Signal #1582

Hey neighbors, and especially friends from SE BK, Midwood, Maddison, Homecrest, Gerritson, etc,. Over the past year I've been reading a lot and posting regularly to meet and walk with folks who feel the radicalizing nature of the online view of the world and want something a little different, a little more real. Halfway between venting about life, learning from each other's stories and coming to terms with what kind of world we actually want and how to go about getting it, is a space I'm trying to create for the dozen or so that feel what I'm talking about. I am running for county committee of my election district, a volunteer role that can be an organizing position, and trying to get on my local community board. I'm doing this to learn how it all works and to translate our perhaps collective maladaptive daydreaming into civic-speak. The last needs statement for CB15 shows pretty much all municipal services understaffed and underfunded. The city comptroller, detailing how the ACA's Essential Plan is basically gutted, is warning of severe revenue shortfalls over the next several years which means we'll be feeling more of a decline in living standards. People who have always done well will continue to do so. People on the fence will slip through the cracks. People already struggling will run into more bad luck. 'Winter is coming,' except I've seen that episode. No thanks. It's a process you won't immediately notice because New Yorkers are pretty resilient, independent and self-interested if I'm being honest. But if bad times are systemic, then the system needs an audit. If you're like me, you might be feeling there's room to learn about these issues, educate them outward and organize. And I'd be lying if I didn't say that petitioning to get 50 signatures is rough on my own. It's no wonder petitioning has you write down at least 3 people to take your place if something happens to you; it takes a te