I appreciate Russell's mild retort here. I may have been a bit too cynical about the ability of an opposition effort to halt a project the powers are committed to completing.
Then again, maybe I wasn't. Far be it for me, a lifelong head-on-the-brick-wall activist, to sap the energy or determination from any legitimate force attempting to stop a dangerous or ill-conceived development or public works project before it's exhausted its options to do so. The Robert Moses/Jane Jacobs story is one outstanding and encouraging anecdote in an ocean of evidence that suggests the reverse is the norm. The occasional victory in a war of wills where those you have the resources, connections and power to affect an outcome, regardless of years of work by the less powerful to reverse it, can seem encouraging. But I warn you now that the resources in time, money and angst required of and expended by the less powerful opposition to prevent the steamroller of politics and bureaucracy - bought and paid for by corporations who govern by campaign contributions and other perks to the policymakers - will either wear you down by pretending to draw you in as co-conspirators, citizen advisors, documents designed to substantiate the original decision or simply exercising the plain raw power we grant them by election. I hate bringing up the bad news list, but remember the Kondirator, the Humphrey Dome, freeways that sliced communities of color at the waist, St. Paul's Gopher State Ethanol plant (now 4 years and 150 direct violations of settlements and contempt citations later, still pouring its volatile and sickening mix of chemicals into the city's air passages), not to mention the 10-year odyssey of sports stadiums no one wants - or wants to pay for. It took 50 years of hammering to change one aspect of the Koch Refinery's poisonous concoction contribution to the air in SE Metro. Part of the spin was to remove the name that we all associated with arrogant and irresponsible corporate operations as if the reform of this polluter was complete if we called it something else. Hardly. All this to say that the winning way of change is the persistence and power one will or will not exercise as a citizen to congregate and build a constituency that can actually harm the financial or political fortunes of those in government and corporate councils who run roughshod over the public health or interest. Be prepared for a very long and very expensive fight - in time, money, mental health and/or physical well-being if you expect to win. Then take your fight to where the laws and the rules are made that thwart, not enable, citizen action: the Legislature and Governor. Enact the laws and the regulations that curtail, not just permit, pollution and other harmful effects of economic activity. After a while, you just want to sleep it all away. Andy Driscoll Saint Paul -------- > From: "Russell Raczkowski" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > While I understand Andy Driscoll's sense that we can't win in the face of > powerful monied interests, I think he is wrong. Roads and projects have been > stopped before around the world. > > Perhaps the most famous case is in New York City, when a rather mild-manned > individual by the name of Jane Jacobs, a 45 year old mother and journalist, > published a book called THE DEATH AND LIFE OF GREAT AMERICAN CITIES and led a > movement. > > Robert Moses was a "visionary" that believed in "access" in the form of big > expressways for all areas of New York. For decades, he had rammed through > project after project, destroying neighborhoods with ill-considered road and > housing projects. He was undefeated when he decided that Greenwich Village > was a slum in need of "renewal," or "revitalization," to use the parlance of > our times. > > Moses decided that what was required was an expressway, an eight-lane monster > called the Lower Manhattan Expressway, to smash through this eyesore. What he > didn't consider was that Greenwich Village had a history of activism, and he > didn't anticipate Jacob's quiet power to mobilize folks with her phiosophy of > the VALUE of cities and neighborhoods for the RESIDENTS AND SMALL BUSINESSES > WHO LIVE THERE. Jacobs was also one of the first individuals to recognize the > damage caused by automobiles and their supporting infrastructure. . . . So > against all odds, Moses plan was defeated in 1962, saving Greenwich Village. > > While no one in STRIDE claims to be a Jane Jacobs, her story is certainly an > inspiration to us. And before you think we are--uh--too strident, you should > know that Lower Manhatten Expressway activists once rushed the front of a > public meeting where a vote hadn't gone their way, ripped up the ballots, and > claimed that since no ballots existed, no vote had been taken. . . . > > Different time and a different place, I know. However, no one but the > Greenwich Village residents and business owners thought that they could > possibly win against the powerful Robert Moses, and they did. We face long > odds to stop this project; we know that, Andy. > > Call and email your council people, and tell them to stop the 35W Access > project. If you do nothing, then it is literally a done deal. If we can stop > this boondoggle, then maybe, just maybe, "the powers are under a real threat > of losing that power," as Mr. Driscoll puts it. > > Russell Raczkowski Bancroft > > REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! > Ignore obvious flame-bait. > > For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls > REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
