And… voted! Californians, don’t sit this one out.
The most pronounced political divide today isn’t the one everybody thinks of, between the usual sides. I think there’s a growing divide between people trying to make a point and those trying to make an impact.
Some laws are passed following years and years of public policy research, identifying the difference you want to make and the most proven methods of accomplishing that goal. Then there are the laws that go into effect and the candidates that go into office without any of that. They’re simply publicity stunts, meant to make a certain section of culture feel like they’re winning a war against their own.
That’s what you see when you see really belligerent behavior at school board meetings. Or when some of the candidate statements in my voters’ guides read more like Facebook rants than anything else.
The problem with belligerent behavior and large scale publicity stunts is that they’ll make you feel like we’re hopelessly divided, when in reality, we’re not quite as divided as you might think.
Take climate change, for instance. The number of Americans in full and complete denial is under 10%. But if you pay attention to the hottest debates, you’d think that it was more of a 50-50 split. That’s what happens when you give airtime to folks more interested in publicity than policy. Public health measures are similar. Things like masks in schools statistically have majority support, but are often derailed because of who actually shows up to school board meetings.
The point here? Show up. And keep showing up. Not just to the big November election every four years, but the midterms, the special elections, the city council meetings, and so on. And in non political ways too, of course, but our laws and environment are the two biggest ways to love our neighbors at scale. Use your voice and apply pressure even when your opinion doesn’t feel like a hot take. Because leaders need better feedback than hot takes.
