The Status Quo is like a Hydra and during the elections several of its heads were cut off. It has taken a blow by those who have woken up to what’s going on and started to speak out against it.
Unfortunately, the Hydra is able to grow back its heads and the grab for power and economic resources continues.
A vision of hope and freedom has visited us before countless times in the history books of our planet, only to have the sovereignty of the people violently squelched or put back to sleep in a bed of apathy. Will we let that happen again?
Our collective history has deep roots that can make it seem as though the obstacles are insurmountable and that we are doomed to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over.
However, I have an idea that could take the juice out of those roots. What if we changed our mindset and took money out of the picture for a moment?
Only two people have commented on this blog since I began writing it, and both times they were in tune. In tune not only with me, but probably with most everybody else reading and writing on the site. A few days ago though a friend emailed me a response to the blog from a friend of hers - Monica - and right now while our Obama waits to take over is the time to deal with it.
Monica lives in New York, and doesn’t disapprove of Obama. She probably would be one of the 78 percent approving – if she answered the pollster’s questions, and she might not. Her attitude is aligned with many Americans who think it doesn’t make much difference who’s president. Their lives will be unaffected. So why not vote for the guy Joe Six-pack wants to have a beer with? This sentiment resulted in the runaway train wreck of the Bush years, and if we’re not careful will curtail the Obama possibilities. My guess is that even many of people who voted for Obama share her point of view. It sounds intelligent and rational.
First, her commentsl:
“Below is a reply I was formulating regarding your friends blog on Obama. I didn't finish it, but I can't think anymore.
Even in Sydney there were expatriates from the US because of Bush. Sean said he came to Australia after Kerry lost to Bush. He just had to "get away". But I don't think anyone really knows how to manage a nation’s economy. It's intricate and interdependent and it comes down to the consumer in the end. Every democratic nation is that way. Sure, some nations have policies that by themselves sound great (like health care in Switzerland), but when you step back and look at the larger picture (over-worked and under-paid doctors that want to leave; short medical staff equating long waiting lines) it doesn't look like the solution to the problem. People like the idea of minimal government intervention in business and it's great for a country's economic growth where businesses can monopolize and mass produce(Starbucks, Barnes & Nobel, McDonalds), but that can also cause greed, over-production and wealthy businesses that can buy politicians that will give them tax-breaks, tax-credits. Compare that to a country with over-regulation like India. Businesses had to wait forever to get state approval to start a business, and then they get over taxed where the employer ends up making less than the employee. Anyone with average intelligence could see that the housing-market boom was a scam. What determines how a house should be valued at? Aside from the appliances, the materials cost to build the house, it's what the house next door is selling including the value someone places on it. Who determines this value? The consumer. No one wanted to intervene because that's business. Let business take care of itself.”
Okay, not that offensive, right? More neutral, almost legitimate? But isn’t this the problem? The “yawn” constituency. The close to a majority of Americans who think, “Whatever,” are the ones who will hold us back. It’s time to pull together, not just secretly hope something might improve.
So my response:
First, sure, managing most anything is complicated, and a nation’s economy – especially the U.S.’s – is complicated and difficult. But when you put people in charge who don’t believe in the task it’s far beyond difficult; it’s doomed. This defines the Bush years. The people who are running the show ideologically don’t believe in government, and if they did, many are too incompetent to function effectively. Saying no one knows how, just encourages and excuses failure.
Heath care in Switzerland? How about in every first world country? (Except the U.S., of course.) Every single country spends less per capita and by any measure gets more for their money than the U.S. does. This isn’t opinion – as is hers about Switzerland – this is true.
Doctors, insurance companies, HMO’s, the drug industry have all conspired for various reasons to provide inferior service at higher prices. And in one way or another have paid off government officials to keep it this way.
Overworked doctors, long lines, short medical staff? Sounds like she had a bad experience in Switzerland. I do know first hand that Canadians, Brits, and the French are very happy with their health care, and many studies extoll the virtues of the Swiss system. Monica might ask what nurses think about healthcare in the hospital closest to her in New York. It won’t be good and these are people in the trenches.
Saying what people want is usually reflective of personal beliefs. Monica says people don’t want government oversight. Monica I suppose doesn't but I wonder about the rest of us. Certainly having the “right” amount of government oversight is an ongoing process but the hands off approach will never work. Ask Alan Greenspan what he thinks now in retrospect about unregulated markets.
Sure it takes too long to start a new business in India, here in Brazil too. We need to improve.
But to say that employees make more than their employers is silly. I know more about Brazil, but also know something about India. In both countries, it’s all about unreported income. Employees’’ income is almost always reported. Employers on the other hand often do not report their full income. If you are in a business of some kind that has government oversight, maybe then you report all (or pay off a government official or two), but offhand I don’t know of such a business. Such a Brazilian business or Indian business, I mean.
Probably the most accurate reporting of all business in these two countries are foreign corporations. The U.S., for example makes it a felony for its corporations to evade income tax or bribe public officials in foreign countries. I doubt much enforcement took place during the Bush years, but this too should change. And will, I believe.
About her comments on the economics of Starbucks and Barnes and Noble, she needs to understand that they are subject to the same economic forces as other businesses, and that monopolies are illegal (it's just the definition that shifted during Bush). Starbucks closed 150 stores last week, yet they almost always beat the competition. In everything but price usually.
However, when an independent takes them on in terms of a cool designed place, competent and friendly employees, and a great product, the independent often wins. Sometimes they even charge more too! Sure many fave hole in the wall coffee houses bit the dust during Starbucks' acendancy, including the one around the corner from me in Santa Monica where I used to live. It was my fault too. I just decided that being ignored by the help, and the place smelling like vomit were big reasons for going to the Starbucks next door.
Barnes and Noble are in a huge fight with Amazon and many other internet book sellers. Their world has changed. In addition, public libraries now see them as the enemy. Newly remolded libraries all around the U.S. now look like Barnes and Noble, only cooler. And mostly free! This is the world of business and has nothing to do with government regulation.
Insofar as Monica’s comments about the housing market, she’s talking about one little part of the problem: the appraisal. So let’s deal with it. The appraisal is in fact supposed to be based on what similar houses in the same or similar neighborhood sell for. This is not corrupt. The corruption comes from the idea that the appraisal is part of a process of selling people houses they cannot afford. For example, I want to buy a house that costs one million dollars, but I can’t afford it. So the real estate agent who knows that I can’t afford it “works” the appraiser to value the house at say two million. Then the agent can (sort of legitimately) tell the bank or mortgage company that if the buyer defaults they can always foreclose and clear a fast million in profit. Now this is corrupt. It didn’t happen in all cases, but some.
How do they sleep at night? Here’s how: the agent and even the bank in on this scam tell themselves that the housing market will always go up. And the buyer will always earn ever more income to one day soon be able to afford the mortgage payment, and in the meantime structure the repayment schedule to relect this. BUT WHAT IF THE HOUSING MARKET GOES DOWN, AND THE BUYER’S INCOME DOES TOO? This is happening now, and is one of the many things that happened. Is it corrupt? Yes, to value a house based on anything other than comparative worth is corrupt. Appraisals however are a tip of the iceberg of the housing crises. Greedheads on Wall Street pushing credit default swaps and other nonsense dirivative products dwarf this problem.
Mostly what I disagree with is Monica's attitude. “This is just the way things are and will always be, so just get over it,” she seems to be saying. Bush has wrecked the world economy and is a mass murderer. People have lost their jobs, houses, life savings, and self respect. Others are dead, leaving grieving and impoverished families. He has done this with a combination of ideological wrongheadedness and stupidity. But at least I wasn’t there in the U.S. every day to listen to people who think much like Monica.
Last, let’s talk about something not commented on by your friend: world peace. To say world peace is unattainable makes it so. And pisses Obama off.
Let there be peace.
I've been thinking lots about Truth this campaign. Some very important people have asked "What is Truth?" and I am sure that I don't have that answer. But Truth seems to be the one factor that goes out the window when campaigns begin. With Truth goes Trust. Without Trust enters Cynicism, and with Cynicism comes Apathy. With Apathy comes Greed, Graft, and Irresponsibility in the place of Accountability, Patriotism, and Social Conscience.
It seems to me that this is the path America has gone down. Americans have been lied to by politicians for so many years, in so many important ways that Cynicism and Apathy have entered the American consciousness and Conviction, Conscience, Social Responsibility and true Patriotism have been harder and harder to find. We were lied to by Nixon. We were lied to by politicians during the Savings and Loan scandal, we were lied to by a number of politicians now cooling their heels in prison (some pardoned), we were lied to by more than one President and some cabinet members as well.
Why should the American people believe anymore? I guess the answer is that if we don't learn how to trust again, the country will not survive as it was formed. Democracy will suffer, and with it the common citizen will suffer, and when that happens to America, it happens to the world. I do not subscribe to the sentiment that the USA is the center of the world, and the ruler of the world, but I do know that everything that happens in America has a ripple effect in the world (in fact, that is true for every country and every one of us). If we fail, democracy fails.
Why should we hope and dream and trust? Because we have no choice, we must find a star to grab hold of, and we must work to make our beliefs come true. In a way, we must help to create hope by being willing to examine each statement for truth. Once proven, we must then put our hearts into the work that needs done to spread that Truth and Hope all around us to the best of our abillity. We must hold each of our elected officials accountable to Truth to rebuild Trust and Hope in our country, to move forward to claim our birthright and the birthright of our children and our children's children.
Barack Obama has asked us to Hope and to Believe. Not just in him, but in our OWN ability to bring about change in Washington and in the world. It is a call I have not heard for some 48 years, and I think it is a call the young people of this nation have been waiting for. If you are part of the younger generation, I am putting my hopes on you. Think about the future, about your friends and family, and about your country and your place in it. Then act.
This blog tonight isn't about partisan politics, and it really isn't even about Senator Obama. It is about our country and our values and our survival as a democratic Republic, about the values of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It is the most wonderful country in the world, and has created and achieved amazing things in the short time it has existed as a government. Let us not be too cynical and apathetic to demand Truth, and to hold our government accountable. Stand up and be counted. Be the change!!
VOTE FOR TRUTH! VOTE FOR HOPE!! VOTE FOR CHANGE!! VOTE FOR OBAMA!!!
Hey everyone,
I am coming across a real issue when it comes to talking to people about voting. It seems that people of my generation ( i am 23 ) feel as if their vote does not count. The responses are varied but the message is the same...i hear things like: "Its all fixed anyway", " I voted for kerry and look what happened", "i dont care and its a waste of my time". I am so frustrated by the apathy of some people that i am so lost on what to do. so the question posed is this: how do you mobilize people to get out there and vote when no matter what you say they think voting is hopeless, pointless, and a waste of time?
I welcome any thoughts and comments on the issue
I am sure you have all listened to or heard all the hate mongering of the Republican party this past week. Today, I heard remarks from Pat Buchanan that if McCain wins, then Hillary will be back in 2012 running against Sara Palin. I feel sick. This is especially surprising given the pride and hope I felt the prior week after listening to the messages of Barack Obama and the Democratic party. This past week, I feel that I have been reluctantly thrown right back to the 1980s--with Reagan asking/ordering the middle class to work alone and avoid dealing with the collective interests of all Americans. For the past eight years, George Bush (with the help of a Republican congress for 6 years) took Reaganomics to it's logical end. Now, we should know better. Right? With all the economic and other challenges facing us, we should understand that United we Stand and Divided we Fall. We cannot escape from ourselves. We will succeed by being united and by unleashing the God-given talent of every single American. All for One and One for All! Anything else is just dillusional.
But, I wake up and see the pure evil and hate spewed by Sara Palin and the Republican Party celebrated by the so called liberal media: CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC and NBC [Sorry, don't watch Fox]. Pathetic. A Pit Bull with a Lipstick is still a Pit Bull. There is no talk of HealthCare, the economy or a meaningful National Security in modern era [we don't live in the 1940s anymore]. With the media, it's all about the ratings they can get by covering Sara Palin--a relatively unknown politician that came (from nowhere) throwing hate and deception. We know very little about her. Who is Sara Palin? We know that, right out of the gate, she has shown little regards for an honorable American, Barack Obama. Yet, my fellow Americans have showed nothing but adulation--despite her caustic nature. Sara Palin is evil. She is a fraud. Alaska has gotten the more federal Pork spending per capita than any state in the union. Yet, the media is failing miserably at it's job as a fair broker of information. The media is enamored by the Soap Opera she presents. The broadcast networks are incapacitated by the rating bonanza they anticipate from Sara Palin's potential Brittney Spears crash and burn story. It is Soap Opera. But, the main issue is not just about celebrity news. USA is threatened by domestic and foreign policy challenges. There is no celebrity issue and gossip at stake in this year's election. The economy is at stake. The exploding HealthCare cost needs to be solved.
The world is waiting. Will the US get back on track or will it implode in self-hatred and disunity? Europe is ready. Russia is ready. Pakistan is ready. India and China are ready. An acquintance of mine asked why Germany couldn't take a better stance against Russia during the Georgian crisis. My friend was foolish; he lacked any sense of history. He knew not of the The Treaty of Malta and other treaties reached with Germany and Japan after WWII.
NATO and the United Nations were formed after WWII--to keep the peace. My friend understood little about how powers were arranged in modern world. He is a throw-back to an earlier time. His thinking is outdated. He seems unaware that much of the world has moved on. Countries have sought and achieved independence and are agitating for self determination. Many countries have sought democratically elected governments to pursue national interests. However, like my friend, George Bush and John McCain are tone deaf. G. W. Bush's policies of the past few years has endangered both NATO and the United Nations. A McCain administration would surely be the final nail on the coffins of both bodies.
If McCain wins, the situation around the globe won't be pretty.
We cannot afford to wait for a potential re-run of Hillary Clinton. Four more years of this Bush/McCain policies will mean that the rest of the world would have pivoted to protect their own self interests. Germany will surely aim to rebuilt her military to the pre WWII period--to fight off a resurgent Russia--by four more years of Bush/McCain. Similarly, NATO would be dead. Every nation in the middle east would have sought or already have access to nuclear weapons in four years of current US foreign policy; most countries in the middle east can already afford to buy nuclear technologies from North Korea, Pakistan and Libya. A McCain/Palin administration that disrespects and divides Americans (as they do now) would mean that the US won't have the unity and the military and economic strength to stop the middle east from total disintegration and strengthened extremism against America. In the next few weeks, we need to do all we can to change course and unite our fellow Americans to fight for the progress that many generations of Americans have fought and died for in the past: abolition, women's suffrage, civil rights, workers protection, consumer protection, freedom, etc., are all on the line. The choice is ours to make. Time won't wait. We don't have four years to wait. Thanks for listening.
Update: Ok, someone forwarded an insightful "Sarah Palin is Not a Hockey Mom" article.
I've never contributed to a campaign before. I've never attended a political rally. I've never attended a 'house party' to watch the Democratic nominee's acceptance speech with a group of people I had never met, let alone had much in common with. And this is the first blog post for me as well. But at 52 years old, with 2 grown daughters and 2 beautiful grand-daughters, I can no longer sit on the sidelines and watch this country continue down the same path, leaving little hope for the future. I really must do my part this time. I really must heed Obama's call for 'politics from the bottom up'. It's how business should be handled and government as well.
I was a welfare mom, who like Obama's mom, raised 2 kids alone. I did go to work when my children started school and when they were teenagers, I went to college while working a 40 hour a week job and became a CPA. It took 10 years, a 100 mile round trip drive 2 days a week to get to school and a hell of a comittment, but the goal was attained. So I know a little bit about what Obama speaks to re: the opportunity that this country can offer. I was lucky to do this hard work during the years Clinton was in office, when costs were under control not only for education but also food and gas. I'm not sure I could do the same thing today given the current economy!
The bigger point I want to make in this my first blog, is to communicate to others my experience this summer when I went to Germany & France for a few weeks. Everywhere I went, I was asked 2 questions, once whomever realized I was American. Who did I support in this race for president? And how the hell did Bush get elected 2 times in this country? My answers to both were as short as the questions...... Obama for president, because I truly believe he speaks from the heart and will initiate needed change in Washington DC. And as to the prior election, plain and simple, it was stolen from the people by powerful people who had an agenda to finish. More than once I felt almost ashamed to be an American, but realized the importance of relaying the message that many, many Americans oppose the current Administration vehemently. For they believe that most of America supports the Bush Administration.
The final point I'd like to make is to relay the importance of everyone voting in November. So many people say their vote does not count. The electoral college argument. But I say that if there is a possibility that this vote will be stolen, then the popular vote has never been so important. If the popular vote is far from close, let's say by 1 million votes (a likely number of possible apathetic, non-voting registered voters nationwide), then it is 'in their face' so to speak regarding the possiblity of election fraud. All registered voters must vote this time. Foreignors, especially those who understand how dear democracy is, would laugh out loud if they knew the percentage of both registered and unregistered voters who consciously choose to 'drop out' and not care. I imagine, off the top of my head, that it is likely in the neighborhood of a few million people nationwide. (I'm sure someone has that number!). I would like to focus on those people to get them to the polls. I don't even care how they vote, but everyone in this country has too great a stake in the next 4-8 years in this country to continue to be apathetic in November.
Please do your part and talk about this election everywhere you go. At work, on the bus, on the airplane, in line at the grocery store. Do your part to initiate interest. Put posters in your house windows, on your cars. I want to see the biggest presence of Obama/Biden's name everywhere I look, every day, everywhere I go. I believe this alone can help. I have voted sometimes for the name on the ticket that I have seen the most of, advertised around town! (sad but true!) And our neigbborhood group believes it is very important to encourage people to vote 'down the ticket'..... in other words, if you aren't sure you know enough about the candidate(s) on the ballot, vote democratic, so that Obama has the best chance to initiate the change that we all believe is possible under his plan. And most importantly, volunteer to register voters and get the vote out!
Yes we can!
Phyllis
Everyday in my office i run into skeptics. Mostly GenX men who are so cynical about changing anything in Washington and worse they don't have any desire work for it. It can be discouraging.
I have learned to not waste my time on these types right now and just show them what can be done. There are plenty others who are willing to listen and will get involved if you ask them. I just keep on keeping on. Working on Voter Registration, fund Raising and organizing in my precinct in Dallas
The hard part is putting up with their constant comments about Senator Obama, usually delivered as a joke, But the negativity is very telling of their real motive. While not necessarily on purpose, their motive is to have you be just like them, not engaged and apathetic.
Not this time, not this year. Go Obama!
I went canvassing for the first time in my life for our candidate on Saturday August 2nd. It was so empowering and of course (HOT), but it made me feel great that I could take a little bit of energy to get out there and help make something happen. I didn't want to sit back and hope that OBAMA got elected. It was great talking to my people, seeing where they stand, and not taking their support for granted...because we can't. In talking with people I learned that some "haven't decided" who to vote for??!! I actually think that is code for I haven't decided if I'm going to vote. But at least through our efforts we got two more registered voters that Saturday afternoon and spoke to some others about their indifference, disenfranchisement, OR WHATEVER about this election. Make no mistake we cannot assume anything.
And to the point of Hillary Clinton's being "nominated" at the Denver convention. Puh-lease! If Al Gore didn't throw eggs during W.'s inauguration, then she should take her loss as an opportunity for betterment and introspection. Thats' a polite way of say, #@*!& sit down!!!!!
BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE
OBAMA HAS MY SUPPORT
AS LONG AS HE REMEMBERS WHO’S THE BOSS
I’m both a progressive and Obama supporter, so it goes without saying that I’m deeply disappointed with his reversal on the FISA issue. But the mere fact that Sen. Obama felt it both safe, and necessary, to moonwalk this issue after stating unequivocally that "I am proud to stand with Senator Dodd, Senator Feingold and a grassroots movement of Americans who are refusing to let President Bush put protections for special interests ahead of our security and our liberty", says just as much about what we’ve allowed our political process to become, as it does about Sen. Obama’s inability to stand firm on the convictions that he said he was so proud to embrace.
Apathy is a direct by-product of fear, disappointment and neglect. It exists when people's values are not reflected, their desires are unfulfilled within society and they feel a sense of alienation from what is happening around them. It is difficult to feel involved and included if we do not feel a part of our social milieu, if we believe there is nothing in it for us and if we feel excluded from the outcomes. In such situations there is no feeling of attachment or association and so there is likely to be detachment in the form of an apathetic response to prevent further hurt or disappointment and to dampen expectations.
I just read this story about smears against Barack Obama in small town America; it breaks my heart that in this the age of information – literally at your fingertips – folks still choose to go out of their way to avoid the truth under the false guise of insufficient information.
What is it about older folks in small town America that blinds them to basic facts and truths that my 9-year old cousin can establish with a few keystrokes on the internet?
But screw the internet. I have family and friends in Uganda – a poor East African country where the internet is not nearly as pervasive – who still heavily rely on “rudimentary” sources of information like the radio, the local newspaper and the television. Some of these folks don’t even know what the hell the internet is. But they have long established, through common sense fact-finding methodology (including phone-a-friend!), that Barack Obama is a Harvard-educated Christian man from the south side of Chicago with an expansive resume in public service, who also happens to be the junior senator for the great state of Illinois. They’ve heard the same rumors and falsehoods about Obama’s biography… but they merely scoff at them because they know the truth.
Less than 3% of Uganda’s 30 million people had access to the internet even just 2 years ago. By comparison, 208 million internet users accounted for nearly 70% of the United States population in the same time frame.
So how is it that my grandfather who still gets his news from the radio has enough information to debunk nasty, false rumors that Obama is a Muslim, and Leroy Pollard (quoted in the MSNBC article) insists that Obama is “from Africa, and that the first thing he's going to do if he gets into office is bring his family over here, illegally.”
It’s not lack of a college education because, like Mr. Pollard and those folks from Findlay, OH, my grandfather did not go to college. It couldn’t be lack of information either. Star of the article, Jim Peterman brags about having “watched enough news and campaign advertisements to hear the truth: Sen. Barack Obama, born in Hawaii, is a Christian family man with a track record of public service.” And Mr. Peterman, unlike my grandfather, has access to the internet. So the problem is not even lack of basic sophistication.
The problem with the folks in “Flag City USA” – where these malicious rumors spread like wild fire and stick – is more than just voter apathy. It’s reckless disregard for the truth, at the very least. And plain old stupidity and racial prejudice at worst.
What else can you make of this statement by this same Leroy guy, “He's got that racist [pastor] who practically raised him, and then there's the Muslim thing. He's just not presidential material, if you ask me." From merely a logical standpoint, feuding statements that he’s a Muslim AND has a pastor both can’t both be true.
It breaks my heart that for someone like Mr. Peterman who is versed with the truth about Barack Obama’s story still has the mentality that "it's hard to ignore what you hear when everybody you know is saying it."
The silver lining here is that, like Barack Obama, I’m putting my faith in the American people – the vast majority of them – that come November, they’ll have had enough time and mastered the necessary sophistication to sift through these rumors and see them for the lies that they are.
Please fight the smears.
Some people pre-determine their candidate for President. Actually most do, I believe. It could be any reason; race, gender, gives good speeches, gives bad speeches, elitism, and Applebee's salad bar, etc., that will be the excuse for someone to dislike a particular candidate. This is the fact of the matter. This is an unavoidable truth, I think. These people are already lost. I think Barack Obama does na excellent job of realizing this and not wasting his time or our money on those individuals who refuse to acknowledge truths and facts. They will see when Barack moves into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. that all their fears, concerns, and particularly, excuses were for nothing.
What does a mother of two very young children know about world peace & diplomacy? This mother, Jess, offers some indispensable lessons in the power of listening. The United States needs to realize it no longer holds sway over world opinion; it's time to stop operating from fear & show the world that while we may not give in, we are engaged in a process of listening. Jess trusts Obama to do this.Click here to listen to this episode of Interview4Obama...22 min.
My wife and I spent the afternoon registering voters outside the WalMart in Morganton. We weren't allowed to wear buttons or show any campaign material, so shoppers didn't know for sure who we supported.
We did ok registering new voters (maybe 30 in 3 hours). But the problem was the unsolicited response we got from way too many registered voters: "There's no good choices this time."
To be fair, I had no idea what their party affiliation was, but my gut feeling was that this was code for "I won't vote for a woman or an African-American."
First question: Are other people getting this kind of reaction?
Second question: Is it widespread?
Third question: If the answers to the first 2 questions are "yes," then what on earth are we going to do about it?
Dealing with the Apathetic voter may not be so clear cut. Often they are not apathetic (without interest) but cynical.
Presuming there are some apathetic voters left, you can use the following to help get them to reconsider using their vote with the following.
From time back beyond any living memory in my family, the family farm was home. Several generations contributed to building that farm up and being caretakers by developing rich soil, solid fencing and well constructed building to house people, animals and supplies.
As is the case with many, economic conditions encouraged one generation's sons to move from the farm. It was only so big and there were so many of them and job opportunities existed elsewhere. So it languished. The remaining family, women and an infirmed grandfather eventually moved to town to be closer in. Occasionally the farm was rented. Mostly it was just abandoned.
By the time it passed to the hands of my father, it was a mess. The buildings were still very sound but of course, the plumbing and electricity were in need of serious upgrades. The land was seriously overgrown and no one in the family (except myself and a few younger cousins) were interested in farming or the land. We were now a clan of the towns and suburbs.
My father passed assessment that it was too much trouble to mess with and let the farm pass into the hands of strangers. Those strangers cherished their little gem and would occasionally even contact us with some trinket or family heirloom they found that they thought we might enjoy.
I have no heartache knowing that the farm is well cared for and I'm welcome if I ever want to go visit but I see it as being a situation much like the apathetic voter. My father could not be touched by the value of this homeplace, analagous to our own country, that had fallen on some challenging times. A few thousand dollars and some hard work cleaning the place up would have given it a life that could have been enjoyed by those connected to it for many more generations.
I'm glad it passed to someone who care, but what if it hadn't? What if the land had been of interest to someone who wanted to build a development or strip mall? Perhaps worthy uses but certainly not what my ancestors might have wished. They were connected to the land and would have wanted their children's children to enjoy that connection as well, at least presuming those children wanted to.
I feel like what has happened to this country is much like that family farm/homeplace. It's fallen in disrepair but the value is still clearly there... it just needs and deserves the attention of the people connected to it. Leave that work to the hands of others and it might turn out fine, but then again, it might not.
The apathetic voter needs to recognize what we all recognize that yes, there is alot of work to be done, but it's not work we need or should expect someone else to do. It's our homeplace we are saving.
