By: Paul S. Marchand
Any new year is a time for resolutions and wish lists. Of course, most resolutions go unkept, and few, if any, of the wishes on our lists actually come true, but that doesn’t stop us from making them.
And who knows? Sometimes we actually keep a resolution; sometimes a wish does come true.
So, what follows is an admittedly idiosyncratic list of wishes and resolutions, some broader in scope than others, some candidly parochial or even personal, for what promises to be a tumultuous 2012:
Let me start with some wishes for all of us in the Ninety-nine Percent:
-First, for continued economic improvement and recovery. The American Middle Class is the backbone of our strength and our prosperity, but its interests have been too long ignored and sacrificed on the altar of others’ interests.
-Second, that the American Middle Class, which had felt itself voiceless and without advocates for so long, may continue to find its voice, and to hold accountable the politicians and plutocrats who had taken it for granted that the middle class would supinely acquiesce in its own destruction.
-Third, that a newly vocal middle class would use the means at its disposal to ensure that those who wage social and economic war against it do so at their own political peril.
-Fourth, that the middle class resists the wedge-issue tactics of division that politicians of the Scott Walker/John Kasich/Rick Scott ilk use to set us against one another, and which define as enemies those who walk our beats, fight our fires, and teach our kids, when in fact, we are all part of the Ninety-Nine Percent.
Let me also express some wishes for our society in a time when preachers, pundits, and politicians seek to revive the culture wars and exploit them for their own purposes:
-Not only would I like to see marriage equality become a reality wherever the American flag flies, I would also like to see people of good will across the country take a firm stand against the LGBT-baiting that has become a rhetorical staple among political hopefuls of a certain ideological bent.
-I would like to see people of good will speak out ever more strongly for women, and by implication against the war on women that, by seeking to restricting a woman’s autonomy over her own body, also seeks to reduce women in general to the status of chattel.
-I would like to see people of good will speak out ever more strongly for learning and literacy, in the liberal arts and in the sciences, and by implication against the war on learning that has become an ongoing effort of the right wing. Without a strong commitment to the learning the right scorns as “elitist” our national prosperity and security are at unacceptable risk.
-I would like to see people of good will speak out ever more strongly for the kind of basic human decency that rejects immigrant- and race-baiting. A discussion about immigration issues is a legitimate one to have, but the racism that too often accompanies that discussion should have no place.
Closer to home, my wish list is a little bit more parochial and even personal:
-We need to find a way to develop a workable legislative “fix” to California’s redevelopment problem. Abolishing California’s redevelopment agencies, which have been around for almost 70 years, represents a meat-ax solution to a problem that should have been solved with a scalpel. Certain redevelopment abuses -such as Palm Desert’s use of RDA money to build a lavish golf course and country club, should never have been tolerated, but redevelopment done right had done a power of good in many communities. Now is the time for Governor Brown and the Legislature to go back to the drawing boards and restore redevelopment in a way that redresses abuses and empowers communities to undertake the kind of work redevelopment was intended to be about in the first place.
-Local leaders in Cathedral City need to do more than talk about economic development. There has been much talking, but little doing, in the last year, and that needs to stop. Cathedral City continues to lose businesses, and that does not serve our residents or our business community well.
-Those of us who have made resolutions to exercise more and eat less need the help of our friends, corporeal or digital, to actually keep them. For if we are able to keep those resolutions on and keep the pounds off , you may see less of us, but what you do see will hopefully be healthier and fighting fit for what promises to be a tumultuous year ahead.
Happy new year, and now, as Ed Schultz might say, “let’s get to work.”
-xxx-
PAUL S. MARCHAND is an attorney in Cathedral City, where he lives and works. The views expressed herein are his own, and he hopes you’ll be seeing less of him in the months to come.
Any new year is a time for resolutions and wish lists. Of course, most resolutions go unkept, and few, if any, of the wishes on our lists actually come true, but that doesn’t stop us from making them.
And who knows? Sometimes we actually keep a resolution; sometimes a wish does come true.
So, what follows is an admittedly idiosyncratic list of wishes and resolutions, some broader in scope than others, some candidly parochial or even personal, for what promises to be a tumultuous 2012:
Let me start with some wishes for all of us in the Ninety-nine Percent:
-First, for continued economic improvement and recovery. The American Middle Class is the backbone of our strength and our prosperity, but its interests have been too long ignored and sacrificed on the altar of others’ interests.
-Second, that the American Middle Class, which had felt itself voiceless and without advocates for so long, may continue to find its voice, and to hold accountable the politicians and plutocrats who had taken it for granted that the middle class would supinely acquiesce in its own destruction.
-Third, that a newly vocal middle class would use the means at its disposal to ensure that those who wage social and economic war against it do so at their own political peril.
-Fourth, that the middle class resists the wedge-issue tactics of division that politicians of the Scott Walker/John Kasich/Rick Scott ilk use to set us against one another, and which define as enemies those who walk our beats, fight our fires, and teach our kids, when in fact, we are all part of the Ninety-Nine Percent.
Let me also express some wishes for our society in a time when preachers, pundits, and politicians seek to revive the culture wars and exploit them for their own purposes:
-Not only would I like to see marriage equality become a reality wherever the American flag flies, I would also like to see people of good will across the country take a firm stand against the LGBT-baiting that has become a rhetorical staple among political hopefuls of a certain ideological bent.
-I would like to see people of good will speak out ever more strongly for women, and by implication against the war on women that, by seeking to restricting a woman’s autonomy over her own body, also seeks to reduce women in general to the status of chattel.
-I would like to see people of good will speak out ever more strongly for learning and literacy, in the liberal arts and in the sciences, and by implication against the war on learning that has become an ongoing effort of the right wing. Without a strong commitment to the learning the right scorns as “elitist” our national prosperity and security are at unacceptable risk.
-I would like to see people of good will speak out ever more strongly for the kind of basic human decency that rejects immigrant- and race-baiting. A discussion about immigration issues is a legitimate one to have, but the racism that too often accompanies that discussion should have no place.
Closer to home, my wish list is a little bit more parochial and even personal:
-We need to find a way to develop a workable legislative “fix” to California’s redevelopment problem. Abolishing California’s redevelopment agencies, which have been around for almost 70 years, represents a meat-ax solution to a problem that should have been solved with a scalpel. Certain redevelopment abuses -such as Palm Desert’s use of RDA money to build a lavish golf course and country club, should never have been tolerated, but redevelopment done right had done a power of good in many communities. Now is the time for Governor Brown and the Legislature to go back to the drawing boards and restore redevelopment in a way that redresses abuses and empowers communities to undertake the kind of work redevelopment was intended to be about in the first place.
-Local leaders in Cathedral City need to do more than talk about economic development. There has been much talking, but little doing, in the last year, and that needs to stop. Cathedral City continues to lose businesses, and that does not serve our residents or our business community well.
-Those of us who have made resolutions to exercise more and eat less need the help of our friends, corporeal or digital, to actually keep them. For if we are able to keep those resolutions on and keep the pounds off , you may see less of us, but what you do see will hopefully be healthier and fighting fit for what promises to be a tumultuous year ahead.
Happy new year, and now, as Ed Schultz might say, “let’s get to work.”
-xxx-
PAUL S. MARCHAND is an attorney in Cathedral City, where he lives and works. The views expressed herein are his own, and he hopes you’ll be seeing less of him in the months to come.
