It is important to keep in mind that the issue of mountain biking access in Union County, is not just about cycling and bike access. It is also about government.
In particular, it is about the nature of government – and those who support it.
The anti-bike people who presented themselves at county meetings opposing bike access claimed they were the “good guys”, that they were “concerned citizens” who wanted “a say”.
What they never told anyone is that they wanted to have their citizen input, in order to support the continuation of a policy that was created behind closed doors without anyone having a say, including those most impacted by it – the bikers who were banned – but also, everyone else.
If these people were willing to say, yes, the ban was bad government, let’s disregard it and start with a blank slate, and ask – should mountain biking be allowed, or should it be restricted? That would be one thing. The arguments raised against mountain biking might be no more valid and just as flawed, but at least one could say, they were proceeding in a legitimate, above-board fashion in terms of conduct.
But by supporting the existing ban, they are/were not just supporting the idea of restricting mountain biking, they are/were also supporting everything about the current ban – including its sketchy history, lack of legislative authority, the fact that it was created in a backroom by the unelected in an end run around our electoral process and its protections.
In short, Union County witnessed the amusing but sickening spectacle of people claiming they “wanted a say” so that they could support not only the idea of banning mountain biking, but the idea of government creating policy behind closed doors, without anyone having a say. THIS is what they were supporting and defending.
The failure of these people to look beyond the results of a policy to how it was created and perpetuated, is not unique; across the political spectrum, from local issues to national ones, people are willing to look the other way for government malfeasance simply because they agree with the results. One has to ask such people: What happens when a policy concocted in a similar underhanded manner turns out to be something you don’t like? What objections will you raise to it? How can you object – since you support that very thing?
The issue to them isn’t the nature of government – it is, do they like this particular flavor, however arrived at? The fact that they and their interests could be the next victim of governmental overreach do not register, for them it is in another language; the citizen concerned about misgovernment, as well as bike access, might as well be speaking Swahili.
But the issue isn’t just about mountainbike access; it is about misgovernment. And we must remember that to confront this issue, we must not only advocate the truth about mountain biking, or cycling generally, but also the idea of the proper relationship between the government and the citizen.
It isn’t just that those supporting the current ban are ignorant of cycling and mountain biking; they are also largely ignorant of their birthrights as Americans. Or, they are okay with looking the other way for a policy conducted behind closed doors, without any public input, in contravention of the documented facts, because – at the moment – it agrees with their biases.
Their attitude will be no defense when the next policy so concocted attacks some other activity, besides for cycling – maybe an activity they enjoy.
As Fourth of July is just past, it behooves us to remember as Americans what sort of country our forefathers left us. And it was not one where we were intended to meekly obey edicts made without citizen input, whether from unelected county employees, or King George.
The opponents of cycling in Watchung have not just attacked cyclists; they have attacked all who are interested in fair and just government, including, potentially, themselves. It will poetic justice should their own interests one day succumb to the sort of conduct they condone in this instance against others.
It is up to us, however, who can see the true nature of the issue, to see that that doesn’t happen.
We aren’t just fighting for bike access, but for fair government policy for all, something that benefits not only mountain bikers, but all county residents – including those who hate biking.
The bike haters can thank us later.