The New Jersey Political Revolution Has Begun
New Jersey is an interesting place. From an outside perspective, people think we are crazy. They have stereotypes. They trash us. They think our state is dirty. Maybe they think we are too “liberal”. Whatever it may be. However, what is more interesting is the inside perspective. Now, I have lived in New Jersey my entire life. I was born and raised in West Orange, near Newark, and I now attend Rutgers University New Brunswick. And in my time here the culture I have observed is beyond unique. As time has progressed, the more perspectives I have gathered, I realized that this is a shared experience. We can talk about our god awful infrastructure and endless traffic. We can talk about the hell that is often NJ Transit. Or we can talk about the North and South Jersey divide, and argue about whether or not the central jersey exists. But see, what is funny to me is the fact that one thing you do not hear about is New Jersey politics.
Now most people can likely name the governor. But beyond that, most people are not familiar with who is representing them. Not at the local level, the county level, the state level, nor the federal level. Now while a healthy civic culture is absent across the country, it is especially absent in New Jersey. And I would argue this is for a variety of reasons.
(A) Our electoral system is statistically designed in a way that disenfranchises voters and makes people feel like their vote doesn’t matter. (B) Politics is dirty and polarizing, so people are turned off by the negativity. And (C) the government appears to not have a significant impact on our lives from an everyday perspective, so we choose not to pay attention to it. But the reality is, it does not have an impact on our everyday lives because it is corrupt and does nothing. And this is never changes based on the fact that no one cares and no one pays attention. So what do you expect in return? A fully functional government built on ethics and empathy? No. What you get is dysfunctionality and elitism.
But understand, what happens when you do start paying attention? Better yet, what happens when we start paying attention? Then what happens? We start to make the process work for us, rather than the process working against us. Now, when that happens? Those in power get scared. Because they realize that their power is no longer safe. That there will be people there to question them, to ridicule them, to make them do the right thing. And if they fail to do those things, people will be there to kick them out. However, in order to do the latter we must be organized. We must have a fluid sense of unity and structure.
Which is why we are proud to announce the launch of 4 new county chapters to join Union and Hudson: Essex, Passaic, Bergen, and Middlesex. Bringing us to a total of 7 chapters statewide. Our goal is simple: to elect young, progressive, everyday people to office. Statewide. Down ballot. We envision a government that works by and for all of us, not just those of extreme wealth. We envision a government that looks like us, not just old rich white men. We deserve better. Together, we are strong. Together, we are unstoppable. Together, we win. Out with the old and in with the new.
