HOME  E-DEMOCRACY 98  E-DEBATE WEB MN-FORUM

Thomas Fiske      Response 10

Question 10: Should the Metropolitan Council be an elected body? Why or why not? If you believe they should be elected, should the seats be single district, proportional, or a mix?

The problem that we face is that working people are not
represented in government. If the Met Council is elected with
proportional representation by districts this will give a greater
opportunity for working people to have a say when we are better
organized and more conscious of our aims. Blacks and Latinos have
been fighting battles for many years in this country to have electoral
districts in which they have a chance to be elected.

Government in this country is dominated by the Democratic and
Republican parties, both of which defend the capitalist market system
and are beholden to the capitalists. One tell-tale fact: of the one
hundred U.S. senators, 97 are millionaires. The owners of the
factories, mines, mills, transport, banking and communications
dominate the two political parties by virtue of their monopolization
of the wealth.

However, in the struggles by working people today can be seen
the seed of our future power. The mechanics at Northwest Airlines who
conducted the work-to-order campaign (called a "slowdown" in the
commercial media) showed some of the power that working people can
have. They deeply affected the operations of the airline, won the
support of other airline workers and the working-class public, and set
the stage for the victory by the pilots. Similarly the demonstrations
begun by Hmong youth against the racism of radio KQRS have had a deep
impact here.

These two fights show that working people can develop power when
we stick together and use effectively our numbers, our role in the
economy and our capacities for political thought and solidarity. Most
importantly workingpeople can become a force when we organize
independently of the Democratic, Republican, Reform or any other
capitalist political party into an independent political force that is
uncompromising in its defense of our interests.