03.03.14
All Petitioned Out
The idea that it’s possible to correct the big problems of the American economy with on-line petitioning needs to be sent to the glue factory.
In the last seven days I’ve been peppered with them. The most recent, multiple mails asking to start a local petition in Pasadena to raise the minimum wage.
This one, administered through the on-line app, YouPower, from Democracy for America.
This one, ala a theoretical Pasadena effort, to raise the minimum wage in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, appears to have zero to little support.
Facebook and social media didn’t free the middle east. And you can’t rectify the problems of US democracy by tapping your fingers on your smartphone or PC.
The purpose of a democratic government was to provide for the common good, to do just the things that the American government cannot do now.
The idea that software devices for on-line petitioning are one remedy is really tiresome. The US government was broken over the course of a few decades. Web widgets, clickbait, and crowd-sourcing won’t fix it.
Now, if you want to use it as a front for donations for your pet cause, that’s a slightly different application. One that’s antagonizing if you mass mail it to people who aren’t even making minimum wage.
Yes, I’m a cynic. What of it?
There is a practical alternative. Proper people don’t care much for it but its use is honored by time. Plus it’s a small way to put money into local economies. People who work at supermarkets need to keep their paychecks.
Quote of the weekend, from the “president” of the American Enterprise Institute, a kinder gentler plutocrat, writing for the NY Times:
How can we break the back of envy and rebuild the optimism that made America the marvel of the world?
First and foremost, we must increase mobility for more Americans with a radical opportunity agenda … It means regulatory and tax reform tailored to spark hiring and entrepreneurship at all levels, especially the bottom of the income scale.
Second, we must recognize that fomenting bitterness over income differences may be powerful politics, but it injures our nation. We need aspirational leaders willing to do the hard work of uniting Americans around an optimistic vision in which anyone can earn his or her success. This will never happen when we vilify the rich or give up on the poor.
Only a shared, joyful mission of freedom, opportunity and enterprise for all will cure us of envy …
We really haven’t given vilification and envy enough time to work their magic yet.