Women & NJ: Not Perfect Together
That the State of New Jersey ranks last---at the very bottom of the barrel---for women holding public and elective office in the Garden State is a disgrace.
(See http://www.iwpr.org/States2004/PDFs/National_FactSheet.pdf and
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/columns/112304WOMENEDIT.cfm )
That comes as little surprise to me. A few months back, this writer received an email from the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, who at that time were on my list of recipients for my frequent letters on the spectrum of public issues.
Their response asked that I remove them from my email list: it went something to the effect that there was nothing they (the LWV) could do about the public issues about which I was writing. Although it seemed more likely to me that the LWV in New Jersey simply disagreed with many of the positions I took in my letters.
I recall that at the time I was angry: here's a mainstream, supposedly civic organization saying there was nothing that they could do about a presumably unimportant issue like, say, the war in Iraq. No wonder that fewer women than men vote in New Jersey even though females represent a greater percentage than males in the overall state population.
The League of Women Voters used to sponsor debates between candidates. They used to organize voter registration drives. They used to be a real, potent organization. Unfortunately, that's not the case anymore. At least not in New Jersey.
And this despite this headliner on their website ( http://www.lwvnj.org/ ):
The League of WomenVoters
of New Jersey
a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose purpose is to promote political responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in government
There are reasons for organizations to exist in the world: to advance a cause, to help people who suffer from a disease, to advocate on behalf of a cause. Then, there are organizations who have frankly outlived their usefulness. They become more of a hindrance than a help. Their mission has been fulfilled and they need to pack up and go home content with the knowledge that their job is completed.
I have often thought that the endless arguments over why the Roman Empire fell in the West were similarly futile. Whether the Western Romans declined and then disintegrated because of failure to control their borders from barbarian incursions, political corruption and the inability to collect taxes, moral decadence, or lead pipes. All interesting theses. But can any historian honestly say that any one hypothesis was the ultimate cause of Roman decline? Maybe the Roman Empire simply fulfilled its mission of creating and maintaining a glorious empire that controlled the Mediterranean basin and the ancient world that surrounded it for a millenium. Maybe the organic, or natural, history of civilizations are not meant to last forever.
Sadly, the League of Women Voters in New Jersey has failed women and voters in New Jersey. It is inexplicable how this organization can otherwise explain the political disenfranchisement of women in the Garden State. And that being the case, it's time for the LWVNJ to move aside. Maybe they have outlived their usefulness.
I am always a bit suspicious of the many "non-profit" organizations that exist in this society and constantly ask for and are given money yet have little to show for all their hearty, heartfelt appeals. Take for example the American Cancer Society: what do they actually do? Does showing a few advertisements or handing out magnets for the refrigerator really assist people in stopping smoking for example? What's the American Cancer Society's Caseload of clients who smoke? Of that caseload, how many are engaged in smoking cessation programs that can be measured using objective, performance indicators? What is the success rate of ACS's caseload? It's like the vast tobacco settlements hat are being used, hypocritically and cynically, to fund underfunded state budgets, not to help the people of that state quit smoking.
New Jersey needs to do better in the way of more equitable representation of females in state and local governments. And the establishment organizations and parties, the politicians and fundraisers who stand in their way need to be shoved---quite literally---aside.
(See http://www.iwpr.org/States2004/PDFs/National_FactSheet.pdf and
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/columns/112304WOMENEDIT.cfm )
That comes as little surprise to me. A few months back, this writer received an email from the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, who at that time were on my list of recipients for my frequent letters on the spectrum of public issues.
Their response asked that I remove them from my email list: it went something to the effect that there was nothing they (the LWV) could do about the public issues about which I was writing. Although it seemed more likely to me that the LWV in New Jersey simply disagreed with many of the positions I took in my letters.
I recall that at the time I was angry: here's a mainstream, supposedly civic organization saying there was nothing that they could do about a presumably unimportant issue like, say, the war in Iraq. No wonder that fewer women than men vote in New Jersey even though females represent a greater percentage than males in the overall state population.
The League of Women Voters used to sponsor debates between candidates. They used to organize voter registration drives. They used to be a real, potent organization. Unfortunately, that's not the case anymore. At least not in New Jersey.
And this despite this headliner on their website ( http://www.lwvnj.org/ ):
The League of WomenVoters
of New Jersey
a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose purpose is to promote political responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in government
There are reasons for organizations to exist in the world: to advance a cause, to help people who suffer from a disease, to advocate on behalf of a cause. Then, there are organizations who have frankly outlived their usefulness. They become more of a hindrance than a help. Their mission has been fulfilled and they need to pack up and go home content with the knowledge that their job is completed.
I have often thought that the endless arguments over why the Roman Empire fell in the West were similarly futile. Whether the Western Romans declined and then disintegrated because of failure to control their borders from barbarian incursions, political corruption and the inability to collect taxes, moral decadence, or lead pipes. All interesting theses. But can any historian honestly say that any one hypothesis was the ultimate cause of Roman decline? Maybe the Roman Empire simply fulfilled its mission of creating and maintaining a glorious empire that controlled the Mediterranean basin and the ancient world that surrounded it for a millenium. Maybe the organic, or natural, history of civilizations are not meant to last forever.
Sadly, the League of Women Voters in New Jersey has failed women and voters in New Jersey. It is inexplicable how this organization can otherwise explain the political disenfranchisement of women in the Garden State. And that being the case, it's time for the LWVNJ to move aside. Maybe they have outlived their usefulness.
I am always a bit suspicious of the many "non-profit" organizations that exist in this society and constantly ask for and are given money yet have little to show for all their hearty, heartfelt appeals. Take for example the American Cancer Society: what do they actually do? Does showing a few advertisements or handing out magnets for the refrigerator really assist people in stopping smoking for example? What's the American Cancer Society's Caseload of clients who smoke? Of that caseload, how many are engaged in smoking cessation programs that can be measured using objective, performance indicators? What is the success rate of ACS's caseload? It's like the vast tobacco settlements hat are being used, hypocritically and cynically, to fund underfunded state budgets, not to help the people of that state quit smoking.
New Jersey needs to do better in the way of more equitable representation of females in state and local governments. And the establishment organizations and parties, the politicians and fundraisers who stand in their way need to be shoved---quite literally---aside.
posted by Constance Lavender at 7:46 PM
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