The article in the url below is a fun story that, unfortunately, reflects how far democracy has fallen in the eyes of the public. Specifically, the article reports on a contest for children (aged 13-18 who live in the county) to create the design for the 'I voted' sticker in a county in New York state. The plan is that these stickers will be given to voters after they have voted in the next political election:
"Ashley Dittus, an election official in Ulster County, N.Y., vividly remembers her excitement when the first submission for this year's countywide youth 'I voted' sticker design contest appeared in her email this spring. The entry, from Hudson Rowan, 14, was an electric concoction of colors: a pink and purple and turquoise creature with a wild bloodshot stare, a toothy neon grin and spiderlike legs. To the right, scrawled in red letters: I VOTED. Ms. Dittus, the county's Democratic commissioner of elections, immediately printed out the design and started showing it to people in her office. Everyone's reaction was the same, she said: It made them smile."
It is easy to see why people like Hudson's design; it is also easy to see why people think it makes a statement about the current state of democracy in the West:
Hudson's revealing comment:
"'Politics right now in the world is all kinds of crazy, … and I feel like the creature that I drew kind of resembles the craziness of politics and the world right now.'"
While the contest was intended to raise civic awareness among children living in the NY county, the contest and Hudson's popular design have morphed into a much broader discussion about politics today. The trouble with such discussions, as they grow and evolve, however, is that they continue to spread the rot. I always used to think the same about Jon Stewart's Daily Show (and other satirical commentators). Although the observations he was making were accurate and insightful (and funny), by pointing them out he was also spreading awareness of how bad things have become. That is the difference, I think, between a critique (however accurate and insightful) and a proposed solution. The idea, I guess, is that, by identifying the scale of the problem, it shocks people into action. The trouble is that, if things have deteriorated beyond a certain point, the way out of the hole is such a challenge that people are more demoralized than motivated.
None of this is Hudson's fault, of course. He has just submitted a cool design to a contest that normally would not have attracted any attention:
"Since voting for the winning entry began in July, Hudson's entry has received more than 158,500 votes, out of the about 169,500 total votes cast — completely overtaking last year's roughly 2,200 votes. The county has a population of about 180,000 people and about 122,000 active registered voters, but the contest is not limited to county residents."
The key, of course, is what reaction does his comment on the state of our democracy elicit – we could certainly do with a functioning democracy, given the scale of the problems we face. More details on this story are in the article in the second url below.
Take care
David
David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2020
Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler5e
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/
What Has 6 Legs, 2 Eyes and Over 158,000 Votes? An 'I Voted' Sticker
By Hurubie Meko
July 13, 2022
The New York Times
Late Edition – Final
A14
Why a 'spider crab' is crawling to the top of a US 'I voted' sticker contest
By Sam Levine
July 14, 2022
The Guardian
