Darfour, Somalia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Serbia-Herzegovina, The Phillipines, China, Thailand, Katrina or September 11 (to name a few), the world comes together to the best of its ability in an effort to return some semblance of normalcy and hope to those who have been affected.

Later in the day I was struck with a question, one that often comes to me in the aftermath of charitable efforts like this in the face of tragedy. Why? Why does it take such painful, awful and tragic events like Haiti to remind all of us that everything going on around us, whether or not we are directly involved, should matter to us. If my neighbor down the street gets mugged or beaten up, it affects me. If I lose my job, or my cousin drops out of school, it should matter to our community, because both of those events could be a pattern of a larger issue going unresolved.

As the saying goes, "no man is an island" and since we can't actually succeed without the efforts of everyone else, it would benefit all of us to care about what happens to others and get engaged before things escalate. Before a couple of weeks ago, most people couldn't point to Haiti on a map, but now it's the first thing you hear about in the morning. Haiti has had problems for many years now and if the world cared about the country a little sooner, things might be a little different.

If each of us can take a minute from the isolated lives we're working so hard to live, we might become more aware of what's going on around us and put ourselves in a position to do something about it. Who knows, maybe we can prevent the next Haiti, Katrina or Darfour. One thing I do know is that effort spent preventing disasters is goes a lot further than the effort responding them and a little concern for others today might result in a brighter tomorrow for everyone.

The Problem with MLK and Barack

Today is January 18, 2010. On this day falls the national observance of Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday, and furthermore, his contribution to a civil rights movement that changed the consciousness of the country. A year ago, Barack Obama was sworn in as President, becoming the first African-American person to hold the nation's highest office. These two events are related in ways that might surprise the average person.

Both of these men are known for leading movements that neither of them sought to lead. MLK was just a budding preacher at Ebenezer Baptist Church when the Bus Boycott began in Birmingham, Alabama. It was this boycott that brought the injustices to Blacks in the south to the national stage (you'd think the Civil War and Reconstruction, might have been a pretty big clue, but I digress) and MLK front and center as figure head of the Civil Rights Movement. Barack Obama was a junior senator from Illinois, when Sen. Harry Reid brought Barack into his office and told still young senator that he thought he should run for President and could win. Obama, as we now know, would go on to unify a country (shattered by financial ruin, unending war, fear of terrorism and eroding confidence in its leaders) as well as an international community increasingly disenchanted with an arrogant nation.

Both of these men are also portrayed as examples of the best the African-American race has to offer as well as proof of progress the United States has made in achieving racial equity. The fact that these two men are not seen as the potential of any educated, motivated, supported and hard-working African-American who is given a chance is proof positive of how little African-Americans think of themselves and the rest of the nation thinks of African-Americans. The fact that people can look at the singular victories of MLK being given a national holiday and Barack Obama being elected as President as evidence that "race doesn't matter any more" only serves to prove how little we understand the enormity of the work yet to be done.

As I type these words, there are thousands of marches, panel discussions, festivals and other various celebrations being held across this nation in honor of Dr. King. In the homes of many proud African-Americans (including many that I know personally) exist commemorative shirts, calendars, bobble-heads, playing cards, etc in honor of Barack's historic victory.

Unfortunately, in many measurements of success (high school/college graduation rates, average income per household, average salary), African-Americans still rank near the bottom and have actually fallen behind races that existed in negligible numbers at the time the Civil Rights Movement began, while in most measurements of failure (incarceration rates, murder rates, infant mortality rates, high school dropout rates, obesity rates) African-Americans still rank near the top.

Now, there are many factors that contribute to these disturbing realities and some very smart people (Cornell West, Henry Louis Gates, The Center for Information & Research On Civic Learning and Engagement - CIRCLE, to name a few) have written and reported on this issue ad nauseam, but that's another point for another post. The point I'm making is that the success of a race, nation or movement cannot be wrapped up in the histories of two people. While MLK and President Obama can absolutely be held in the highest regard of dreams achieved, potential realized, and hope of progress to come, it cannot stop there.

In order for the dream of a truly progressive society that judges people (to use the words of MLK) "...not based on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character", we must use the successes of these two men as a call to arms and not singular trumpets of victory. The consequence of our complacency could darken the light shone on our nation by these two men until they become distant stars we only read about in dusty forgotten books.

Broken Glass and White Paint

A few weekends back, my wife and I had dinner with another couple.

As an aside, I truly enjoyed this dinner not only because this couple makes a mean salad and are in general just really good people, but mostly because we had the kind of five hour conversation that people these days don't usually take the time to have.

It was during our conversation that I was reminded of the "Broken Glass Theory". For those who have never heard of it, the theory basically says that an old building with no broken windows will always look more appealing than a new building with one or more broken windows. And it's not so much about the windows being broken, because accidents happen, but more about how long the window is allowed to remain broken.

The idea is one of priority, image and assumption. A broken window suggests instability and carelessness. A broken window suggests abandonment and worthlessness, because if someone really cared about the building they would fix the window. If someone doesn't care enough about fixing the broken window, the image being presented is that the building is worthless and from then on, everyone who sees that building will see it as worthless.

We have a lot of broken windows in this country, both literally (just take a drive or walk through the old urban neighborhood in your town or city) and metaphorically. Quite a few of these windows have been broken for a LONG time and this, the nation has moved forward (whether consciously or subconsciously) with the belief that every agency or institution with long unattended broken windows is worthless.

Don't believe me? Take a second and think about all the parts of this country that are referred to as being "broken" or "in disrepair" and then ask yourself how often you or someone else have made a statement about those same things being "worthless" or "a lost cause". It happens everyday and it's happening right now as I write. Whether it's the Healthcare System, Public Education System, Justice System or the system of Government, once it is perceived to be broken and broken for a long time, people just stop caring.

As an antidote to the "broken glass" theory, I offer another insight that came from the same conversation (this is the kind of holistic conversation that happens when you give it five hours of time to grow organically). This couple lives in a very nice home which resides in a very nice neighborhood, but one day while taking a walk, the husband noticed some graffiti had been put on a stone wall in their yard. After the shock of the act wore off, he proceeded to fall into the kind of apathy that many people do when they feel powerless.

In the following weeks, the husband thought of a number of solution to his graffiti problem, like putting up shrubs or something to hide this wall now tainted with someone else's failed attempt at art. One day the husband comes home from work to see a gentleman painting over the graffiti on his wall. The husband had never met this man, knew nothing of him and yet here he was, doing his part to brighten up this couple's property. After speaking with this man for a few minutes, the husband comes to find out that his neighborhood has an association and the association oversees the betterment of the neighborhood through subcommittees like the "graffiti committee".

Upon finding out this information, the husband and wife immediately joined this association and became members of it's various committees, taking proactive steps to better their community that at first seem small, but say in the case of a graffiti-marked wall or maybe even a broken window, can make all the difference in the world.

While a little thing like a broken window can make a worthwhile place look worthless, all it takes is a little paint to turn a tainted wall of apathetic despair into a rallying cry for community engagement. Everyone talks about the ripples created by a pebble in a pond, but just as powerful is the movement going on under the surface, immediately shifting the foundation in ways most will never see.

Free Will and Civic Engagement

I had a conversation with my wife the other day and it began as an exercise for me to clarify why I love this country and its Democratic Republic form of government. The two of us are nerdy enough to do this on a semi-regular basis, but I digress. What began as an exercise focused on me clearly knowing the foundation of my passion for the democratic process became something much more telling for the both of us.

With plenty of experience coming in contact with the very worst parts of politics in all off its shameful horror, my wife is not exactly what one would call a "political animal". It would be more fitting to consider her a politiphobe (not sure if that is an actually word, but humor me). With the exception of following Obama's presidential campaign, she can hardly stomach hearing from political news shows like Hardball and AC 360 (don't even get her started on The Briefing Room and any Fox News programming).

Anyway, we're talking and I begin telling her that when people get civically engaged it not only helps that person, but their family, loved ones and a bunch of people they may never meet in their community. When more people get involved, it leaves less people out there feeling like they are alone in their experience whatever it is, because engagement allows people to share their story; their triumphs, trials and tribulations. When we know we're not alone in what we're dealing with, fighting for or trying to find our way through, we step more confidently and more courageously because we believe there'll be someone to pick us up should we fall.

I gave her the example of my mother's fight to secure full disability benefits for my brother who is a veteran of the First Iraq War and is now wheelchair bound due to Hodgkins Disease and Muscle Ataxia believed to be brought on by Gulf War Syndrome. For many months my mother made calls, visited offices, made personal appeals to elected officials and finally got in touch with someone who believed they could help her. Even after that, she had to constantly call this person and make 3 hour long round trips to visit with this man to finally get my brother what he was owed by the government for his service to his country. My wife knew this story all too well and it seemed to fuel her disdain for the government's ability to turn its back on its citizens, thereby becoming an accomplice in the citizen's condition.

After going back and forth with her, we separated for a few minutes after she suggested that if I'd brought her a bible instead of the massive packet of non-profit organizations I put in front of her (my evidence of the power of those who chose to become civically engaged in subtle and specific ways), I might have had a case. So after a little thought I came up with a fail-safe legitimization of civic engagement in spite of the current conditions the average citizen finds him or herself in today.

It goes to the very core of Christianity or most any belief rooted in a higher power. Free Will. My wife and I being the believers that we are, understand that every day, every hour and minute is a choice. We can either choose to live as someone who believes in God, his son and the holy spirit or we can chose to live as someone who does not believe. God goes on whether we believe or not. We aren't forced to do anything we don't want to, but as believers we understand that life (in all its manifestations) is better when we choose to live as believers.

The same goes for those who live in a Democratic Republic. We can choose not to live as people who believe in a Democratic Republic or we can choose to live as people who do believe. As things stand now, the Democratic Republic will go on whether we do or don't actively engage in it. Still, life tends to be more full and satisfying when we choose to live as believers in our form of government. Throughout history, Democracy has proven to be the only form of government that allows its people to choose the direction of both themselves as individuals, but themselves as a smaller part of a greater whole.

Our government (as could be argued with modern religion) exists in such a way that is hardly recognizable from its earliest beginnings, but there is still hope in its foundation. It is in that foundation that the possible cures of our government's ills lie dormant, waiting to be rediscovered. The ability to change, shift and chart a better course for our country is the most unique and most precious element of the Democratic Government we live in today.

There is but one question left to ask. Are you a believer or not?

Money is Not Root of All Evil, But the Root of Influence

There is debate between main street and wall street as to who is to blame for the current state of the country's financial state of disarray. As I write, the credit rating of thousands of people are dropping like flies and some banking institutions such as Goldman Sachs have credit ratings and profit lines that are rising like phoenixes from the ashes.

Some fingers are pointing to the banks for pushing for deregulation of the banking industry and asking to be bailed out for poor financial bets. Some fingers are pointing toward the government for agreeing to the deregulation and facilitating of using tax payer money to save banks that made risky financial moves. There is one party that (as per usual) is doing most of the finger pointing, but is just as complicit in the current state of our economy, the voter.

People will march for racial injustice, police brutality, gender bias and other visceral issues that get splashed across all manner of media. However, when it comes to issues of banking regulation, lending regulation and the influence of financial institutions on government direction, the reaction is at best elementary and short-sided.

There can be no denial that this country is driven by religion, protection of liberties, but most of all our nation is controlled by capitalism. Capitalism is defined as: An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than the state. Put simply, the affairs of the economy do more to influence the success or failure of our nation than any other factor and not keeping a watchful eye on what's going with the regulation of the financial industry is a real mistake.

In the 80's the layout of how college loans and credit cards work was laid out in congress. There were some who wanted to allow bankruptcy protection against student loans like it is for most other forms of debt. Some of those same people spoke out against allowing credit rating on one account to be raised due to a delinquency on a completely different and unrelated account. However, congress was heavily influenced by credit card and lending companies, killing both of those provisions along with others that might have protected average citizens.

Now, credit cards and student loans are two of the more unregulated and powerful areas of credit and debt in the country and it will take significant action on the behalf of voters to change that. One of many sayings that I've heard from my childhood is "when you point a finger at someone, there are three more fingers pointing right back at you." Sure, Goldman Sachs is an easy target of voter unrest and disillusion, but if voters can take a shot at a harder target, voter complacency in holding representatives accountable for decisions made in relation to financial industries, we as a country might find our aim a bit more true.

A Few Simple Ways To Be Civically Engaged

Someone a few days ago asked the question, "How do you define this Civic Engagement idea?" A very good question. The American Political Science Association recently defined civic engagement as something which,

"includes any activity, individual or collective, devoted to influencing the collective life of the polity,"

I see it as the purposefully engagement in activity which intended for the betterment of a community. Some examples of such activity might be things like: running for political office, participating in a phone bank for a candidate or writing letters of complaint to your state representative/senator. These are fine examples of civic engagement, but it could even be something more basic. Here are a few simple ways to get civically engaged:

1. VOTE - Probably the easiest thing a person can do to be civically involved. Many people around the world either don't have the right or have had to overthrow their previous government to get the right to do something most in this country take for granted. Employers are required to give their employees time off during the day to vote in an election, a little known fact.

2. KNOW YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS - Most everyone knows the name of the President, but most people can name the characters on their favorite TV show before they can name their city councilman or mayor, state representative, etc. Unfortunately, what you don't know in this case can hurt you. Your local and state elected officials make decisions everyday that affect your life and if they don't hear from you, you can bet that they're hearing from someone else or some other group, but what you can't bet on is whether or not those groups or people being heard care about the same things you do. Don't leave your life in someone else's hands. You can find out who your representatives are by visiting your local town hall, city/county or by visiting a site on-line like Project Vote Smart.

3. GO TO A SCHOOL BOARD/CITY COUNCIL MEETING - While these meetings might not always be the most exciting events in the world, they are a great way to find out what issues are affecting your community and/or meet others in your town who might have similar passions as yourself. At the very least, if you go to a city council or school board meeting you might meet your representative in person and bend their ear about an issue you have. Meetings can be great way to have the kind of informal one-on-one meeting with elected officials that are hard to come by even with an appointment.

These are just a few simple ways to become civically engaged, but there are plenty of other ways to do so. The important thing is not HOW you become civically engaged, but that you DO become civically engaged. The first step is always the hardest, but make it a simple one and you'll be off and running (for office) in no time.