It’s a new column!
It could be.
That’s the thing about writing. Every time you are faced with a blank page, there are endless possibilities, endless choices. I have a sign in my office, rooted in old school typewriter technology, that reads, "Writing is easy. You just put in a blank piece of paper and wait for the drops of blood to fall."
Don’t get me wrong. It’s a lot easier than filling in street potholes or flipping burgers. But a hot griddle pays better, especially in CA since Monday. About time. Why does it take so long for change that is so obviously needed? We have been shouting for a living wage for years, as the CEOs of those griddle and construction firms see their pay hit eight or nine figures. It’s because someone, some group, fears losing money or power. Fear, and greed. In every area I can think of, it’s either racism (misogyny, homophobia, religious fundamentalism, etc) or unfettered capitalism, at the root.
I have spent much of the last 12 years railing in this column against injustice as I see it, in Santa Monica, California, and the nation. Most often I expressed my frustration and righteous anger, and tried to reveal facts, situations and governing philosophies that would make readers as upset as I was, upset enough to work for change, through voting. The one huge advantage we the people have, over all the money, organization, and backdoor deals is — numbers. Most people, by far, believe everyone should get a fair shake, and are pretty unhappy when they don’t. Or their next door neighbor doesn’t.
Bad elected politicians got us here, and only good ones can get us out. I still believe that. Of course there are no perfect politicians, but I do lose patience with the prevalence of false equivalency. "Both sides do it. All presidents lie." True enough, but while I no longer call myself a Democrat, the Republican party today is the greatest threat our democracy has faced in 163 years. And Donald Trump made more than 30,000 false or misleading claims in his four years in the White House, as documented by several credible news organizations. Winner by a landslide. And now he seems certain to be the GOP candidate for president again. He definitely has a chance to win, again. Only now he has learned the levers of power in DC that will enable him to gut democracy and become ruler for life. This is not my paranoid, hating pronouncement. He has recently told us what he will do. And tens of millions of Americans cheered. Tens of millions more cringed.
I will try to make this a new column in 2024
Because of some newfound realization? No. I long ago realized, as did our beloved longtime Daily Press columnist Bill Bauer, that you can’t scare people into action, even with the facts, and that change is slow. Slow, slow, slow. But Bill never threw in the towel, and neither will I. I have tried before to be more positive, and it lasted a few weeks. So why do I think I can do it this time around?
Because I’m tired. Tired of living in fear and anger, of the terrible suffering we are seeing from a radicalized Supreme Court taking away every woman’s right to the most important, personal choice there is, about her own body and her family; of our faltering attempts at combating apocalyptic climate change falling prey to "drill, drill, drill"; of the too-widespread notion that immigrants are a threat, rather than the backbone of our nation; of the prospect that this will be the last election we will ever be able to vote in. At least until the rotten orange falls off the tree.
Santa Monica continues to be transformed into high rise ugliness and density, and now laws from Sacramento make it hard for us to fight it. Not that previous City Councils wanted to. About half of our current one has, and will, as best they can, but it’s that other half. Gleam Davis, Carolyn Torosis and Jesse Zwick all espouse more and more housing crammed in here, already one of the densest cities in California. (Don’t forget the nearly quarter of a million daily visitors we get, on top of our resident population.) They demand more housing for "affordability, for the homeless, for the future." All reasons which don’t have any credibility. Not to mention our already high vacancy rate. So they are naive, misinformed, or disingenuous. You’ll have to ask them. But we must elect at least four Council members this November who have a sense of place for Santa Monica and respect for our remarkable history. Council members who will fight first for the benefit of our residents, not developers, not inappropriate ideologue agendas, not for those who do not live here yet. Just as the next election will determine where Washington will take us, the same applies to Santa Monica. It is now or never, folks, and we need some good candidates to step forward, now.
So with all this potential doom hanging over 2024, how can I consider writing "a new column"? It’s all perspective, isn’t it? Perception. Faith, even. I have faith that it will all turn out for the best, that good will triumph, because people here and in our nation, pushed to the edge and forced to look into the abyss, will do what it takes to keep that from happening. We have yet to fulfill the promise of our Constitution and Declaration of Independence, but I feel most of us believe in that, our wonderful work in progress that is America. Santa Monica? Too good to let any generation or moneyed forces bring it to ruin. We are caretakers, and must preserve and rebuild what is so good about this little city, for future generations here, in LA, and from around the world. OK, you didn’t think you would have to fight for these things you took for granted, but turns out we do. Get busy. And stay cheerful. We will do this.
Charles Andrews wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really.
