by Joe Courter
As the gains of the last fifty years seem to be unraveling before our eyes, it is hard not to be angry or depressed. Coming into the 1950s and ’60s that new medium of television did a lot to heighten awareness. We could see poverty first-hand in our living rooms. We could see the war in Viet Nam, soldiers lighting villagers’ houses on fire with their Zippo lighters. We saw police siccing dogs on black folks in the south. We saw leaders assassinated — both political leaders and civil rights leaders. It led to a greater awareness that changes needed to happen to rectify such injustice. This was the world as I saw it as I entered my teen years.
The pressure for change was catalyzed by seeing people sitting-in at lunch counters, marching in the streets, gathering in the nation’s capital, and within the music and culture of the times. These all led to changes in peoples individual consciousnesses. Better people ran for office and some were elected. Laws were made, bad laws were changed, programs to fight poverty and overcome the legacy of racism were initiated. More people being able to vote was one thing, but making sure through fair districts that representation in government was another needed measure to rectifying the blatant injustices of the past.
An earlier catalyst for change was the Great Depression, and that change flowed more from the top with Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, guided by Frances Perkins. The State actually created jobs for out-of-work people during the Great Depression. Later, soldiers coming back from WWII were provided with the GI Bill, to help them get a leg up as they re-entered society. Integration of schools was an attempt to create more equity in education. Voting rights laws were passed. Women could gain more autonomy in their lives, and not just be living in the economic shadow of their husbands. From the 1930’s through the 1980’s labor unions were keys to better individual lives with better pay, working conditions and health care.
So, voting for better people made things better. It was a form of mutual aid on a grand scale, and it still is. Elections have consequences. The power of the vote in local elections puts better people (it is hoped) into positions of influence and power. Voting is about math more than ideals: ideals are what drive your participation in the system all the other days leading up to election day. Voting is that one act on that one day that can tip the scales, but it is the necessary background work by all kinds of people at all levels of political campaigns that improves the impact one has when one finally does vote.
The anti-DEI people, the MAGA people, are a manifestation of decades-long reactionary hate for the New Deal and all the progressive changes outlined above. Our U.S. governing system seemed solid but has now been overwhelmed as mega-corporations and the opportunistic ultra-wealthy have taken over our media, our courts, and our legislative branches. They are coming after elections, suppressing the vote and poisoning the flow of accurate information with overwhelming and unchallenged lies and misinformation.
They know elections can defeat them, which is why they are doing what they are doing. It is an active coup, and the way out is not clear, because they seem to be digging in, not willing to leave. The trail of destruction they are leaving can be symbolized in the recent photo comparison of the White House pre-Trump, and what it looks like now: destroyed East Wing, paved-over Rose Garden, and the grotesque preparation for an Ultimate Fighting showcase to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday on the White House lawn … or what’s left of it.
We can overcome our anger and/or depression by finding ways do meaningful work and activities. If not political organizing and protest, participating in mutual aid is another way. Ideally this should be more than hand-outs and helping victims, although that is necessary work. There need to be education, empowerment, and organizing, and preserving our right to vote, and have real representation by supporting and electing better people.
Plug in whatever way you can.