“Go to the meetings.” “Call your representatives.” “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” These are the easy answers presented to the working class when their neighborhoods have issues functioning and they are struggling to make their voices heard. What the “elites” often lie about is the fact that they have been wined and dined by those with capital who can speak louder with money long before a meeting ever takes place. A city hall can be packed with ignored constituents–who just happened to be absent from the exclusive happy hour at a club with membership where the mayor and three councilmembers “just happened” to be. Well, even though Domino’s Pizza thought it would gather attention by filling potholes, constituents in Guadalajara figured out how to shame and blame the city into taking responsibility without having to show up at meetings and waste their precious spare time.
First and foremost, it is a waste of time looking for ethical public/private partnerships that benefit the working poor. Private businesses are looking to be paid, not looking to care about either their workers or to benefit the city in some way. If they could build a secret siphon into the pockets of everyone existing and take all the money while offering nothing, that would be their first choice. Therefore, the notion that a city just needs the “right” big business is an exercise in classism that does nothing to bring justice for all.
Additionally, the working poor are the ones who make the meetings possible, from watching the children of the “elite” to serving them at those exclusive happy hours to cleaning the meeting room for council. None of people, therefore, have the time to argue with them, which is obviously by design. The 9-5 mindset of most governing bodies will not change until all municipal governments recognize that they have to serve all constituents 24/7, not just the ones that fund their campaigns. Just getting to a meeting place–or being uninterrupted online for an internet meeting–is a herculean feat for people who are forced to either commute long distances or work multiple shifts just to not get arrested for being outside, i.e. being unhoused.
What is the answer? Honestly, the truth is that everyone is going to be forced to find their own answers and it will depend on where they are located. In Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, constituents have used both their social networks and their social media to get their municipal government to fix potholes. While being frustrated, they will let people know that there is a road hazard in a very obvious way, and the government–anxious to protect its reputation–will fill that pothole as quickly as possible. On September 1, 2024, there was a pothole, and by September 3, 2024, that pothole was being filled. Instead of whining at a meeting where they will be ignored, the people went about their business while fixing a problem.
The squeaky wheel may get the grease, but only if people want the wheel to turn. If any group is considered collateral damage, that wheel can squeak…and squeak…and squeak into perpetuity, but nothing will be done. Thus, as constituents learn what is effective specific to their location, more city residents will move away from an industrial mindset that forces them to bleat the same statements without getting anything done.
Chasing A Dying Empire 