I went into this campaign season with Education and the Environment as my main issues of concern. Yes, they seem to be idealistic or naive issues to hold on to considering the state of our economy and the fact that we at war. But they are the issues that greatly affect my life at this moment. Through this class I am taking at the church and through my own research, my eyes have been peeled open to some other, clearly crucial issues, especially the budget and debt situations. The following video is incredible and even if you don't have 45 minutes to spend with it, just a little time with it will get you thinking. (Although I think the 45 minutes is well worth it and the movie is made well enough that the time moves by quickly.)
http://www.iousathemovie.com
My main takeaway from this was that there has to be many many courses of action taken, including cutting spending
and raising taxes. This keeps coming up time and time again. Neither side has it completely right! It is disheartening to an independent voter.
And here are a few more a-ha moments from my last month and a half...
The moral measure of a nation is how well it cares for its most vulnerable, i.e. children, elderly, and poor. How are we doing in that department?
We are at war, and yet the president has encouraged us to go about our lives as usual, encouraging us to spend money and live normally. Surely there should be some sacrifice or at least awareness on the people's part to support the troops, speed the end of the war, and keep the leaders on task?
I haven't read it yet, but a fellow classmate recommended
Plutocrats, a book about the world's wealthiest people and their allegiance to their circle of wealthy peers instead their respective nations.
If you are stuck on two candidates that both have redeeming qualities (lucky you!), it can help to keep in mind how much control your candidate will have over your most important issues. For example, your dog catcher can't end abortion. Vote for the best dog catcher. This implies a really deep level of research, in my opinion, but if something is worth doing, its worth doing right, right? right?
We can't and shouldn't all be passionate about the same issues. It is OK if the person next to you isn't fired up about your favorite cause.
We've to stop asking this ridiculous question "Am
I better off now that
I was four years ago?" What about "
we"? What about the common good? What about your neighbors?
This concept of "Brown" vs "Gray" is pretty scary in my mind. Those graying heads need those brown heads to fund their retirement and health care and those brown heads need those graying heads to make decisions that will allow them to get decent education and employment. Can they possibly work it out?
And I guess it seems that everywhere I look, I am faced with the fact that those in power and making decisions live very different lives and have very different priorities than the people that their decisions will affect the most. They are typically old, white, rich and male. And those affected the greatest are typically younger, all races especially colorful ones, lower-income, and both genders. My white, middle class, well-educated family will probably continue to have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and reasonable opportunities for our children to grow and learn no matter who gets elected in November. But the incredible power of the huge corporate lobbyists can't be expected to keep the underemployed, under-benefited (I just made that up :) ) Walmart employee in mind. So who will?
