October 11, 2014

Why Vote? By Starhawk

Ecofeminist, permaculture activist and more, Starhawk gives reasons for US'ers to register -- and vote on Nov. 4.

Published: October 8, 2014

"We’re getting close to voter registration deadlines here in the US for our November elections, and it’s time for my periodic voting rant.

Why vote, when politics are vile, the right wing is a pack of intransigent bullies and the politicians who call themselves progressive inevitably go belly-up and give in to them? Obama, the guy who stood for hope, turned out to be just another good-looking guy who let us down, and a true progressive like Bernie Sanders – I’m at an age where I go for older men! – probably doesn’t stand a chance.

Nonetheless, it is vitally important that you vote, and here’s three good reasons why: the practical, the political, and the spiritual.

Practically speaking, there is one arena where your vote absolutely makes an enormous difference—and that’s on local issues. Granted, national politics are enough to discourage anyone from getting out of bed, let alone dragging yourself down to the polling station. But locally, even a few votes can make a huge difference. In Sonoma County, where I live much of the time, elections for the Board of Supervisors are often decided by a handful of votes. And the Board of Supervisors controls vitally important decisions that impact land use, water use, development, whether there is habitat for salmon or money for firefighters – issues that directly affect our lives. Schoolboards, water boards, transport boards, police review boards might not seem terribly sexy, but the right wing climbed to power by taking over school boards. Water boards often determine whether a new area can become a huge real estate development or remains farmland. Transport boards can decide to run busses on biodiesel made from used restaurant grease. Police review boards can determine whether that sheriff who shot the unarmed Latino kid stays on the force. In San Francisco, our local politicians stopped an attempt to shut down our city college, the only path to higher education for many low-income students.

Hate fracking? One of the most successful strategies to stop it has been getting local towns to ban it. Care about climate change? Then care about local public transport, urban food growing, community gardens and farmers’ markets which are all subject to local regulation. Want to legally re-use your graywater? Want programs to teach inner-city youth to grow and eat healthy food? Want schools that teach critical thinking, that have programs for art and music, that have curriculums that reflect diversity? All of these issues come back to the local, where your vote does make a difference!" ...
Read full posting, and scroll to others, here: http://starhawksblog.org/