Midrange Weekly Sept 20
Your Weekly Round Up On What’s Got The Midrange Staffs Attention
Midrange Staff @midrangeyvr
Hello friends and welcome back to Midrange Weekly. Between the mostly unnecessary Canadian federal election that’s happening today and the definitely unnecessary recall election in California, we’re all no doubt locked in an abusive and hostile cycle of electoral deja vu from the insanity that was November 2020. If there was any respite to be had from all of this, at least those of us in Vancouver could briefly turn our attention to a small ocean’s worth of water being dumped on the city earlier in the week. For about 24 hours the city was basically cosplaying as Blade Runner, but not in a fun way. Yes, Blade Runner was fun! moving on, let’s see what’s good/aggravating this week.
The California Recall Election Was A Gallingly Cynical Attack On Electoral Logic
What costs 300 million dollars and is a total waste of time? Well, probably a lot of things when it comes to gluttonous government spending, but in this case I am referring to the dubious California gubernatorial recall election. Onerous government expenditure aside, the now thankfully concluded recall election reveals the intensifying agenda on the part of the republican party to circumvent and dismantle democratic systems in a dogged and cynical pursuit of their own power. Like the abortion ban SB8 in Texas, that deputizes private citizens to sue those who seek abortion services and is thusly designed to short circuit the process of judicial review, the republican driven recall election was en exercise in legal loop holes designed to disenfranchise a largely left wing populous against their will. The fact that it didn’t work this time doesn’t mean it can’t succeed in the future, in California or elsewhere.
A bit of brief background is in order to provide context for this contest of idiocy that just occurred in the golden state. Amid growing conservative frustration of Governor Gavin Newsom’s handling of the Covid 19 pandemic- frustrations that are not isolated to him nor were they sentiments unique to the republican wing of the ideological spectrum, this was basically the prevailing mood across the country- republicans gathered the necessary signatures among the state electorate to trigger a recall election. The process for successfully petitioning a recall election is already numerically suspect. Only 12% of the registered electorate commensurate with the vote totals in the previous election is required to trigger the recall process. Even in a liberal bastion like California, 12% is suspiciously low threshold to clear, a systemic flaw that begs further interrogation and analysis but so far seems to be catalyzing little reflection among state officials.
It’s the manner in how vote allocation and uniquely manipulative wording on the recall ballot questionnaire that provides opportunities for mendacious republican operatives to essentially hack the electoral system in California. This is the most left wing state in the nation; in 2004, presidential candidate John Kerry won the state by 10 points. In 2020, Biden carried it by a whopping 29 points. Republicans cannot win this state at the executive level under normal conditions, hence the perniciously abnormal conditions of the recall ballot. On the ballot a voter in California can vote, “do not recall Governor Newsom”, tacitly serving as a vote for him. Alternately a voter can vote, “yes, recall Governor Newsom”. Such a binary and its hypothetical winners and losers are easy to comprehend, but only under certain outcomes. Should a majority of votes be in favour of keeping Newsom in place, he clearly wins. But what would happen if the competing statement, “recall Newsom”, received a majority of votes? Even a razor thin majority?
Any voter that votes in favour of recalling must then cast a corresponding vote, on the follow up question: Who do you want to replace him? This is where things get extremely sketchy. Rather than the recall vote being simply that, which could then in turn trigger a new election in which a slate of candidates compete for a majority vote like in a regular electoral process, on the very same recall ballot you also cast your vote as to who should replace Newsom, but only if you are voting to have him replaced. It’s basically a sub election happening within the interior of the larger recall process, only everyone who voted not to recall Newsom- demographically speaking, mostly liberal voters- are cut out of the next part of the process. Those that do to wish to recall Newsom then vote on a suite of competitors to potentially take over the governorship. Of the multiple republican candidates, only conservative radio host Larry Elders had received any kind of traction on the campaign trail. He was the likely favourite, but again, only among those voting to recall. This leads to a troubling but potentially plausible scenario that’s at the heart of why this recall process is so questionable. Let’s say 49% of the electorate vote to keep Newsom, and 51% percent vote to recall him. That means Newsom is out and the 51% pick the new governor; at this point the 49% get no say. Of that 51% let’s say just over half vote for Larry Elders- that would mean he’s in. That would also mean that 49% of the electorate cast a vote in favour of essentially re-electing Newsom and roughly 26% of the entire electorate cast a vote for Elders. But under the parameters of the recall election format, the governorship would go to Elders, not Newsom. This could never happen over a proper electoral match up, that’s why republicans didn’t’ want to wait until the next election, but instead maneuvered for a recall. Like I said, really fucking sketchy!
Luckily, this dismantling of electoral oversight didn’t come to fruition this time around. Newsom, wholly cognisant of the virulent power grab at play by the republican operatives in the state smartly framed his campaign around a him versus Elders narrative. By contextualizing the election as a traditional two person contest he galvanized enough of the liberal electorate into realizing even a minimal amount of voter apathy would default into giving a minority win to Elders. In the closing days of the elections Newsom was up by about 12 points, and when the dust settled he won with about 64% of the vote. Not exactly a squeaker but the fact that process even allows for such mal-appropriation of voter consensus is startling to say the least. Much like Trump’s big lie in 2020, republican prognosticators are already decrying voter fraud with absolutely zero proof, as if they think a narrative that a democrat can’t legitimately win in the state of California is a coherent one. Still, just because this scheme didn’t work this time doesn’t mean there is anything at all stopping them from trying again in the future. After all, it was a recall election that gave the state to republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. I bring that up only anecdotally as evidence of the systemic deficiencies in the recall process, not to lump Arnie in with modern day republican ideologues as he has spent the last half decade assiduously and earnestly distancing himself from those hacks. If a state like California in the year 2021 can potentially fall into republican control, it does not bode well for the overall health of the ostensibly most prominent democracy in the world. You don’t need to be a resident of California to be concerned about that. -Tristan
What Social Media Says About Us
Here is a fun product that millions of people seem to love; that is unwholesome in large doses; that makes a sizable minority feel more anxious, more depressed, and worse about their bodies; and that many people struggle to use in moderation. - Derek Thompson
I love Derek Thompson. He’s definitely one of my favourite writers for The Atlantic. His columns are always well researched with thought provoking analysis. This week he published a short essay on social media and how it should be viewed similarly as alcohol with regards to how we consume it and how we should regulate it. His column is titled: Social Media Is Attention Alcohol — A fun product has the same downsides as booze. Instagram’s own internal research makes the case better than any critic.
He references several studies which have been done on social media, specifically Facebook and Instagram and how they help foster and create toxic and unhealthy views of one’s self, most notably young teenage girls. His critique is astoundingly on point, and in a way, not hard to see. What intrigues me however, in relation to his article is what social media as a construct says about us as people and as a society in general.
If most who use social media apps are starved for attention or dealing with insecurities that can be triggered in negative ways with continued or prolonged usage, does this not reveal a fraught and sad narrative of the lives we live and try to project?
From The Atlantic:
Last year, researchers at Instagram published disturbing findings from an internal study on the app’s effect on young women. “Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse,” the authors wrote in a presentation obtained by The Wall Street Journal. “They often feel ‘addicted’ and know that what they’re seeing is bad for their mental health but feel unable to stop themselves.”
We’re all guilty of so many things in our lives which we do and know aren’t good for us. Eating unhealthy. Not exercising. Smoking. Drinking too much. Tolerating abuse. Existing in a loveless or sexless marriage. Cheating on our partners. We are a flawed species with warts all around. Social media apps exacerbate our worst tendencies as they clearly show and force us to reckon not with connection of those whom we care about and want to share our lives with, but sadly, the exact opposite — why my life isn’t as good as somebody else’s. Those thirty-two percent of young girls who feel bad about themselves after checking their Instagram feeds are there to do just that. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy to seek out validation of how we view ourselves to be. Our own self talk and our negative view of who we feel we are is heightened in a space where everyone around us seems to be living a life grander than our own. Happiness comes once you participate in your own rescue. Those girls know the harm they are causing themselves each time they open Instagram, yet, they do it anyway. The addiction isn’t what they see, it’s what they tell themselves about who they are internally. That’s what they are addicted too. Instagram just confirms it.
Walking away and never looking back is the strongest negotiating tactic one can apply when faced with a terrible deal. The story of social media and the downsides it creates is what we allow it be. That terrible deal is the fallacy we tell ourselves. You’re awesome but you have to believe it. So many of us never say this to ourselves. It’s sad.
Rejection breeds obsession. Those girls are obsessed with rejecting themselves. Until we find love within us, we’ll continue to seek out confirmation of our own limiting beliefs. Social media is just another outlet that one can use if they need their fix. — Jamie
Things From The Internet We Liked
I Don’t Live Here Anymore By The War On Drugs Is A 2021 Contender
Even if one wants to disabuse themselves from the tired axiom that rock is dead, it’s hard not look at its canonized and classical iterations existing only as homage to what came before it. The War On Drugs has circumvented this nostalgic dependancy by appropriating classic rock paradigms and just maybe making them even better. Their capacity for such feats has been impressively consistent and their new single I Don’t Live Here Anymore might just be their best work to date. From the start it is a superlative expression of guitar, percussion, and vocals. Its crescendos are boldly vibrant yet the whole thing carries an endearing humility to it. You could tear down a stadium with this track or quietly listen in your home and it’s just as impactful. Check it out.
CNBC Drops An Excellent Explainer On Crypto’s Next Big Thing: Decentralized Finance
We’ve all heard of Bitcoin. Well, here’s an explainer detailing the future of this space and why decentralized finance might be on the horizon for all of us. Super interesting stuff.
Did Someone Say Long Lost Secret Anti Nazi Film?
This story is cool enough that someone should turn it into a film in its own right. Over at IGN they have a wild scoop of a nearly hundred year old film thought to have been destroyed by the Nazis in World War II being recently unearthed. The auteur epic Europa was a grandiose and allegedly dazzling anti fascist film produced in 1931 in Germany, so of course the Nazis seized it and destroyed it. Or so everyone thought. Hit the link to read more about it and bask in the warm, cozy feeling of being able to participate in fucking the Nazis over even in the year 2021.
VICE News Looks Into Russia’s (Putin’s) Meddling Of Political Opponents
In the past we’ve discussed Alexei Navalny and his troubles with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He’s been one of the staunchest advocates against the dictator. This short video by VICE looks into the length Putin will go to silence his critics. There’s no such thing as a free press. This is scary and tragic. Not sure how Russia comes out from this in a positive way.