by Ryan Taylor, Correspondent to the Leader
Alderman Alex Brower represents Milwaukee’s 3rd District and is a cadre elected official of Milwaukee DSA (Democratic Socialists of America). I attended his townhall on August 20th at Riverside University High School (my alma mater; class of 2003) as a constituent of (born, raised, and currently living in) Cambridge Woods, as a volunteer on Alex’s campaign team, and as a member of Milwaukee DSA. I, and the other members of Milwaukee DSA, endorsed and ran Alex’s campaign to become alderman because of his unashamed support of a socialist vision for Milwaukee and beyond. Our ideology was front and center of Alex’s campaign and the voters agreed enough with us to put him in office. He continued to prove our faith in him correct at the townhall. He proudly called himself a socialist, plainly named capitalism as the root of our collective problems, and passionately proposed viable solutions.
We often joked during the campaign that some constituents want the alderperson to be Mayor of District 3. However, the townhall meeting revealed to me that the situation is much more dire. Even worse, some constituents don’t want their alderperson to be the Mayor of District 3, they want him to be the Manager of District 3! They want someone to complain to who will immediately fix their problems without having to think about the issues at all, much less provide suggestions for or lend a helping hand in implementing those solutions themselves.
My neighbors have a lot of legitimate concerns: reckless driving, homelessness, public drug use, and sexual harassment, to name a few issues raised that night. I have bad news for my neighbors demanding immediate solutions. There is only one immediate solution to the problems you are most concerned about: bringing the long arm of the law down upon people to chase reckless drivers, displace the homeless, and lock up drug users and sexual harassers and throw away the key.
This is less of a solution and more like removing the unsightly from our view by force and, more often than not, violence. At least some of my more reactionary neighbors seemed to know what they were asking Alex to make happen when they demanded an immediate solution. They may be too ashamed to acknowledge with a full throat what they are asking for but they are not ashamed enough to stop them from demanding that Alex be responsible for their meanness.
Before I continue, I want to be clear, I observed this mentality from only a small section of the district’s residents. Of the nearly 40,000 residents in the third aldermanic district, only several dozen attended the townhall. I imagine the people who attend town halls tend to be those who have the time to do so (a privilege fewer and fewer of us can afford these days) and/or those with an axe to grind. The room was a healthy mix of hostile detractors, friendly supporters, and relatively neutral constituents.
On more than one occasion, an attendee asked Alex to keep his responses germane to District 3. I also heard a lot of grumbling about how Alex should focus on things he can actually affect. As was demonstrated over and over again at the townhall, it’s easy to identify a problem. I am confident in saying almost everyone in the auditorium agreed that there are problems in District 3 and on what those problems are. Conversely, very few people seemed to be able to articulate why those problems exist or how to effectively solve them (other than calling the police).
Alex, myself, the members of DSA, and thousands of other residents of District 3 and Milwaukee at-large understand the problems we face do not occur in a vacuum. We see the direct correlation between reckless driving and a car-centric society, between homelessness and a for-profit housing market, between harmful drug use and alienation under capitalism, and between sexual harassment and patriarchy as a tool of the owning class to dominate the working class. These systems may seem far removed from us in our small corner of Milwaukee or too big for us to grapple with, but they affect us nonetheless. If we do not come to grips with the bigger picture, we limit the solutions available to us to the short term (and short sighted), ineffectual “fixes” which our existing systems allow. These systemic limitations are exacerbated by the ouroboros of defunding what little social safety nets we ever had leading to those safety nets being less efficient which in turn is used as a pretense to further denounce and defund the safety nets. One of those safety nets is supposed to be our common council.
Despite those limitations, Alex outlined solutions within his purview on the common council. He also did a commendable job connecting the systemic issues facing us to the personal ones we feel acutely here in District 3. However, he is one elected official in a system that doesn’t work for us. We cannot be content to be served by but not participate in society. We have been led to believe that democracy is merely voting and it is so much more than that. Democracy is participatory and deliberative and should be exercised in all areas of existence, not just the voting booth.
I am raising the fourth generation of Taylors on Milwaukee’s East Side. I may never see the brighter future I envision, and there are many barriers to us achieving it, but that does not stop me from fighting for it. Whether you think our systems need to be reformed or replaced altogether (or even if you aren’t quite sure yet), we can practice democracy in action together. This work is neither glamorous nor quick and easy but it is rewarding. Please consider volunteering to help Alex’s office directly and if you are curious about or share our democratic socialist vision, join DSA.
