While I didn’t pay much attention to the election results I was curious what Minneapolis’s attitude towards democracy ended up being. As it turns out the denizens of Minneapolis that decided to vote also decided that the city simply had too much democracy:
The city’s previous election filing fee was set at $20. The city will now require a $500 fee to run for mayor, $250 for the Board of Estimate and Taxation, $100 for the Park and Recreation Board. State law also allows candidates to gather signatures instead of paying the fee.
Talk about irony. Minneapolis, in general, is a bastion of neoliberalism. Neoliberals, again in general, spend a lot of time talking about the greatness of democracy, the need for people to go out and vote, and that the political process is where the little guy’s voice can truly be heard. But their actions betray their true beliefs.
Democracy is only great so long as there isn’t too much of it. Last year there were 35 mayoral candidates in Minneapolis, which irritated many neoliberals (and neocons) who worried that some of the candidates not endorsed by a major party would siphon precious votes away from their desired master. And they complained that having so much democracy on the ballot made it confusing for voters who, apparently, are too stupid to find the name of their desired master on a list containing more than two or three candidates. So the list had to be better curtailed to ensure no pesky poor people managed to get on it.
Of course curtailed lists are the cornerstone of voting. Voting is so awesome in the eyes of neoliberals that they get their panties in a bunch whenever somebody says they’re not going to vote. Some of them even claim that it’s one’s civic duty (as if such a thing actually existed) to vote. But they only want a very small list of options available to voters less they mistakenly choose the wrong candidate. Again, voters are too stupid to select the right master unless handed a very small list of potential options.
And what about the little guy’s voice? So long as the little guy can cough up $500 or take enough time off of his job to get the requisite number of signatures his voice can be heard. However if he’s too poor to afford the filing fee and working too much to afford the time to get signatures his voice won’t be heard. Too bad poor people, I guess you should have been wealthier if you wanted to rule.
I don’t live in Minneapolis so I couldn’t have voted on this measure if I wanted to nor could I run for mayor. So these results don’t impact me in any way. But it does show the level of hypocrisy neoliberals hold in regards to their precious god of democracy. That, to me, is amusing.