The election has come and gone. We voted for our president, all of the seats for the House of Representatives were up for grabs and a slew of seats in the Senate were on the ballots as well. So what changed? NOTHING! We reelected our president. The House remained in Republican control and the Senate is still held by the Democrats.
In this election, we were constantly reminded of the struggling and hurting nature of the lower and middle classes. We were constantly reminded of unemployment figures, numbers of families on welfare programs, foreclosure and housing market rates and how we, as a nation, would secure the needs of our must vulnerable people, even as people could not agree on who exactly was the "most vulnerable" population. We also were constantly reminded of the importance of candidates who could relate with the common individual and who was going to best look after our personal wants/needs/goals/etc. For all of our talk about wealthy, out of touch billionaires on one side of the election, everybody seemed to overlook the wealth of the other candidate as well. Just saying...
And in our State Constitutional Amendments, we voted for a whole slew of "civil rights" issues. We have decided to take the "pursuit of happiness" goal a bit to the extreme when we have decided legalizing pot ranks higher than guaranteeing Constitutional rights and the two other unalienable rights listed in the Declaration of Independence; life and liberty.
So I can't help but reflect, how many BILLIONS of dollars was spent on this election? How many people weren't fed, clothed, housed or otherwise helped or dignified because we, a supposedly financially-strapped nation, spent money hand over fist to change nothing? And we voted down the significance of other people while claiming this election was about the 99% and making sure the rich person paid an adequate share. But here's the thing- eventually, we all find ourselves in a 1% (or some other minority situation). And when stuff hits the fan, we want somebody to swoop down, help pick us up, tell us how it wasn't our fault, and help make it better. We have to learn to be gracious in this country. We have to learn to put other people first. We are such an angry and bitter nation with such angry and deep divisions. We are fighting over who is more bigoted and who is more likely to do you dirty. We don't champion causes in a positive or proactive way, instead we rally in outrage that somebody else did/said/thought/believed something that either hurt our feelings or we just plain didn't like. I have nothing against helping somebody out when they fall upon hard times, even when it is a product of their own choices. We are, like it or not, a society. We are not little individual islands and others are always affected by our choices and situations. But where have we come off thinking we are deserving of mercy, or help, or assistance.
A friend's kid recently turned 8 years old. He's a good kid, don't get me wrong. On his birthday, the boy walked up to his neighbor and told her to remind her granddaughter that it was his birthday and to remember to get him a present. (The surprising thing is that his mother let him live!) The kid really isn't a hellion or anything, but he got so caught up in the excitement of receiving gifts from family and friends that he forgot that he was in no way entitled to those presents. Generosity is something to be appreciated, but never expected. (His mom promptly demanded he apologize and then later sent him back over to apologize again for his rudeness.)
I think our country has hit a sort of adolescent or immature phase. We're really like the ungrateful teenager who has been given a car and phone and is pissed off that they weren't the most high-end options. We are self-centered and hedonist, masquerading around like we are vigilantes playing a resurrected role of Robin Hood robbing the rich to give to the poor. We're like the snotty high-schooler that is crying outrage over some perceived injustice while still hypocritically inflicting injustice on our own peers.
I hope we get over ourselves soon. We need to grow up.
In this election, we were constantly reminded of the struggling and hurting nature of the lower and middle classes. We were constantly reminded of unemployment figures, numbers of families on welfare programs, foreclosure and housing market rates and how we, as a nation, would secure the needs of our must vulnerable people, even as people could not agree on who exactly was the "most vulnerable" population. We also were constantly reminded of the importance of candidates who could relate with the common individual and who was going to best look after our personal wants/needs/goals/etc. For all of our talk about wealthy, out of touch billionaires on one side of the election, everybody seemed to overlook the wealth of the other candidate as well. Just saying...
And in our State Constitutional Amendments, we voted for a whole slew of "civil rights" issues. We have decided to take the "pursuit of happiness" goal a bit to the extreme when we have decided legalizing pot ranks higher than guaranteeing Constitutional rights and the two other unalienable rights listed in the Declaration of Independence; life and liberty.
So I can't help but reflect, how many BILLIONS of dollars was spent on this election? How many people weren't fed, clothed, housed or otherwise helped or dignified because we, a supposedly financially-strapped nation, spent money hand over fist to change nothing? And we voted down the significance of other people while claiming this election was about the 99% and making sure the rich person paid an adequate share. But here's the thing- eventually, we all find ourselves in a 1% (or some other minority situation). And when stuff hits the fan, we want somebody to swoop down, help pick us up, tell us how it wasn't our fault, and help make it better. We have to learn to be gracious in this country. We have to learn to put other people first. We are such an angry and bitter nation with such angry and deep divisions. We are fighting over who is more bigoted and who is more likely to do you dirty. We don't champion causes in a positive or proactive way, instead we rally in outrage that somebody else did/said/thought/believed something that either hurt our feelings or we just plain didn't like. I have nothing against helping somebody out when they fall upon hard times, even when it is a product of their own choices. We are, like it or not, a society. We are not little individual islands and others are always affected by our choices and situations. But where have we come off thinking we are deserving of mercy, or help, or assistance.
A friend's kid recently turned 8 years old. He's a good kid, don't get me wrong. On his birthday, the boy walked up to his neighbor and told her to remind her granddaughter that it was his birthday and to remember to get him a present. (The surprising thing is that his mother let him live!) The kid really isn't a hellion or anything, but he got so caught up in the excitement of receiving gifts from family and friends that he forgot that he was in no way entitled to those presents. Generosity is something to be appreciated, but never expected. (His mom promptly demanded he apologize and then later sent him back over to apologize again for his rudeness.)
I think our country has hit a sort of adolescent or immature phase. We're really like the ungrateful teenager who has been given a car and phone and is pissed off that they weren't the most high-end options. We are self-centered and hedonist, masquerading around like we are vigilantes playing a resurrected role of Robin Hood robbing the rich to give to the poor. We're like the snotty high-schooler that is crying outrage over some perceived injustice while still hypocritically inflicting injustice on our own peers.
I hope we get over ourselves soon. We need to grow up.