this is a good country, dammit.

[keryx]

I've read a couple of fellow liberals' journal postings lately about how they're going to fight fight fight against W this year and, if they still don't win, they might just pack it in for Canada.

With all due respect for those folks, that's a coward's way.

This country is built on debate. It's a child of the Enlightenment, of disillusionment with church-run states and state-run churches, of argument, of out-on-a-limb science and philosophy and theory. It's kindof an experiment.

And while we don't need to know or care what the country was founded for (and if anyone else tells me what Jefferson thought as if that's what I'm supposed to think, I'll slap them), we ought to remember that we have a history of change and fighting and revolution behind us. And probably in front of us, too.

There are major problems with the How Things Are in the US today. There are also solutions to those problems. Those solutions depend on the changes of individual people, which become the changes of groups, which become the changes of a country. This is not overnight change I'm talking about.

But if you feel strongly enough about something, the way to effect it is to change 100 other people's minds. To make them feel as strongly as you do, strongly enough to change 10,000 other people's minds.

If you finally got off your ass and started caring about politics this year, or last year, or four years ago, you need to understand that your opinions can change in that span of time, but the opinions of a whole country are slower to mobilize. The most important thing you can do as a citizen is push other people off their asses and into caring - even if they're on the other side of the issue. Hell, especially if they're on another side!

What does democracy look like?

It looks like everyone who can contribute to the politics of decision-making actually doing so. It does not look like only 30-40% of eligible voters showing up. It looks like all sides showing up, fighting it out, and coming up with a compromise.

If you as a liberal convince 100 people to vote this year, even if your candidates don't win, you've pushed us 100 people closer to democracy. If you don't like the pace of social and political change, work on convincing 10,000, or 100,000.

It takes courage to make those demands of other people. It takes constant energy to mobilize yourself and others. It takes even more courage to do those things in a social climate that tends to apathy and handing off your decision-making to others. It is much easier to withdraw into complaint. And it's much colder in Canada.

Yes, it will suck if we lose the presidential election this year.

But there are Congressional elections, too. There are state and local folk. There are thousands of other people who make decisions that could change the How Things Are. All of those people combined are more important than one more guy in a white house.

And all too often, more than half of the people eligible to select those people - and the guy in the white house - don't show up for the fight.

If we lose the presidential election this year, don't stalk off in a melodramatic huff. Explain to a fourteen-year-old why it sucks. Show her how to register to vote. Give her a feminist book. Take her out to vandalize "voting is for old people" t-shirts. ;)

Because we are a good country. And we are not being represented when half of us don't even vote. And we will be even less represented if you disengage.

Build more activists. Make an army of voters. Don't be a coward.

Comments

[crafting-change.livejournal.com]

Thankyou

that is essentially what I told my mother.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

It's also essentially what my mother told me (when I was younger). Though she doesn't always agree with my politics now. ;)

[crafting-change.livejournal.com]

:)

[snidegrrl.livejournal.com]

Well said!! Hear, hear!

[keryx.livejournal.com]

Is that a "yay"? Am I obliged to respond? Are you obliged to respond to me? ;)

Hrm. I guess that joke's dead now. I will put it in a box and never take it out again.

[snidegrrl.livejournal.com]

It has been very hard for me to resist responding to this... OOPS.

[ivyblogs.livejournal.com]

I hear that about I homeschooling too. Not sending my kids to public school is the coward's way out. I'm supposed to send them there and fight the good fight no matter how I feel about institutionalized education. For the good of Democracy. Fine then. I'm a coward. I'm a traitor to Democracy. We're going to keep homeschooling. I know you don't want to here about the founders- but history does matter. America was founded (or invaded- depending how you look at it)in great part by people fleeing religious oppression- as well as various other kinds of oppression. Bunch of wimps? I got off my ass a long time ago. People are fighting. We've been fighting. It wasn't all because of voter apathy. Some people were not allowed to vote. Some votes weren't counted. W. wasn't elected.

Do you have kids? No fucking way am I going to stay here and have my children drafted into the great war against terrorism. If Bush wins, the draft is back. Hell, if Kerry wins it might still be back. Fuck that. They get my money, they don't get to take my kids. Democracy? We live in a country where schools are required to give the name, phone number, addresses of all their students to military recruiters if they want federal funding. Yeah- for real! Very few schools have been able to afford to refuse. Thanks No Child Left Behind Act! Nice of our government to sneak that in there. None of us agreed to that. We didn't vote for that. It's not like we love it when recruiters have access to our underage kids. And whether or not I believe in that, I'm funding it with my tax dollars. So are you. Just like our taxes help pay for the troops to go to Iraq and use glow sticks to sexually assault Iraqi prisoners. If W. wins again, no matter how I feel about things, no matter how much I fight, my taxes will continue to support his fucked-up, evil and sick agenda. I can choose to stop paying taxes- of course then the IRS can just take my home and get their money anyway. Or I could leave and support a country that isn't trying to be the biggest bad-ass in the world. I dont think it's cowardly to feel this way. Like many Americans, I'm here because of ancestors who left their countries looking for a better life. Many of those who came here were fleeing oppressive governments. They wanted a better life for themselves and for their children. Were they cowards? If I left because the cost of health insurance was eating up our income- and it gets worse every year- would that be cowardly? How about that fact that jobs are so unstable and, for many, so damn hard to come by? To go someplace with a more stable job market would be cowardly? What if I am disgusted by the U.S. educational system and want to live in a country I feel truly reflects the ideals of education and children first? I'm a coward? Why is leaving because your government goes against all your ideals the coward's way out? If things continue on this way and Americans decide to leave to find a better life elsewhere, why are they cowards? Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is walk away. You can't always fix a dysfunctional relationship. Especially when the other side has an agenda that includes stomping out anyone who gets in his way. But even if it is the cowards way out. Then fine. I'll be a coward. I'll paint a big yellow strips down my back and embroider a big yellow C on all my clothes. But I'll get my kids out. I won't stay and fight at their expense.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying it wasn't a mistake for the democrats not to pitch a fit when W was (not)elected. Or that we shouldn't have risen up then. I'm saying, to the people I keep hearing from who say "I've been fighting against Bush since I got involved in politics in 2000 and I'm quitting if we don't win just with MY vote" that they're giant chickens who ought to be at least trying to influence the folk around them.

I don't think homeschooling remotely parallels this. There's a difference between fighting to make the country you were born in an actual democracy and defending your children from the crap schools the not-actual democracy offers them. The difference is that you can't leave the country and still fight for it; you can leave the schools and fight for them. We should all still fight to de-crap the schools, and I don't mind paying more taxes to try to make that happen for other people's kids, but it seems like trying to educate your kids well rather than just accepting what's in front of you is the total opposite of cowardice. Particularly if you do it while speaking out in defense of the other kids whose parents don't have that luxury (or don't pay attention).

W is not the end-all and be-all of the federal government. We do have a congress, ya know? And yes, currently OUR congressfolk mostly suck (in my county, no one even ran against the incumbent House Republican last election). But we could run ourselves. We could support candidates in other states that push the balance back towards the left.

As taxpayers, WE get our money, too. Where do roads come from? Social services (however sucky)? Libraries? I'm enraged that our money doesn't get spent as dictated by the true majority in this country - because the majority of folks aren't even speaking out. And I'm even more angry that so many of those who don't vote and don't act are on my side. We should be angry. We should be trying to do something about it. And we shouldn't make W our only fight.

[ivyblogs.livejournal.com]

My point with homeschooling is that patriotism is one of the excuses used by some (politicians, educators, editors if newspapers) to criticize the homeschooling movement. Supposedly, public education's fundamental role in democracy is to teach children how to be citizens and also to be a place where children learn to get along with others in a diverse society. And no matter how you feel about whether or not the system actually does those things (imo- not at all), if you opt out and abandon the public schools, you are turning your back on democracy. And I say so what? I don't sacrifice my children to an ideal. They're just kids.

Yeah, as tax payers our money does pay for good things. But I think it's acceptable to leave if you don't want your money to also pay for sickening, oppressive policies.

We're now left with a choice between Kerry and Bush. Kerry isn't somebody most liberals would ever consider if it weren't for Bush. And like I said, I'm thinking of my kids. In 2001, as part of all the Homeland Security business, the U.S. and Canada signed the Smarter Borders Declarations. Supposedly to keep terrorists out of the U.S., but the wording also just happens to keep draft dodgers in. They're planning on bringing the draft back. This time there will be no college deferments- that ended in 1971.

And there's this news:

"The chief of the U.S. Selective Service System has proposed registering women for the military draft and requiring that young Americans regularly inform the government about whether they have training in niche specialties needed in the armed services.The proposal, which the agency's acting director Lewis Brodsky presented to senior Pentagon officials just before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, also seeks to extend the age of draft registration to 34, up from 25. "

So even if my children might somehow avoid being drafted as young people, and they find a career or skill they love- as long as they're 34 or under the government can still force them to use it their talents to serve the war? Is that democracy? I don’t know how I would raise my children with that over their heads. Would they want to have a partner of have kids before age 34 knowing they could be forced to leave them at any time? Would it make sense to spend all the money, go into debt for college if they’d have to leave right in the middle of it- or never get to use their education at all?

Now if I stay and fight, things might change. But if not, or if not quickly enough, my kids could end up as soldiers in a war they didn't start and almost no-one believes in.

You know, you can't just leave and know your kids will be safe. You have to live someplace for how ever many years your new country requires (so you have to leave years before your eldest child is 18). You have to have brought enough money (most countries require you have sufficient money to support yourself for awhile when you come) established yourself, found work, shown you can be a good citizen and then you and your children might be able to become citizens. Then you can give-up all the social security you've paid into since you started working at age 15 and maybe your dad, the career military man will never speak to you again. And people in your new country probably will not be thrilled to have an American (even an ex-American) living next door. We're not exactly beloved around the world.

When I was a kid my family lived all over the U.S. and a few places overseas. I hated moving. Leaving all your friends and family behind is not for the faint of heart. Most Americans consider our immigrant ancestors to have been very brave to leave their homes and come to a new country- start all over. Leaving the U.S. isn’t something I talk about or think about as an easy option. But it seems the better choice than raising my children only to hand them over to the government


Sorry to clog up your journal. I do understand what you're saying about people who didn't care all that much before and now they still dont want to do anything- just leave. My guess is those sort of people will find out leaving is a lot of work and there are no guarantees another country will take them and then they'll give-up on the idea pretty quickly.

[firecat]

I agree that trying to influence the political thinking and actions of others is a good way to behave for a person who doesn't agree with the political direction of the US right now.

But I don't think that people who left Germany in the late 1930s and 1940s were cowards. Although the situation in the US today is not exactly the same, there are some scary dangerous things going on, especially to people who aren't white and well-off. I don't have enough information to brand people who leave the US today as cowards.

Debate and political action work well in a democracy that isn't ruled by the military, but aren't necessarily sufficient in other circumstances. The next national election will offer more information about whether the US is in fact a democracy right now.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

I don't have enough information to brand people who leave the US today as cowards.

Nor do I, but I do anyhow (at least in my raging rants). Too many of the people I hear talking about bailing on the country over the Bush v. Kerry contest base that talk on too little information, too... so I'm partially guilty of the same shoddy information disbursal I disdain in them. Point taken. ;)

However. We are not talking about the same sort of stuff that went down in Germany in even the early 30s (when Hitler first started taking off), and we are certainly not facing anything remotely oppressive as some countries taken over by dictators (whom we've all too often sponsored). This is not a government ruled by the military, and I think recent events prove that. It's taken ages for Bush and co to be held at all accountable for their various irresponsibilities, but it IS happening in a very broad way.

[firecat]

I agree that things are far worse in many other countries. I'm not sure I'm convinced that Bush & Co. are going to get their comeuppance. I hope you're right that they are, though.

[mellowtomysoul.livejournal.com]

hey- just curious... what kind of activism are you doing right now? just asking cause we are both in rva and i love to hear what else is going on outside of my radical bubble.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

Now I'm embarrassed, cause I'm such an activism dilettante. ;)

I'm a member of NOW locally, but I don't go to meetings. I'm involved with EqualityVA, but I don't go to their meetings EITHER. I tried to get involved in a central VA NAAFA chapter, but they disbanded. I did Green Party stuff for a couple of years, but found I disagreed with them on too many things. I've been trying to figure out lately what sort of group it is that I want to belong to and be part of - I'd like to have a local group that got the size acceptance thing, got the feminist thing, got the queer thing... If it doesn't exist, I could always start one up. ;) In the meantime, I just send money.