Daniel TilsonI’m guessing that about six of every 10 Floridians have no idea the state’s legislative session is in its final days. Probably the same percentage of people know what’s been done in the session, by whom, to whom, for what reasons, and to what possible effect.
Mind you, no finger wagging here. I’m not looking to make anyone feel guilty. On the contrary, I think most people’s disinterest and often disgust with local politics is far less their “fault,” than it is the result of an “organic” political process.
Ask yourself, and maybe a couple of friends who don’t much follow politics: Who has the most to gain from a majority of the state’s residents not knowing what legislation their government is advancing, enacting, or refusing to even consider? Who benefits most when few citizens know how their tax dollars are spent?
Whoever guessed it’s the state’s biggest corporations and wealthiest private interests, stealthily seeking maximum gain and minimum exposure, who benefit most from doing business and dancing in the dark with our elected officials, then you win two free gallery tickets to watch the legislative session of your choice next year.
We’ve all encountered friends, relatives, coworkers, or strangers at supermarket checkout lines, gas pumps and parties, who shrug and say, “I’m just not into politics,” or “I don’t have time to follow it.” Others frown and say, “Politicians are all crooks, to hell with them,” or, “They do what they want to do anyway, why bother with them?”
As common as civic disengagement has become, it isn’t even “newsworthy.” At worst, it’s seen as an unfortunate fact of American life, not a dangerous epidemic. And of course, it’s not unique to Florida.
Even though the quality, or lack thereof, of our jobs, public schools, hospitals, libraries, parks, waterways, and so much more is mostly determined by our state legislators, a majority of us leave them to do as they please.
Sure, when we butt heads with education, health care, environmental and other problems legislators’ butthead budget priorities leave us with, more of us ask questions. But on the front end, when the Legislature’s in session and busily prioritizing the interests of wealthy corporate cronies and campaign contributors over the public interest, there are far fewer questions and concerns.
That’s easy to understand, when you consider the organic political process I mentioned earlier, when you consider how those private interests looking to game the system have been planting seeds of disillusionment for years.
If you’re a multimillionaire, large corporation or big business advocacy organization looking for “sympathetic” legislators to shower with “contributions,” then you want to deconstruct campaign finance laws.
You want economic and other public policy discussion and debate to be as convoluted, confounding and inaccessibleas possible. You want the legislative process itself to be as inscrutable and impenetrable as possible.
In America and Florida, consider it done.
If you’re all about maximum gain and minimum exposure, if you’re looking for your own best bang-for-the-buck when “investing” in the political process, then you want to target the voters you fear most for disenfranchisement. You want to create widespread doubt about the integrity of both the political process and the electoral system.
In America and Florida, consider it done.
But what’s done, can be undone. If it’s not, the middle class will be, sooner or later.
Keep an eye on Tallahassee this week. Then vote accordingly in November.
Daniel Tilson has a Boca Raton-based communications firm called Full Cup Media, specializing in online video and written content for non-profits, political candidates and organizations, and small businesses. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
