This past week, Madison has turned upside down with protests against Governor Walker’s Budget Repair Bill. I’m creating this blog to organize my own thoughts on the issues and on our American political divide.
Walker, a Republican, was elected last November as part of a wave of GOP elections across the country. Adopting the motto “Wisconsin is open for business,” he quickly made it known that his agenda is fixing the state’s budget problems by creating a business-friendly climate. He began enacting a series of measures designed to cut regulations, over the objections of those who hadn’t voted for him—nearly half the state. But since Republicans had also swept both branches of the state legislature, there’s been little Democrats can do to stop him.
He announced his Budget Repair Bill on a Friday, and by Monday, the protests began. The bill not only proposed increasing state workers’ payments into their health care and pension funds, but it also removed most collective bargaining rights, virtually eliminating public-sector unions.
This action swiftly divided the state: public workers wanting to keep their unions vs. private workers embittered over public workers’ benefits. Conservative Walker supporters vs. liberal Walker opponents.
The protests here in Madison grew rapidly, and they’ve become the largest this city has seen since the Vietnam War. This past Saturday, the crowd topped 100,000 in a city of around 250,000 people. To add to the spectacle, the Democratic state senators have absconded to an out-of-state location to stall the bill, and the crowd has been “occupying” the Capitol, with many people sleeping overnight to help pressure Republicans to reconsider their votes.
The protest has been overwhelmingly about unions, but it’s also about respect. The unionized state workers of Wisconsin feel Governor Walker’s approach to this bill has lacked fundamental respect for them. Not only did he initiate the stripping of their bargaining rights, but he tried to do so at lightning speed, without time for dialogue and debate. He hadn’t campaigned on this, and normal comment periods were bypassed.
I’ve been fortunate enough to witness all this drama firsthand. It feels like history in the making. My boyfriend Ron and I work one block from the Capitol and have been there at least part of every day this week. We’re state workers ourselves, although we won’t be directly affected by the bill’s collective bargaining section because we’re not unionized. But we still care deeply about the bill and the harm it will do. We’re with the protesters.
Every day at lunch and after work, we show up, chant, and sing with the rest of the crowd, hands in pockets and scarves around our faces to protect us from the winter chill. It’s been exhilarating and at times infuriating.
Like most state workers, we’re appalled by Walker’s tactics. A bill that makes such a sweeping change ought to be debated in the public sphere, with comment periods and op-eds and discussions that take place before it’s formally introduced. Instead, this whole process feels dysfunctional, from the hurried legislation to the escape of the Democratic senators to the protests themselves, invigorating as they are. In the end, we’ll be left more divided and angrier than before.
On top of everything else, the administration has been spreading lies about the protesters. They say we’re out-of-staters, or that we’re violent, or that we’re being paid to protest by the unions. None of that is true.
At the same time, I’ve been deeply moved by witnessing democracy in action: by the grassroots nature of the protest (one of our friends was among the first organizers!), by the ability of American citizens to raise our voices without fear of violent oppression, and by the general civility of protesters on both sides of the argument.
Which gets back to the broader purpose of this blog. In my first few posts, at least, I’ll be writing about the protests, and writing from my own liberal perspective. I believe in the protest and its principles. But over time, I hope this blog can explore the broader topic of our political divide.
Despite my convictions that my side is right, I also believe most people are intelligent and well-intentioned, including people on the other side of this debate. I’m concerned about American democracy and our deeply divided politics. We must be willing to have healthy discussions and listen to each other respectfully, even questioning our own values to make sure they stand up to fact.
Thich Nhat Hanh says, “In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.” I want to see more true dialogue in America—in this instance and in those to come.
To that end, over the last few months, I’ve been making an effort to better understand conservative thinking. I’m trying to bring more conservatives into my own life, which I’ll write about in future posts.
And I’m hoping this blog will help me figure out my thoughts as well. How do I balance the need to fight for my progressive views with my deep belief in honoring all people? What does it mean to adhere to the democratic process when not everyone is playing by the same rules? And how can we move forward in such a divided state and country to create a more functional society?
Maybe writing about it all will help me find some answers.
