While I know that the readership of my somewhat ridiculous ramblings is slim to none, I've very much enjoyed seeing from where my (albeit small) readership comes from. (I'm talking about you, Denmark! Hello!) It's always interesting to log on to post something and to see from what corners of the globe people may be checking in to my humble cyberhome. (Keep visiting, Denmark, happy to have you here!)
There is a mess of things happening in my fair city right now, where I've lived for almost seven years, where, ultimately, my husband and I would like to settle down in the long run, someday (after we discern and sort through our graduate school aspirations).
If you are unaware of the protests that have descended upon my fair city, a quick glance at the following link, from the most recent article from our daily newspaper about the current protests, should bring you up to speed at least a bit. From the little I know of the current situation (I tend to remove myself from the political climate of this town for various reasons), our dear state is downright broke, and our newly-elected governor is attempting to repair our (possibly crippling) budget deficit. From what I can deduce, his hope is not to have to declare bankruptcy eventually, and curtail this shortfall sooner rather than later. Part of this has been asking public employees to increase the amount they pay for health and retirement benefits. Concurrently, there are measures in his proposal that would strip the ability of public employees (through their unions) to collectively bargain with the government in all things except salary. (The link above can route anyone interested to further [hopefully nonpartisan] articles, explaining the ramifications of the governor's proposal.)
Needless to say, this proposal has created a virtual firestorm of dissent that has reverberated throughout my fair state. My facebook feed is daily packed with rallying cries - call your legislators! Kill this bill! Come to the capitol! Recall (Governor) Walker! Unfortunately, with these rallying cries also often comes a good amount of vitriol being tossed around. In various photo galleries from the protests this week, I have seen our governor paralleled to a dictator, with names such as Hitler and the recently-ousted Mubarak as the choice comparisons. It is at that moment in a political discourse that most often I attempt to tune myself out. I relish good political discourse - as a former student of political science, I am proud to see my fellow citizens exercising their right to assemble and make their voices heard. To exercise our rights as enumerated in the Constitution is something in which to take pride - we have a unique ability that not all citizens of the world possess. However, when the discourse turns ugly, and becomes a campaign of name-calling and hyperbole (and often hysteria, and sometimes downright hatred), I often take a step back and try to evaluate just how this political discourse became an arena of such vitriol.
I do sympathize with the protesters. I agree that the haste in passing this bill is likely inappropriate - something that affects this many people is not something to be legislated quickly and compromises should be made to effectively take into account the ramifications of this bill on the working families of Wisconsin. I acknowledge the historical ability of public employees to unionize and to collectively bargain. I do not, however, find it necessary or appropriate to launch such vitriolic and outlandish comparisons about the governor and Republican lawmakers of our state. Since when did we become a state that sinks to name-calling? To comparing our governor to a dictator? To portraying our governor as the one who is hanged in a game of hangman? The hyperbole of these smears is childish and juvenile; it could ultimately hurt and hinder the goals of the protesters.
Lately, in the midst of these protests, I have thought a lot about our Founding Fathers. It also helps that I'm reading John Adams, David McCulloch's masterpiece about our second president. I wonder what our forefathers would have thought about these protests. I can say with some degree of certainty that they would likely applaud the protests as a laudable exercise of a constitutional right. I am fairly certain, however, that they would also find the vitriol unhelpful and detrimental to the effectiveness of the protesting. For as much as John Adams fought to amend the grievances of the colonies before King George, I don't think he would have ever sunk to a level of outwardly and publicly attacking the character of that same king. For as much as the king caused serious grievances in the colonies, the Founding Fathers would not have called names - not then, not now, not ever.
Maybe I'm an idealist, and this idea of constructive and amicable dialogue between two political groups is something that just doesn't happen anymore. Yet I watch and read the news coverage of these protests, and I am saddened - saddened by the haste with which this bill will likely be passed, saddened by the lack of discussion between lawmakers and the protesters, and saddened more than anything by the vitriol.
Come on, Wisconsin. We are better than this.
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