By all accounts, I am a common man. I live a modest life here in Ann Arbor Michigan. I have driven cab for the same company for 14 going on 15 years and because of a developmental disability, I have spent the last 25 years trying to finish school with a teaching certificate. I'll spare the reader the long version, fact is I know all about setbacks, failures, false starts and of course broken promises. Yet, the most important thing I know is how to keep on going especially when very few stand in your corner.
The recent Supreme Court decision in many ways more than qualifies as a setback, perhaps even a broken promise. On the surface, the Justices have opened the door to host of abuses of privilege and power which certain people will no doubt take full advantage of. The fact is, if we just sit back and let our more wealthy and influential sisters and brothers hold sway over our lives, then the shame is not on them: it is on us.
The decision has, of course given Corporate Sponsored Political Campaign funding free reign to determine the outcome of congressional, senatorial and presidential elections. This happened because, on the one hand, the lawyers involved effectively equated Corporate funding with free speech, while opposing council on the other hand failed to effectively counter their opponent's strategy. Essentially, the decision was the result of a debate tactic as old as Aristotle. Without a doubt, this is a setback: but as student of setbacks, I argue the next course we should take is to keep moving, no matter what.
The interesting thing about having a disability, at least to me, is that, setbacks and broken promises are often stock and trade. Over the years, you just kind of learn to expect them and deal with them as best you can. The immediate implications of the Supreme Court's decision are of course, depressing and probably a reason to make any otherwise rational person at lest a little "mentally ill." But for those of us who actually have a mental illness as well as a disability, the likes of which no one notices and thus, marginalizes, adaptation isn't a choice: it is a prerequisite for survival.
What do we have with the Supreme Court's decision? Unlimited Corporate financing for elections, yes. Is it possible for every American, no matter how humble to stand together as a Cooperative Corporation? Yes. Is it possible that if enough of us can stand together and choose to comitt ourselves to staying educated on the issues and making our voices heard?
Yes, it's possible.
The challenge remains with us as Americans. Cab drivers, waiters, garbage men and women,security guards: can we do it?
The Stakes are high now, we have to stand together or we shall certainly fall apart.