For most of my life I have paid minimal attention to politics. I voted each election (moving to early mail-in voting as soon as it was available) and paid attention to issues that might effect me, but generally found that most laws had only a minimal effect on my life. In other words, I was like most Americans; apathetic.
Who knew that moving to Arizona would change that....
I moved to Arizona from upstate New York 10 years ago. When I first arrived, the state struck me as a little odd; there was something of a wild west libertarian vibe to the place, which frankly appealed to me. In New York I was considered relatively conservative, in that I believe in keeping government out of individuals lives, businesses and decisions as much as reasonably possible. I saw what seemed to be that same ethos in Arizona. Combine that with a democrat in the governor's mansion (to bring some balance to the republican legislature) and it all seemed to be going ok. There were things I agreed with and things I didn't, but nothing overwhelming.
Then came SB1070; codification of the racist agenda of the far right in this state. [Side note: I remain amazed that in a state with such a strong Tea Party delegation, they got 1070 through. I mean that bill is going to cost a FORTUNE to implement, and is already costing a fortune to defend. So much for fiscal responsibility and smaller government.] I started to pay more attention. And slowly but surely I went from apathetic to angry. Really angry.
- I am angry that our state legislators appear to be idiots who don't read the bills before they sign on to them. (I base this on a comparison of the number of them who are attorneys yet STILL vote for laws that are clearly unconstitutional as written. See, for example, the ones about teachers conforming the FCC language rules (all the time as written) and internet name calling/stalking that would make looking up your legislator on the state site and then their own site technically a crime. At least those two appear to have been stopped for now.)
- I am angry that they have time to tell teachers what they can and cannot say, but cut spending at every level of our educational system until we are at nearly the bottom of every possible ranking. (A quick search found us NEVER rated above 44th in terms of either spending or achievement.)
- I am angry at them PASSING and the governor SIGNING bills that will cost the state millions to defend in course. (Such as the most recent abortion bill that defines a woman as pregnant 2 weeks before she conceives and requires a physician to have privileges at a hospital within 30 miles in order to perform a nonsurgical (pill-based) abortion. In one of the more sparsely populated states in the union. Where a LOT of people are more than 30 miles from a hospital.)
- I am angry that the elected officials of this state feel no responsibility at all to listen to their constituents, while feeling fine with taking their pet issue and ramming it down our throats. (There is one exception that I know of: Cecil Ash regularly polls his constituents for their opinions on current and pending legislation. While I don't have a clear feel for what he DOES with the information, at least he asks.)
- I am angry that politicians (at all levels, really) seem to forget that their districts contain both people who voted for them AND people who didn't, and that in most cases the difference between the two groups is only a couple of percent. Instead they take their win as some kind of mandate to force the 49% to do what the 51% think is right. Whether I voted for you initially or not, you still represent me and I believe you should still take my opinions into consideration.
- I am angry that ALEC and the religious right have taken over this state. I am angry that it has become politically OK to use laws to enforce certain aspects of religion, while still saying one supports religious freedom. If you support religious freedom, then I should be free to practice my religion however I see fit, and that INCLUDES if my religion happens to be pro-choice.
I still don't know how I went from being a New York conservative to an Arizona liberal. I don't usually like labels such as that anyway. But Arizona has managed to awaken me from my apathy, and I am far from the only one. They are not going to like the results.