Progressive Values: Public Interest

by: Thurman Hart

Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 10:03:42 AM EDT

The great truth I tried to make plain was that which Mr. Folk insists so constantly upon: that bribery is no ordinary felony, but treason, that the "corruption which breaks out here and there and now and then" is not an occasional offense, but a common practice, and that the effect of it is literally to change the form of our government from one that is representative of the people to an oligarchy, representative of special interests.

These words were written in 1904 as part of a wider study of public corruption that reached from New York City and Cincinnati to Minneapolis and St. Louis.  But perhaps the most enlightening - in a sense of "learning a dark knowledge" - is the study of Philadelphia.  It was there that Steffens found a civic spirit that confounded everything he thought he knew about the American people:

And the Philadelphia merchant says the same thing: "The party leaders may be getting more than they should out of the city, but that doesn't hurt me. It may raise taxes a little, but I can stand that. The party keeps up the protective tariff. If that were cut down, my business would be ruined. So long as the party stands pat on that, I stand pat on the party."

Steffens would describe Philadelphia as "corrupt and contented".  It would seem that description of civic corruption would fit large parts of New Jersey as well.  The corruption is not simply limited to the political arena - it has become so pervasive that it is simply a part of the larger culture.  Trenton isn't taken in a culture of corruption, it's just the capitol of the culture of corruption.

Everywhere, news of corruption is met with shrugs and docile acceptance.  And who can blame a person for this reaction?  When the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Governor swears that he is corrupt and faces absolutely no consequences whatsoever - indeed, he is promoted repeatedly for it - then what hope is there for reform?  Sure Chris Christie has made a name for himself - but does anyone think he isn't cherry picking cases?  Even if one believes Christie is the very embodiment of non-partisanship, he can't be going after corruption all that aggressively if practically everyone in the state knows of at least three more unprosecuted cases off of the top of their heads.

Chris Hedges lays the failure of the left on a failure of nerve.  But his examples are not failures of nerve, but of vision.  Lost in the prospect of political victory, Progressives have duped themselves into believing that real and lasting change can be won at the polls if just enough of the right people can be elected.  That's based on the theory that there are simply a few "bad apples" out there - that corruption simply happens when the wrong person gets the right opportunity.  That's just wrong.

Our problem in New Jersey is that our civic society is corrupted.  Want to build a park?  Better think about setting aside some money to bribe a few people.  Want to build a charity hospital?  Better pay off a few legislators to make sure you keep your doors open.  Want to open a storefront to let the homeless people get in off the street for a few minutes?  Better hope the code enforcement guy doesn't find you.  The very idea of a "public interest" simply doesn't exist.  It's every man, woman, and child for him or her self and damn anyone who stands in the way of the Great Glorious Pursuit of Self-Interest.

It is easy to see the corrupted and corrupting effect of, for example, pay-to-play money on politics.  But what is more difficult to see - and harder to swallow - is that the land developer who gives a mayor or city councilperson a few large is doing nothing more (from their perspective) than looking out for their business.  They are simply vigorously pursuing their own interests.

This is something of which all activists must be wary.  Are we trying to throw the rascals out simply to advance our own standing, or are we really pursuing reform?  Are we as willing to harness and blunt our own self-interest as we are of those individuals who stand out because they have more money to throw around?  Are we simply voting to lower our own taxes or are we really thinking about what our schools and municipalities need?

Just as importantly, we need to inform the public and educate them as to the public interest.  In the words of Paul Wellstone, we must "never park the bus."  The forces aligned against us never rest - and rampant self-interest needs little urging to move to the front in any consideration.  It falls to the Progressive movement to step forward and remind our political leaders - and the people themselves - that the public is more than just a bunch of people.  The public interest is not synonymous with "listening to the loudest voices".  

We cannot depend on our politicians for this leadership.  They are too much with the world, wanting and spending and reaching for the next election.  We have to shoulder the long hard responsibility of waking that sleeping giant of the public that has, for far too long, been inured to the conflation of self-interest with public interest.