Election Shaping

 

The difference between getting involved now or later is this: later on people will only have a choice between the given candidates and issues. Those who are active now get to choose those givens.

Many, maybe most, human activities are profoundly determined by the "Founder Effect." I do mean "determined" in that statement, as in "cause and effect." The Founder Effect is the control founders have over the future. This starts with the influence of mothers over children. The first people who settle a region are very likely to determine its future human uses, language and culture. This is simply enabled by "learning," which is the practice of copying what someone in authority does. Put another way, learning is a variety of "follow the leader." The tendency of people to do just that most of the time, to carry out orders given by superiors, no matter how absurd, reinforces the Founder Effect. The Founder Effect is one of the mechanisms which bind human (and other) societies, by narrowing the range of possible actions and responses.

If you let the election process slip by, then you will get exactly the same sort of government that we now have. If you like the way things are, do nothing. The present system, run by professional, career politicians and their influential, associated elites, will guarantee that people like themselves are nominated and elected. One of the unfortunate side-effects of democracy is that you get the government you deserve.

Otherwise, if you believe government should be different than it is, now is the time to find out who will run for office in the next year or so. Now is the time to think through what are your most important issues, and to discover who is with you and who against. By Labor Day, you should have a very clear idea of where you stand and who you're supporting.

Activism is particularly important NOW, as it is the only way to stop a Bandit Juggernaut. For everyone but the Religious Right and Market Fundamentalists, Bandit government falls short. I think it is so intolerable that thoughts of revolt and, even, succession and Civil War are brought to mind. The forthcoming elections are the only chance we have left.

So, pick your candidates and your issues, then BACK THEM with your time and money.

Here in California, the issues and the election are upon us. The Governator has thrown down the gauntlet, starting a war against almost everyone in the bottom half of California's incomes. This wicked man needs to be removed from office. Voting down his initiatives will be the first step.

I will probably endorse Phil Angelides for Governor. He is, so far, by far the most acceptable candidate, and has the endorsement of Sen. Barbara Boxer and many other California progressives.