Participatory Democracy

Participatory Democracy

    I can only feel disappointed at the Primary Election results so far. Of all the registered voters in Kitsap County (my home county) only 18.5 % have so far seen fit to vote.
   What is so hard to understand about participatory democracy? Can’t we see that our voting is all that keeps us from falling completely into the hands of the oligarchs?
   Of course there are barriers to voting. There is the fact that local and regional news organizations find local politics and elections boring. Making a few high profile endorsements and listing the major winners is par. Much more money is to be made if candidates have to pay for space and air time. That also favors the well-to-do and the well connected.
   The “I don’t like mail in ballots” argument gets used. I don’t; however, see big crowds at election day drop-off locations. The “I don’t have a stamp” people may have a point there as the One Percent continue to drain the economy and underfund the Post Office.
   These problems, both the large one of media access and the smaller one of voter inconvenience, don’t come close to being enough to throw the election to the oligarchs, the one percent. Many people are beaten by the difficulties of their own lives. There is little energy left for the hard work of being a citizen in a democracy.
   This is why a radical shift of our thinking and actions is necessary. We have let Liberal Rhetoric substitute for radical action. What we see in the current election is that rhetoric, liberal or not, hasn’t moved the electorate. Only local action will provoke the local action we need.
   We join local groups, Organizing for America, local Democratic committees, The Sierra Club or you name it in hopes of making a difference. These groups can and do make things happen, but only when they move from “liberal” rhetoric to “radical” action. No voter is moved by committee meetings. Only on the ground, person to person action can do that. A basic component of a voter movement, or any movement for that matter, is one on one contact. Not just Rah Rah happy talk, but real substantive discussion that has concrete goals that can be planned and implemented.
   Action is always the radical agenda. Talk is for the do nothing liberal who joins, but is too busy to actually do something. Remember Thomas Jefferson’s admonition: “Every generation needs a new revolution”. If we want to make our own small revolution in our neighborhood we must take radical action now. Voters are the only players who can move us toward real change, we must help voters to see the power of their actions.