Whatever Happened to the Revolution?
I got a notice in the mail at the radio station Wednesday from the Nora-Northside Community Council regarding their October 1 meeting. There will be a presentation by the folks at Wishard Hospital on the new referendum.
The presentation has been just one of hundreds Wishard has been doing to drum up support for the referendum. As I type this post Channel 16 is running Wishard’s presentation to the Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations. In addition, Franklin and Perry Township schools as well as Beech Grove also have efforts to drum up support for their referendums. And the water company has just announced it plans to ask for a rate increase for capital projects after raising rates this past year to pay for some bad bonds it floated.
With all these measures floating around, I am surprised I haven’t seen any organized opposition. I have come across people who oppose the referendums, but none of them are organized. There’s been griping in the blogosphere, but that’s about it and none of it has affected any real change.
This is a far cry from the tax protests of 2007 when hundreds of locals would flood the streets and city hall to make their voices heard. At the last City-County Council meeting I only counted less than 10 people there who were also there back in ’07.
So what happened? Why does it look like the revolution has died on the vine? Is it because tea parties and national issues are all the rage? Is it because of infighting amongst the activists? Is it disillusionment because one organizer allegedly hijacked the movement and used his platform to launch a bid for the U.S. Senate? Or could it just be they lost interest?
There are a lot of questions, but regardless of the reason, the revolution is dead. May it rest in peace.
