89th and Brenda - Minnestoota hellscape?
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Hyperbolic, yes. Completely off base? No.
Part of my daily routine to stay informed, but limit my exposure to cable/corporate news, is to check a local news website once a day, normally just scanning the local headlines. So, I've been seeing stories about how our Governor has been signing bill after bill, taking advantage of the left controlling both chambers of the legislature as well as the Governorship.
So the flurry of passed bills is what happens when one side controls all the levers.
And as the article points out, this was enabled by a 1 seat senate swing (by a few hundred votes) so the state is still 50/50 but has to deal with the legislature acting like it has a 100% supported mandate.
Nonetheless, I do fear at times that we'll become a state's version of the Portland failed liberal experiment. We had a massive budget surplus, but it concerns me how much we (taxpayers) are funding... abortion, illegal immigrant healthcare, long term personal leave, etc. And becoming a haven for trans, allowing felons to vote, etc. Although on the flip side, all school lunches are paid for by the state now, so that'll save us a thousand or two each year. [The left didn't like that bill because it helped families, like mine, who can afford to pay for lunch, get it for free too... how dare I ever benefit from my own taxes paid...]
Selfishly though? Life is flying by. My priorities are not politics or worrying about how well taxpayer money is spent. Would I prefer a conservative legislature and culture? Absolutely. But every time I blink my kid is a year older... soon they'll be out of the house and I won't hear the scurrying footsteps I currently hear as I type this.
My priorities are focused around my family, and our way of life. Sure, I am interested in keeping the schools top notch, my neighborhood and surrounding areas safe, keeping the (thousands of) parks maintained well... If felons are voting, or an illegal immigrant gets a drivers license, or my tax money is used for johnny to transition, or whatever... so be it. It doesn't impact me. And I'm used to my taxes being used almost entirely on things that have no benefit to me.
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Real life is way more important than politics.
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Appreciate that. I'm 41 now, and in obvious math, in 19 years I'll be 60 and all the kids will be out of the house. At that point, hopefully I can travel, play golf, and stay flexible. At the end of the day... rather at the end of the life, why would I spend any energy actively worrying about or lobbying for issues that, most of the time, are the equivalent of a ripple on the other side of the lake.
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“Culture and politics don’t actually matter” is a hope, but not really a foregone conclusion. We’ll see. Or if we don’t, I’m sure the next generation will. Shit is going to get weird. Maybe a more cohesive attitude is to acknowledge that politics and culture might matter tremendously, but one’s control over it is minuscule. So you may as well care about other things.
