Are We Really all THAT Bad?


Here in Fort Wayne, there was NO greater evidence of a lack of concern than at the primary elections last week. I know, I usually don't like to pontificate over politics unless it has some bearing on some greater issue.
Here it DOES.

Primary elections traditionally have lower voter turnout than the "regular" elections...that's been proven time and again, but one has to question our democratic republic when one of the most densely populated areas in all of Fort Wayne has a voter turnout barely into positive integers!
Many of the polling places on the SOUTHEAST section of the city had 25 or FEWER voters show up! That is simply incredible. Actually, to put it more bluntly, that is pathetic, which would mirror a large part of the local populace in the area. My wife saw more people WORKING at the place where she went to vote than came in the damn door (4 to be exact).

((WARNING...REALITY ALERT))

Now I suppose I can expect this from my area...after all, we ARE the crotch of this fair city, and as such have to "keep up appearances" (or in THIS case...disappearances). We are ALSO the second highest area when it comes to spending ability (notice I didn't say "income"). Our part of town has more people per square mile than any other part of Fort Wayne (or the rest of the county for that matter). So it would make sense that this seemingly untapped resource of millions of spendable dollars (read tax and revenue) would be a veritable gold mine to retail in particular (and living in general).
Well, it USED to be.

We also have more CRIME per capita than any other location in all of Allen County. And we have more welfare recipients, SSI disability claimants (real AND "contrived"), and the highest number of re-entry court "citizens" as well. We can "boast" (if you can call it that) the greatest number of vacant and abandoned houses, sheriff sales, foreclosures, and homeless. We have more DUI'ers, rapists, burglars, sex offenders, thieves, carjackers, bank robbers, drug dealers, drug users, and gang members (per square mile) than the rest of the city and county put together.

So it's little wonder that this area would NOT see it's share of "folding money" to spread around in some capacity, right? Trouble is, that's about as far as most citizen involvement goes....spending on oneself (usually to feed some habit, legal or otherwise). In some ways, it's downright hedonistic.

* * *

It should be extremely troubling to anyone concerned that when so many people with so MUCH time (as many never seem to do what we like to call "work for a living") devote so LITTLE time to matters that affect them as much as those that actually give a rat's ass...such as elections. I admit to voting only when there's people (and issues) worth voting for. And (imho), a third political party might make it a lot more interesting.
I'm one of those folks that believes that we should vote on damn near everything...now THAT says democracy to me. Maybe some sort of "interactive" TV with voting ability built into the remote might work (in the very near future). We are getting our homes "wired in" as it is...what's one more (logical) step in that case, eh? If we can "vote" by phone on American Idol, or Dancing With The Stars, we certainly can find some way to vote for politicians and issues that matter a helluva lot more that that, can't we?
We can call for a pizza, or a plumber, but we can't pull one small lever in that voting booth. Then we piss and moan when those "elected" (by the ever decreasing pool of voters) aren't doing what "we" feel is right...
(ed. note** I just piss and moan because it's the right thing to do, AND I do it damn well..lol)

One could say that a large reason many in my area do NOT vote, is that there are those that want to remain "invisible", and believe me, if you want to avoid the law, immigration, bill collectors...whoever or whatever, THIS is THE place to come to. I say it time and again that this is the main reason we have so many rentals with so many transients ( I like to think of a "revolving door" policy down here)...it's easy to bug out, and get "lost" in the shuffle down here. When you've seen enough POS pickups with furniture being loaded after 2AM in the middle of any given month, you'll know what I'm talking about.

But it all boils down to APATHY...something this city (and especially the Southeast) has in great abundance. Whether it's the way properties are maintained, the way others treat you and your property, the childrens' behavior, the adults' behavior, or the sheer lack of respect, it is still APATHY. And the elections just make the point clearer in that regard.

To paraphrase Moliere: " We are defined not so much by our ACTIONS, but rather by our INACTIONS".

Never were truer words uttered in all of human existence.