More on Haley and the Nannies of the State

Karens are gonna be Karens, no matter how they wear their hair.

I do understand why she takes her stands. Nikki is a direct outgrowth of the history of women in politics. Many of them were “high-minded” women, sure that THEY were right, and everyone else should just fall in line with their dictates.

Let’s go back to the 1800s. At that time, women did not have ‘the vote’ - 1920 was the first time that women were guaranteed the franchise nationally. In a nod to Federalism (the idea that the powers of government should NOT be centralized, but spread among national, state/region, and local control), women first gained the right to vote in the Western states. 20 of those states had women voting before the US Constitution was amended.

That’s how the American government is supposed to work. If an idea has some value, supporters should try getting a law passed/rules changed locally. If the experiment works out, other states can try it, and - if the change proves to be worthwhile, eventually make it a national effort (with the legislators of the adopting states providing context and their state’s experience as an argument).

Women were a powerful part of those efforts - not just for women’s suffrage, but also for the Temperance movement, mandatory schooling, limitations on how owners could treat their animals, and a host of other issues.

Women (many of them quite radical - socialist and anarchist, as well as what were called Free-Thinkers) were behind the ‘Good Government’ changes of the late 1800s and early 1900s, including legislative initiative, which allows citizens to gather petitions to put legislative changes on the ballot, bypassing a perhaps balky legislature. Another change was the process of referendum, which allows voters to appeal or remove acts of legislature.

Here is a resource to check to see if any of those measures are used in your state.

Here is a resource to find out more about Initiative and Referendum processes in your state and how they work.

Then, find out who is using them in a way you favor, and perhaps contribute - either financially or with your time.