Democracy Inaction

There's a great quote on SF Cityscape today,

...we were watching The Daily Show when Jon Stewart made this comment, one we found relevant to the matter at hand: Extremists get their way, he said, "because moderates have shit to do." Of course, he added: Maybe people should be penalized for apathy. Sure. But nor should we ever get the false impression that a small group of committed people is by default thoughtful, or representative, or anything more than free to attend a community meeting.

Amen to that!

We know that the SF Tenant's Union has done a masterful job of mobilizing people to show up for any (and EVERY) supervisor's meeting, planning commission meeting, redevelopment meeting, and open house protest. But it seems to get lost in the shuffle that the people who might not agree with the tenant's union are just too busy working (in order to pay their mortgage) to cut out for a few hours to stand in line and wait to speak at a community meeting...

I suppose that in many ways, silence equals consent, but this post brought up some great food for thought. Thanks, Steve!

Democracy Inaction [SF Cityscape]