The Presidential Elections in America
Nobody could have witnessed the recent American Election fiasco without feeling that all was not right in a country that prides itself on its democracy.
It is not only the fact that anyone who chooses to run for President has to start off tremendously rich, and then call in favours from other tremendously rich individuals and organisations that make this type of election unfair. (Who is to say a poor person with a good moral character could not make an excellent president? However, who could possibly believe that such a person would have a chance?) It is not even the fact that any electoral queries will ultimately find be decided by a Supreme Court dominated by right-wing, wealthy male judges. What is most shameful is that some blatant abuses of the electoral process mean that people of colour and other minority groups may not even get the opportunity to vote. The sort of electoral misconduct which would force a re-election in a monitored third world country is perpetrated in what should be the very heart of democracy.
And what does electoral abuse have to do with Environmental Inequality you might say. Well, actually a lot. In order to be able to treat people unfairly, first you have to disenfranchise them. It is the people who have least power who can be persuaded to live in the worse districts, not to protest too loudly when their environment is polluted or who are too afraid of loosing their job to protest about a company's environmental record or lack of safety. If you had a problem, wouldn't you write to your congressman? (I use the masculine form because most people who get elected are male.)You probably know who he/she is. The individual is likely to be quite similar in lifestyle to you, perhaps a little richer but with plenty in common.
Now imagine that you are a poor person of colour who has been prevented from voting for some reason which is unclear to you. Or that you are a gay man who is scared because some 'queer-bashing' hoodlums hand round the building where you will be voting. Or an elderly and infirm woman who has no transport and whose every step is a penance. Who is your congressman now? Who represents a similar lifestyle to yours, one who can truly represent your interests?
