Politics
End of the election season, thank god.
I would have made this post last night, but I was stuck at work way late and got home at bedtime. This is the first and hopefully last thing you'll see from me on the election.
I voted 'today' (yesterday) for two measures I didn't really want to to vote for - marijuana legalization and same sex marriage.
The former, I didn't want to vote for because I strongly dislike drug use and while of course the argument "PROHIBITION DOESN'T WORK" has been made and has some validity, it also -is- a slippery slope argument. No? But what about harder drugs that cause people to do some dangerous things? I grew up in a household where people were under the influence of legal drugs all the time. It wasn't fun.
None the less I voted for it, and I voted for it because overwhelmingly marijuana law enforcement targets minorities who are already laboring under a burden. White teen with a joint? Parents get called. Black teen with a joint? POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE. Given the murky difference between State and Federal laws, I would strongly recommend people continue to avoid marijuana. It's not a legal drug, it's a quasi legal drug. But if there's one less weapon local police have to help in the war against the oppressed, I'm fine with it.
No, I don't believe 'the police are the enemy' but they are a part of the system of oppression. I believe there is a vicious cycle where in the police prejudge members of underprivileged groups (including flat out 'the poor' irrespective of race) and thus react more harshly, thus making those groups more likely to distrust the police and not respect the laws. Which confirms, for the police, their biases, so they react more harshly... And given the history of civil rights, I can certainly say the bad egg came first.
As for same sex marriage? I voted, and I'm very glad it's passing, but we should have never put the question to a popular vote. Democracy should not be tyranny of the majority. Rights should be respected regardless of whether the population thinks it's a little 'gross'. (See: Disabled people, old people for other populations who could suffer from the 'gross' factor if we were to let that rule the day!)
That said, I see the repugnants are already trying to spin the narrative that Obama lost the popular vote (which he didn't; he's over 2 million up, and California is STILL only about 70% counted.) Obama 'lost' the popular vote early on when all the -population centers- had yet to be counted.
It's clear that once again, democrats (or people that lean that way) were oversampled - as in more of them went to the polls. Darn those liberals for loading the dice by voting instead of letting the proper republican electorate vote!
This entry lives at http://leticia.dreamwidth.org/281533.html - comment either location. Dreamwidth comments:
I would have made this post last night, but I was stuck at work way late and got home at bedtime. This is the first and hopefully last thing you'll see from me on the election.
I voted 'today' (yesterday) for two measures I didn't really want to to vote for - marijuana legalization and same sex marriage.
The former, I didn't want to vote for because I strongly dislike drug use and while of course the argument "PROHIBITION DOESN'T WORK" has been made and has some validity, it also -is- a slippery slope argument. No? But what about harder drugs that cause people to do some dangerous things? I grew up in a household where people were under the influence of legal drugs all the time. It wasn't fun.
None the less I voted for it, and I voted for it because overwhelmingly marijuana law enforcement targets minorities who are already laboring under a burden. White teen with a joint? Parents get called. Black teen with a joint? POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE. Given the murky difference between State and Federal laws, I would strongly recommend people continue to avoid marijuana. It's not a legal drug, it's a quasi legal drug. But if there's one less weapon local police have to help in the war against the oppressed, I'm fine with it.
No, I don't believe 'the police are the enemy' but they are a part of the system of oppression. I believe there is a vicious cycle where in the police prejudge members of underprivileged groups (including flat out 'the poor' irrespective of race) and thus react more harshly, thus making those groups more likely to distrust the police and not respect the laws. Which confirms, for the police, their biases, so they react more harshly... And given the history of civil rights, I can certainly say the bad egg came first.
As for same sex marriage? I voted, and I'm very glad it's passing, but we should have never put the question to a popular vote. Democracy should not be tyranny of the majority. Rights should be respected regardless of whether the population thinks it's a little 'gross'. (See: Disabled people, old people for other populations who could suffer from the 'gross' factor if we were to let that rule the day!)
That said, I see the repugnants are already trying to spin the narrative that Obama lost the popular vote (which he didn't; he's over 2 million up, and California is STILL only about 70% counted.) Obama 'lost' the popular vote early on when all the -population centers- had yet to be counted.
It's clear that once again, democrats (or people that lean that way) were oversampled - as in more of them went to the polls. Darn those liberals for loading the dice by voting instead of letting the proper republican electorate vote!
This entry lives at http://leticia.dreamwidth.org/281533.html - comment either location. Dreamwidth comments: