By Charles Andrews
THE GLOVES ARE BACK ON
But these are the work gloves. How much do you love your freedoms, your rights, your democracy? I know you do. So, time to get to work.
Now, now, no complaints. I wanted to use the word “kvetching,” but that means complaining about little things. This is not a little thing.
All of you who are rolled up in a fetal ball in the corner, at least metaphorically, pay attention. As you know, this is serious, existential stuff. But we are not yet doomed. Despair is not an option, because that breeds inaction. There are solutions.
They are not necessarily easy ones. They can’t be accomplished from your couch, TV remote in hand. But easier than you may think, and bringing a sense of accomplishment, community, even joy. It doesn‘t happen if you get a truckload of likes on your clever social media posts. Not even if you have a gazillion followers. Although certainly we need to use technology smartly, we need bodies and minds, all hands on deck.
THINGS HAVE GONE DOWNHILL SO QUICKLY
Both locally and nationally. It has been easy to slip into malaise, depression, apathy, inaction. But you know that is counterproductive, sliding faster downhill. But what to do, what to do?
Well, open your eyes, read, talk to neighbors, go to neighborhood meetings (by Zoom, if you wish), and you will discover there are lots of folks just like you who are taking the right steps. It’s a numbers game, and we have the numbers. The Bad Guys may have the guns and the troops and the mountains of cash, but always remember Hungary and Minnesota. Hungary slipped deep into autocracy for 14 years under the sway and oppression of Viktor Orban, and he really had the voting decks stacked for their most recent election. But guess what? Despite all that, the Hungarian people had enough. They turned out in huge numbers and voted him out. Simple as that. Minnesota? We saw it on our TVs every day, ordinary people turning out to protect each other, with cellphone cameras and whistles and simple acts of kindness, and despite some horrible tragedies, they persevered and prevailed. And they did it in snow and freezing cold. We can do it in shorts and flip-flops.
ENDORSEMENTS
As I write this, the Santa Monica Democratic Club is preparing to take a vote of its members as to which candidates should be endorsed for the coming elections. Those endorsements carry a lot of weight because this city is so full of Democrats and so many uninformed voters willing to vote the party line. I do not like the way the SM Dem Club has operated for many years. So a few months ago, I joined to try to give a different voice to this power broker. We have already seen them take different positions, such as recently on the build skyscrapers on our beach bill sponsored by our state Assembly Member Rick Zbur, running for re-election, and supported by Council Member Dan Hall, among others. The Dem Club votes to oppose 1470 helped get it modified drastically. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, to beat ‘em. It took 35 bucks and a little effort. But it’s the kind of thing that makes you feel less helpless.
The more you look into it, the more you find how many people are making efforts in so many areas that are successfully fighting the MAGA madness. As much as I disparage the national Democratic party, they are taking a lot of effective action. The same with national organizations like the NAACP, ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center. Lawsuits, subpoenas, protest marches to raise awareness, and on-site protests that block and delay illegal acts.
Look at all the success young candidates for office, REAL progressives, talking about the bread and butter issues voters care about, following the campaign style of both young New Youtk mayor Zorhan Mamdani and young-thinking old Sen. Bernie Sanders, still a force to be reckoned with for connecting with voters, especially young ones. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is more influential than ever, still not accepting a penny of corporate money for her campaigns.
LOCALLY
Both Heather Thomason, running for Rent Control Board, and Ashley Olerson, a candidate for Council, have “come out of nowhere” to have a real chance for real change. It is a joke to say they came out of nowhere. Both have spent a long time talking to everyone, on every side of the political fences, to build knowledge and coalitions of people who know our City government can be so much better, so much less machine-controlled and corrupt. Ideals, not ideologues. I am more optimistic for these long-fought-for changes than I have ever been.
But it will take everyone pitching in. This country can be the shining city on the hill (or the beach). The world came to visit for the World Cup and discovered and fell in love with America. Let us finally take the core principles we were founded upon and turn them into reality. We the People. What a concept.
Charles Andrews has lived in Santa Monica for 40 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Send love and/or rebuke to him at therealmrmusic@gmail.com
