I recently sat outside a Catholic church in my car. I looked up at the dramatic architecture remembering a time, as I conceived it to be, when you could walk into the church at any time to pray, respect and reflect. After all my name means “of the lord” aka Sunday in Italian and I was raised Catholic respecting the calls to service and community; However, in our current times there is no sense of security in the religious world across the board so those doors are hard locked shut at night. Van Jones actually mentions in his latest book (The Messy Truth) that he was hesitant to identify as a Christian as it was judged among the “progressive” movement in CA as a detriment. And so the story goes…
I’ve been an unaffiliated voter since age 18. I spent the time to actually read the platforms of all the major parties and decided that no one spoke to me. Not one…I’ve definitely changed a lot since my 18 year old self but my core assessment of our national politics remained the same and so then comes the 2016 election many years later. The polarized rhetoric had only gotten worse since 18 creating a concernced response that we had accelerated our way toward an authoritarian rule. Not 0-60 but perhaps 20mph to 160mph. I actually have spent time studying “modern” US religion (“Christianity”) and authoritarian rule for this reason. In 2016 I sat knowing exactly what was going to happen and it did. It was so easy to identify how our country had been easily coned into polarization and how much hate had been created fueled by the popular media and the powers at be ensuring control of “the little people.”
So I am a moderate, not to be confused with a “centrist.” That automatically assumes I fall somewhere in this arbitrary middle politically. But in fact the whole reason I am unaffiliated is because I refuse to be associated with either of the dramatic poles we have created. I’m a free thinking, business owning, civically minded, and an economically minded rational adult…I’ve spent my entire career in government and know it all too well…and so…
The Democratic Party failed epically in the 2016 election and is doing so again. The epic disconnect between major voter blocks is evident. They enthusiastically elicit the supporters while refusing to appeal to the true masses nationally. It isn’t shocking that this party can’t secure an election as of late. The loud voices over shadow what the moderate American is looking for…let alone the conservative father looking to support their children in a town who’s industry has been uprooted because of technology or outsourcing. But that guy, well that guy doesn’t matter because we know better than him. We know what is better FOR him. Oh we know better in California right? I am starting to think we actually know far less than we think we do. As someone in marketing it never seizes to amaze me (or devastate me) that the Demo party displays their absolute disconnect from major voter blocks in the US. No lessons learned from 2016? God damn who are these campaign managers? I am not currently calling out the Repos as their standing at large has been established at this present moment.
Alright so we are back to where I started. I absolutely believe that in a developed nation such as this that people should be given the tools to have an equal opportunity for success. The issue is, the smart people who know how to start and run these programs are overshadowed by the loud voices who more often than not actually only have their own best interests in mind. Most people don’t actually vote based on experience, a history of passing legislation, or even based on plans to actually execute what’s proposed…people vote based on headlines. We actually like to think in California that we are liberal but in fact we do very little to actually support our fellow woman. I mean certainly we vote against our own economic interests by supporting increases in taxes for services many of our children will not utilize but god damn do not put affordable housing next door to me. Oh no, anywhere but here. We don’t want “those people” in this neighborhood. Wait wait those Trump supporters voting against THEIR economic interests are the issue.
So wait I’m confused. Ok so we’re liberal, wait but not Christian, but progressive, but don’t know how to contribute to progress. What? The reality is, in order to be liberal and create change you also have to understand how program development works, how legislation works. and how money flows (aka how our government works). In any sort of hyper liberal or hyper conservative world, there is no progress. California has fallen victim to this trend for years. We elevate ourselves to being the Country’s saviors while actually creating the most barriers to success (our primary education system is one of the worst in the Country and our kids can’t even go to preschool). We have the worst income inequality, homelessness rates, and gentrification. But we are liberals!!!! God forbid you ask the smart people….
Ok so I guess I’ve gotten incredibly conservative with age? What? I never thought promoting a society that provided equal opportunity for all through thoughtful programming and services was conservative? This idea that there is some sort of scarcity in California is fabricated and a lie to advance the segregation and gentrification of our communities. Our biggest failure is that we somehow think we are exempt from the national epidemic of lies and racism. We are at the helm of the worst of it. This state is ONLY reactive which inevitably increases costs while decreasing impact. The saddest part is that the Democratic party fails most all of us and I come from a place of privilege. These loud unbearable voices don’t represent close to anyone. We somehow think that because someone is liberal they aren’t just an excellent politician who will likely not accomplish anything.
And here I sit. I have expansive knowledge of program development, government funding, compliance, marketing, communications, you name it and I feel bound by these loud liberal voices. I know change is possible and I know what it actually looks like, but none of that matters to the masses because well, I’m a lonely moderate millennial who can’t yell loud enough to win election….for now. Because I represent the real deal, the anti-politics, anti-polarization, expert government marketer, a lawyer in my past life, legislative guru, that could make change, but right now a silence has fallen over the crowd.