Welcome to the December Growth/No growth issue of NorthBay biz. This is one of my favorite issues in our annual publishing cycle. In this issue, we tackle growth, one of the most pervasive issues impacting almost everything of consequence that occurs in our region. While the debate about growth is certain to rage on, the reality is that we need to ensure continued economic vitality if we want to maintain not only viable, but vibrant communities. Whether the topic is housing, jobs, transportation or salamanders, we need to pursue those trade-offs that encourage growth while maintaining environmental integrity. It doesn’t ever have to be an either/or decision. We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we did putting it together. And don’t miss, in addition to the stories, all our special features and columns—exclusively yours in NorthBay biz—the North Bay’s only locally owned business publication.
I’m writing this column one day before the citizens of California will vote on yet another group of special ballot initiatives. Thinking back to the last presidential elections (yes, believe it or not, it was just two years ago) when we were subjected to a barrage of seemingly never-ending campaign hyperbole—misleading partial truths, fabrication, distortion and, when all else failed, plain lies—I thought that both political parties had sunk to new all-time lows. Now I’m having second thoughts, given the current crop of proposition 80-something TV ads. Spin is one thing, but outright, purposeful obfuscation is another. And purposeful obfuscation seems to be ruling the day this election cycle. In the end, with these kinds of tactics, it’s clear that the various protagonists don’t believe their positions on the initiatives can stand on their own merits. Therefore, they believe the only winning strategy is that the voters must first be confused and then, in their befuddled state, tricked into voting the protagonists’ way. These tactics are as insulting as they are arrogant because of the total lack of ethics they exhibit and the implicit assumption of gross voter ignorance.
In a broader sense, it seems to me that the tactics employed in this and every recent election is symptomatic of a larger core problem that is dictating political party behavior and strategy. And that, simply put, is the absolute inability to credit the other party as capable of having a good idea. It’s the hard-core politics of division. Play one group off against the other. Succumb to the lure of special interest money. If the other guy is for it, we’re against it! Ten years ago, the Democrats were championing Social Security reform. Bill Clinton even floated the idea of individual retirement accounts. A decade later, Democrats, in unison, now claim Social Security reform is unnecessary, the system is solvent and private accounts are ludicrous. Why—because now it’s the Republicans’ idea. In the 1990s, the Republicans routinely criticized Democrats, then in power, about the bloated budget, deficit spending and ever-expanding “big” government. Now with the Republicans in power, they’re guilty of everything they criticized the Dems about while the Democrats have assumed the old Republican mantras of criticism. Isn’t it conceivable that Bill Clinton and the Democrats might have had at least one good idea when they were in power? Isn’t it in the realm of possibility that George Bush and the Republicans have come up with just one proposal that would benefit the country? Apparently not! Each side is loath to credit the other for anything; afraid that in giving credit their party would somehow be diminished. What a sad state of affairs.
And saddest of all in this incessant pursuit of power, both parties seem to care not a whit about what’s in the best interest of the country, but instead care only for what is in their own party’s self-interest—reclaiming or perpetuating their position of power. “Ask not what you can do for your country; ask instead what you can do for your party” is the battle cry.
As the rhetoric heats up over every issue, the ranters and ravers of both parties get the airtime. These are the folks who are hell-bent to destroy the opposition, no matter the tactics, no matter the cost. The machinations of these hard-line zealots are polarizing the country. These enemies of common sense and compromise continue to generate the perception of a deeply divided country. Where are the moderates? Who speaks for the great center of the country? Currently, there are practically no elected officials who represent this moderate majority. Instead the ideologues, liberal and conservative, do their best to shout down any honest exchange of ideas as they rush to filter information through the lens of their own biases and attack anyone who dares to disagree. When you listen only to views that agree with or reinforce your own existing opinions, you operate in a fog—completely mystified by the fact that other people are unable to see the world the same way you do. Finding common ground with anyone who holds a differing position on any issue is practically impossible with this closed mind-set. The political parties and the entire country need to break out of this cycle of destructive polarization and regain the ability to disagree without being disagreeable so we can move forward as one country united.
As I was researching some topics for this month’s column, I chanced to pick-up the December 2005 magazine and flipped to my column wondering what I’d written about last year at this time. I realized upon rereading my column that everything concerning the political election cycle I had been so critical of last year is even more pronounced this time around. Helping to underscore that point, I only had to change four words in updating the column for this year. In the six plus years we’ve owned NorthBay biz I’ve never recycled a column, but I feel strongly about the sentiments expressed in this column and felt they bore repeating. Hope you agree.
That’s it for now. Enjoy this month’s magazine and our early best wishes for a healthy and prosperous New Year!
