Over the past couple of years, I watched in rapt fascination of the rise of Elizabeth Warren. On news shows (bless you MSNBC), her ability to see to the heart of complex issues and illuminate that critical center with simple concise words first drew my attention. Watching her battles with congress over the CPA creation and her nomination to head the agency, I saw a woman of courage and strength. I watched as she campaigned for senate, and was overjoyed with her victory. I smiled inside at the discomfort of third-way democrats that night.
Then a few weeks ago, I had a chance to watch Zephyr Teachout at a small public event held in a vacant lot just outside the farmers market in Ithaca. There were about 20 people in attendance, some supporters, but mostly just the curious. I had the opportunity for a short conversation, mainly just a statement and well wishes. But I walked away with the same feeling I had over the few years rise of Elizabeth Warren. I haven't been able to shake that feeling, and have been puzzling over it ever since. It wasn't until this morning I understood why.
I knew next to nothing about Zephyr Teachout prior to that chance encounter (shame on you MSNBC!). I set out to find out everything I could. I read every news article Google reported out every evening. I ordered her book. I sent in a few small donations. Put up the yard sign, talked to neighbors, put the bumper sticker on the car, wrote a couple of diaries and engaged in comment threads. But I still couldn't figure out why I had the same response to Zephyr as I did to Elizabeth. Then this morning, google sent me to an article, In New York governor primary, Teachout draws from death penalty work It is a fascinating article that begins with Zephyr's first experience with death penalty cases when working as a law clerk fresh out of law school. The article goes on to talk about how that experience informs her opinions on police, criminal justice and community policing. From the article:
"No one should casually sentence someone to five years in jail," she said. "Every politician should go and spend time and visit prisons and jails. Because if you are choosing to exercise this kind of power over another person's life, there's a role for that, but you have to know the kind of power you are exercising."
I was beginning to get that ol' Elizabeth Warren feeling again. People who know me from my early diaries here know that I have this thing about "starting at the beginning" and "finding the connections between" that amplify or give value to the things that are connected. So I was thunder-struck when I read this later in the same article:
"Creating systems where people feel like they're being punished for things they didn't do wrong breaks all kinds of trust and makes people feel like they're not being treated with dignity. And political dignity is so essential in society."
Wow. That quote could easily have been attributed to Elizabeth Warren without me batting an eyelash. Now I knew what I was responding to in these two women. At their core, they both have a firm and abiding belief in the essential dignity of the person, of society, and of the need for that dignity to be reflected in our government by our elected officials. The mantra that I have for the college students I supervise is "If you have a clear intention, and a sound process, you never have to worry about the outcome." If your starting point and touchstone is the belief in the dignity of the person and the citizenry, if your process has no room for corrupt practices, I don't think you have to worry about the outcome.
We are faced with great challenges as a society and indeed as a species. We need the power of government to offset the outsized influence of the military industrial complex and the masters of fossil fuels. We need people of principle who believe in the dignity of every human being and the need for our government to reflect that if we are to build trust in and approval of our government. This is essential if we want the government to grow strong enough and brave enough to counter the actions of the oligarchs who care not what world they leave behind. We have only two choices: We can participate in the process and make it stronger, step by step, or we can take it to the streets--we can tear it all down and rebuild from the ashes. But the earth won't wait while we rebuild, time is running out. The best option is reform the social structures and the government we have so that we have the ability to change our future before it is too late.
So, please vote in the Democratic Party Primary in NYS on Tuesday. So what if Zephyr loses? Each vote will be a vote for the reformation of our polity, a vote that encourages other Elizabeth Warren's and Zephyr Teachout's and Tim Wu's to enter the fray. Each vote is the first step on "the journey of ten thousand steps." This journey is not of our own choosing-history has seen to that-and it is indeed long. If it is to be accomplished in time to save our government, our society and indeed our planet, it needs to start now.