The Frustration of never being heard
I have lived in Blair County for 44 years now, and every election in which I have ever voted, and that is every election that has been held in those 44 years; has been a study in the frustration of my vote never having a chance of making a difference. But unlike many people in this area, especially our younger voters, who are easily frustrated, that has never stopped me from trying, from at least having my say by casting my vote. Because of gerrymandering, so often there is not even anyone contesting the one person running for an office. This is not democracy! This is what China and Russia have--elections with only one person on the ballot for an office! I refuse to vote for that person, out of principle! However, I do see why there is no one willing to run against the incumbent. Running for office is a huge effort of time and money, time away from family and asking for money from others who know as well as the candidate does that all of that money and effort has no chance of success, because your district is so very gerrymandered that there is no real choice in the matter! In my 44 years of living in my district, I have seen many talented, educated, honest candidates of great integrity who have so much to give, who want to make the lives of the people of this district better than the jaded party hacks who get elected without any effort, who never listen to what their constituents want to say to them in actual town halls, because they are so afraid of criticism from the people they are supposed to represent, but don't., go down in defeat after giving so much of their time and effort. They tried and gave such a valiant effort, because they believe in democracy, which we do not have in this state, because it is one of the most gerrymandered states in the entire United States. This wearing down of expectations when it comes to running for office is the reason that Pennsylvania has no Gift Ban, whose lack allows wholesale corruption, the reason why to my shame as a lifelong Pennsylvanian, one of our state legislators participated in the Jan 6 violent insurrectional and treasonous coup attempt against our country and has paid no price for doing so, despite having committed crimes that should have immediately brought about his removal. As a teacher in this area for over 22 years, I have seen the ideals of democracy and government accountability being ignored because of the gerrymandering of our state, so that I greatly fear for the futures of the children of our time and the children of all of the approximately thousands of students whom I taught over those decades. But, like those valiant candidates who made the effort, at least I can go to my grave knowing I tried my best. I know other states have solved the gerrymandering problem, particularly California. I have heard several members of their redistricting commission speak about their efforts and the differences they were able to make in achieving Fair Districts, and how it changed the lives of those who lived there for the better. I'm hoping against hope that I can finally see the government of my beloved state, the very seat of the American Experience, finally become a true democracy again, in this time true democracy is threatened with becoming an authoritarian plutocracy, examples of which are flourishing all over the globe, to the detriment of everyone living on planet earth.