Stay in the fight for voting rights
“US democracy isn’t instant gratification. It’s a grand experiment.”
Welcome to the first A4D Newsletter of 2022. The midterm elections will take place this year and the stakes are as high as they’ve ever been. Register to vote (if you haven’t already). Then read on for some action-oriented good news on health care and the latest on the fight for voting rights.
GOOD NEWS
California takes another step toward universal health care
A bill that would ensure affordable health care for every Californian passed a big hurdle last week when it progressed through the Assembly Appropriations committee. If this bill becomes law:
No Californian will go bankrupt or die because of inability to pay for medical care
Everyone will be free to change jobs or start a business because they will no longer be tied to the health insurance their boss picked
In fact, businesses won’t have to spend time and money researching options and negotiating with insurance companies—they will be able to focus on their business instead
To pay for this, yes, the state will have to raise taxes. The plan is to put the heaviest taxes on the people and companies who’ve been making out like bandits since the Covid pandemic began. If you earn more than $49,900 a year you’ll see a one percent payroll tax, BUT your employer won’t be taking money out of your check for health insurance AND you won’t pay any deductibles at the doctor’s office, so in the end you’re likely to come out ahead. People who earn more than $149,500 a year will also pay a one-half percent tax (goes up to 2.5 percent for the super rich). Still, most folks will never pay this tax—half of all Californians earn less than $75,235.
Studies of single-payer plans that have been proposed in several different states found that all of them would save money in the long run. In fact, most plans would save money the very first year. The savings come from simplified billing and lower drug costs. (Have you ever looked closely at your medical bills?) Whenever you hear someone say, we can’t afford single-payer, they’re talking ideologically, not factually.
Universal health care could be a game changer for artists. No more taking day jobs just for the health care coverage. No more unaffordable health insurance premiums and COBRAs on the open market. No more GoFundMe’s to pay for a catastrophic illness. No more living in fear of an illness that could leave you bankrupt or worse.
Opposition to universal single-payer health care is strong and well-funded. Right now, our elected officials need to hear from us:
If you live in California, contact your legislators and tell them what you think about universal health care. You have a representative in the Assembly and in the Senate, and you should contact both.
If you live in another state, contact your state reps and tell them about what’s happening in California and how you feel about it.
What does health care have to do with democracy? Everything. People who are sick often can’t stand in line to cast their vote. People who are working three jobs to cover the cost of health insurance don’t have time to participate in civil society. The bottom line is that health care is a human right. It’s not just for the rich, or just those who are lucky enough to have employer-provided health insurance.
When they say “universal” health care, that means everybody. You won’t be treated differently because of your race or ethnicity, gender identity, where you were born, what job you have, or the zip code where you live. We will all benefit together.
ACTION ITEM
Stay engaged in the fight for voting rights
You’ve probably seen the news: last week, 52 US Senators blocked passage of critical voting rights legislation. Two Democrats—Manchin (WV) and Sinema (AZ)—got the bulk of the attention, but let’s not let the party of The Big Lie off the hook. Every single Republican in the Senate stood firm in support of Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppression.
It was a hard defeat, but the fight is far from over. This is going to be another all-hands-on-deck election year in which we’ll need to overcome the tidal wave of voter restrictions that have been passed at the state level. We did it in 2020, and we can do it again this year.
No one of us and no single organization can do everything. If you’re worried about our fragile democracy (and if you’ve read this far you probably do!), we have a plan to help you stay engaged in the fight without burning out, and have some fun too:
Commit to one action per month in defense of voting rights
Organize a group of friends who are willing to make that commitment together
Gather monthly to take action (virtually when it’s necessary; in person when you can)
Adult beverages are optional. You don’t even have to be old enough to legally drink to get involved.
What should you do each month? That’s totally up to you, but there are a host of grassroots advocacy groups you can choose from. Maybe you pick one and stick with them for a year. Maybe you try a different one each month. Here are some starter ideas:
Send postcards to voters with Activate America. They’re doing it year-round now in support of important elections and legislation.
Find out if your state is holding an election for secretary of state this year (27 states are). That’s the statewide elected official who oversees voting in most states. Then get involved in supporting candidates who will expand voting rights. Trump and his supporters are working hard to elect officials who will suppress the vote.
Support the Poor People’s Campaign, a movement based on the fundamental idea that “policies that center the 140 million poor and low-income people in the country are also good economic policies that can heal and transform the nation.”
Join an Indivisible group or start your own. Share your skills and get updates on events and opportunities, based on what you have to offer.
Raise funds for Walk the Walk, an all-volunteer group that sends all the money they raise to local grassroots organizations run by people from the communities they serve, promoting Democratic candidates in historically disenfranchised communities of color.
Each month this newsletter will offer an action item you can take. Or come up with your own. Do it in the way that best expresses who you are and what you care about. Democracy needs you.
ANOTHER ARTIST FOR DEMOCRACY
Shirley Tse
“Why do I need democracy? Because I want to get rid of oppression. I want it to give me more agency.”
Artist Shirley Tse wants us all to understand that American democracy isn’t fixed in stone. It is a grand experiment that demands curiosity and creativity. We try things out, keep what works, and jettison what doesn’t. During the Civil Rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s we expanded rights for many Americans who had been left out. Those movements should inspire us today. Instead, Tse sees Americans losing patience in the hard work of making democracy better and stronger.
“For democracy to work, it requires effort, patience, and an informed public.”
Tse grew up in Hong Kong. When she was born, it was still a British colony. Today it is a “special administrative region” of China and has seen major crackdowns on freedoms for the press, speech, and assembly in recent years. Tse has now lived in the US for more years than she lived in Hong Kong.
For her, “the word democracy conjures up self determination and self governance.” The challenge that she sees and tries to address in her work is that each of us does not begin life at the same starting point. Democracy can be used as a tool for equitable decision making that overcomes those differences. It can mitigate the differential between people, but only if it is used for that purpose. “We might be in the same storm,” she says, “but we’re not in the same boat.”
As a young artist coming to the US, Tse was interested in our emphasis on freedom and individualism. She spent a lot of time thinking about what it meant to be singular. In the wake of the pandemic, she’s come to understand that thinking about people as isolated individuals is misguided. Whenever we enter public spaces, we become stakeholders to that shared space. Our presence together requires us to be responsive to each other. This isn’t about mandates or requirements, but about creating a sense of belonging together.
This, too, she says, is central to democracy.
In 2019 Tse was the first woman selected to represent Hong Kong at the Venice Biennale. Her installation, Negotiated Differences, had been in progress for several years. It built on concepts of stakeholder theory—a theory of organizational management and business ethics—and integrative negotiation, in which rather than fighting over how to distribute the pie, people collaborate together to expand it for all. In her installation, pieces made of different materials with different weights and sizes are carefully balanced together, holding each other up across a wide expanse and several rooms.
At the same time as the Biennale, protesters were filling the streets in Hong Kong to defend civil rights, and her work seemed to respond to the moment. (The exhibit was closed for a day in solidarity with the protesters.) Discussing the work and looking at images of it today, the installation seems almost prescient as commentary on the pandemic.
That’s because she works from theory, Tse says, focusing on systems and structural issues, She had begun working on Negotiated Differences long before the Hong Kong protests, and the work continues to have salience beyond its original moment. “Contemporary art is a process where we give critical perspectives on meaning making and value formation. It is important for artists and students to maintain that.”
Artists and art students are also citizens. Tse encourages us all to put our curiosity and creativity to work in acts of civic engagement. Look deeply at how the world is put together, she says. Then take it apart and put it back together, realigned for the better.
Learn more about Shirley Tse and her work at ShirleyTse.com. You can also watch her Art+Practice Artist Talk and see an interview with her at the 58th Venice Biennale.
Thanks for reading the Artists 4 Democracy Newsletter. Artists 4 Democracy promotes democratic and civic engagement by mobilizing artists to get involved in political action. Through voter registration drives, fundraisers, and events we seek to foster and protect our participatory democracy.