[cross-posted at WOID: a journal of visual language]
Fritos and Democracy
The Upper East Side of Manhattan has a reputation as a rich folk’s haven, but like most such havens it’s divided into two parts, the mansions and the servant’s quarters. At the top of the hill, along Fifth Avenue, is what Hispanics call the Barrio Alto, where the truly wealthy live. As you move downhill towards the East River the housing gets a touch shabbier, and most of the folks there actually work for a living. Today, Election Day, the lines were very long along First Avenue, but there didn’t seem to be any lines up on Madison and Park, where the rich folks live. A friend who went to vote down on Wall Street early this morning told me there were no lines at all there. Apparently the working folks, the middle class, the middling wealthy care a lot more about this election than the truly, really, filthy rich.
Too much, almost: there was a grimness in the long lines waiting along First Avenue: not because of the wait, but because of a general feeling that this election desperately mattered. No Sarah Palin jokes, no good-natured jostling: these voters meant business. And, of course, a number had brought their children along for the educational experience: This is what democracy looks like.
Well, the rich folks on the hill wanted their children to have the educational experience, too. As we waited on First Avenue, the rich kids came trotting along with baskets of snacks and soft drinks, offering them for sale: these voters meant business to the kids, though there were very, very few takers. But after all, it was an educational experience: Win or lose, the rich kids win. And this is what democracy looks like to the folks up on the hill.
There’s a concept known as "Political Formalism." It’s that area of thought and action that focuses on the idea that all these ideas, Liberty, Democracy, Right to Vote, are important, of course, but only in the abstract. The ACLU is a master at Political Formalism, never really defending any one person’s right to vote or their right to free speech, only the concept of the right to vote or the right to free speech. I have a pretty good idea how many of those kids will grow up to be lawyers or politicians: masters of assuring your right to vote, as long as there’s a buck to be made. Judging from the long lines of the folks down the hill, they may yet be surprised.
- Trotsky the Horse.