I really have to work at suppressing the urge to make political slurs. I am conscious of the smarmy remark as it bubbles up within me: the kind of remark that would make those who share my political ideologies laugh out loud and nod their heads approvingly. I began to notice my tendency to do that after listening to my co-workers making comments (we all work at a television news station - uh, kind of can't escape the political coverage there). It's completely understandable. It's school spirit, good old-fashioned competition.
Except these days it is all too evident how damaging it can be to fly the flag of our political ideals. It really only serves to alienate us from each other, and so I decided to try a different tack: I've decided to listen to those whose views I fundamentally disagree with to see if I could learn something from them.
Let me tell you, that is not easy.
It really does have the effect of making one want to lash out or turn away and clap your hands over your ears. So I decided to listen: I'm listening to Obama supporters, McCain supporters, and anyone else who cares to share their views with me, whether I agree with them or not. It really takes some skill to be able to do that - not to sound arrogant, but I'm here to tell you if I can do it, anyone can do it. In fact, I believe more of us should do it.
From talking to people I already see the positives that BOTH sides have to offer: democrats are good at some things, republicans are good at others. Neither side is good at EVERYTHING! Both sides, ultimately, need the strengths of the other. What if all the countries who are trying to put astronauts into space worked together instead of racing each other to be the 'first' to accomplish something? Imagine if you had the strength of the Russians working with the strengths of the Chinese and Americans to explore the final frontier? I bet those 3 countries working together could come up with some amazing things! Better lifestyles all around!
But of course, that means setting aside some pride and stubbornness. And frankly, I see both Obama supporters and McCain supporters being able to do that. Because if there's one thing both sides agree on, it's the strength of the citizens of this country. Even in the midst of our current economic situation, everybody knows this country is going to bounce back eventually, somehow, some way. It might be sooner, it might be later, but it's going to happen.
Perhaps in the voting booth there should be a place where voters are encouraged to write one positive thing about both candidates whose views they 'oppose'. Find one positive thing, something you like about the candidates you didn't vote for. Nobody is completely evil - Randy Pausch said that (The Last Lecture). Everybody has something good to offer, even if it takes a while to reveal itself.
Another thought I had was maybe if enough people voted for a third party, it would get the Democrats' and Republicans' attention in a way that would force them to look at each other as compatriots rather than as enemies. In other words, the third parties would become their 'common enemy', the one thing that brings 2 bickering parties together, usually. I'm not naive, I know the next President will be either Obama or McCain; but my pressing question is what will the next President do to get both parties to work together? Do they even know what to do? What happened to that spirit that unified the House and Senate members singing "God Bless America" together right after 9/11? The 9/11 terrorists are not sufficient anymore; that's why I think a good, strong third party, preferably the Green Party, but I'll take just about any one of the bigger ones, to get Democrats and Republicans to build off each others' strengths, rather than dividing our fine country.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Bad News These Days
Wall Street is setting the kinds of records today it would rather not set. Obama and McCain are at each other's throats. People are out of work also in record numbers. All day long I sit and listen to this, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about moving to Canada. Running away, no matter how nice it sounds, never works, and running away is precisely what is wrong with our economy right now. People like me who ran away from our civic duties, taking all our freedoms, rights and privileges for granted for too long. Forgive me for sounding like a broken record but it's the truth. So far I've spent my adulthood mostly in blissful ignorance of the houses of cards being built out of our economy, content to let someone else make the decisions for me, content to not have to deal with the boring details that take me away from my very own pursuit of happiness. Because after all, I'm worth it ... right? It's all about me - isn't it???
Well I'm not running away this time. No matter how much it hurts I plan on staying put, weathering this storm and the storms ahead (this Wall Street crash is not going away any time soon). I have a lot to learn; I hate to admit it, but I really don't know that much about the finer workings of our government. And when you multiply that by how many other 30-something adults like me out there? Not to mention the 40-somethings, 50-somethings ...
... and THAT'S what is wrong with our economy today. Among other things.
Well I'm not running away this time. No matter how much it hurts I plan on staying put, weathering this storm and the storms ahead (this Wall Street crash is not going away any time soon). I have a lot to learn; I hate to admit it, but I really don't know that much about the finer workings of our government. And when you multiply that by how many other 30-something adults like me out there? Not to mention the 40-somethings, 50-somethings ...
... and THAT'S what is wrong with our economy today. Among other things.
Friday, October 03, 2008
SarahSoda.net
What is this website about? The Presidential Election 2008, specifically the third party candidates who have been blacked-, whited-, yellowed-, and just generally edged out, and especially The Green Party whom I've thrown my support behind 100%. I'm even registered with the Green Party in the state of Florida.
Normally this is where I would air my views, opinions, stories about my day, etc., but now I'm turning it into what I hope becomes a springboard for discussion and research into the candidates and issues that we'll be voting on come November 4th. My main message is this: there are more than 2 choices for President in nearly all 50 states of this fine country. You don't hear about anything other than Democrats and Republicans on your news because the Democrats and Republicans have reaped so much power and persuasion in recent years, in Washington, the media, corporate interests (yes, they're both guilty of it) that they have reached a level where they can dictate who goes to the debates, who gets the advertising time and dollars and ultimately who gets the votes. Corruption is running amok in our government, and the immediate solution is to get everyone to vote for a third party - ANY third party - although I personally prefer the Green Party and I am registered with the Green Party in the battleground state of Florida.
So to read a couple posts I've made, go here. And click here to find a whole bunch of websites I've come across through my research that I'd like to share with everybody, most notably at the top of the list a documentary I think every red-blooded American, every American who has to pay taxes should see: it's called, Split: A Divided America, and it's an unbiased view of bipartisan politics in present-day America in light of this particular Election year.
Normally this is where I would air my views, opinions, stories about my day, etc., but now I'm turning it into what I hope becomes a springboard for discussion and research into the candidates and issues that we'll be voting on come November 4th. My main message is this: there are more than 2 choices for President in nearly all 50 states of this fine country. You don't hear about anything other than Democrats and Republicans on your news because the Democrats and Republicans have reaped so much power and persuasion in recent years, in Washington, the media, corporate interests (yes, they're both guilty of it) that they have reached a level where they can dictate who goes to the debates, who gets the advertising time and dollars and ultimately who gets the votes. Corruption is running amok in our government, and the immediate solution is to get everyone to vote for a third party - ANY third party - although I personally prefer the Green Party and I am registered with the Green Party in the battleground state of Florida.
So to read a couple posts I've made, go here. And click here to find a whole bunch of websites I've come across through my research that I'd like to share with everybody, most notably at the top of the list a documentary I think every red-blooded American, every American who has to pay taxes should see: it's called, Split: A Divided America, and it's an unbiased view of bipartisan politics in present-day America in light of this particular Election year.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Inaugural post on the new website
Hello, and welcome to my shiny new, very own, personal website. You have arrived at SarahSoda.net where I make my home and publish my thoughts, etc. More to come later, but for now, to read my views on this year's Presidential Election click here.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Red + Blue = Purple
I just finished watching a documentary that confirmed many of my suspicions, and echoed a few of my sentiments about politics in America today. I wish everyone who is old enough to vote could watch it before they go to the polls on Election Day - it's called, Split: A Divided America. I saw it on the Independent Film Channel, so I don't know if cable subscribers get that channel.
What made this documentary so compelling were the questions they asked, although the people interviewed were about as diverse a group of people as you could hope to find in America: from experts to regular people, old to young, from the Rust Belt to the Bible Belt, conservatives, liberals, and many people in-between. Noam Chomsky was interviewed; Tucker Carlson (former host of Crossfire on CNN) was interviewed, former heads of both Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns of years past.
They worked behind the scenes and offered their insight.
And the truth is the political campaigns, especially today, are deliberately negative (as a way of keeping voter turnout down - isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that the ONLY people who are bothering to put people in the White House only represent 30% of our country? Are you comfortable with that??), and are run by the same people who promote ... toothpaste.
Tucker Carlson called the political advertising "narrowcasting" because of how it narrows the viewpoints on any given subject. I forget what his exact words were, which is a shame because he really hit the nail on the head.
One other expert (I forget who just now) wanted to know why some housewife in Iowa is more bothered by the idea of an Islamic radical killing her and her family, than she is about her husband's job security, or the fact that they don't have health insurance for their family, or the quality of education her children are getting. His point was, this woman is going to cast her vote based on something that ultimately, is very unlikely to happen, rather than being focused on issues that are very real to her (read: all of us) on a daily basis. In other words, what is the likelihood that she will have to pick up a gun to defend herself (in Iowa, mind you) from Osama bin Laden - or Al Qaida period - than she would have to take her kids to the doctor?
Anyway, the documentary did a GREAT job of telling the story of what's really going on inside the political arena of today's America going into Election 2008, and they didn't just interview experts. They interviewed Citizen Joes and Janes, and they discovered that for all the differences the media chooses to paint our country in, the fact is the majority of us actually agree more than we disagree.
If you watch the political ads and you really care about what direction our country is headed ... I highly recommend you watch this documentary. It doesn't make a case for any political party, so there is no particular endorsement to be found there.
What made this documentary so compelling were the questions they asked, although the people interviewed were about as diverse a group of people as you could hope to find in America: from experts to regular people, old to young, from the Rust Belt to the Bible Belt, conservatives, liberals, and many people in-between. Noam Chomsky was interviewed; Tucker Carlson (former host of Crossfire on CNN) was interviewed, former heads of both Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns of years past.
They worked behind the scenes and offered their insight.
And the truth is the political campaigns, especially today, are deliberately negative (as a way of keeping voter turnout down - isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that the ONLY people who are bothering to put people in the White House only represent 30% of our country? Are you comfortable with that??), and are run by the same people who promote ... toothpaste.
Tucker Carlson called the political advertising "narrowcasting" because of how it narrows the viewpoints on any given subject. I forget what his exact words were, which is a shame because he really hit the nail on the head.
One other expert (I forget who just now) wanted to know why some housewife in Iowa is more bothered by the idea of an Islamic radical killing her and her family, than she is about her husband's job security, or the fact that they don't have health insurance for their family, or the quality of education her children are getting. His point was, this woman is going to cast her vote based on something that ultimately, is very unlikely to happen, rather than being focused on issues that are very real to her (read: all of us) on a daily basis. In other words, what is the likelihood that she will have to pick up a gun to defend herself (in Iowa, mind you) from Osama bin Laden - or Al Qaida period - than she would have to take her kids to the doctor?
Anyway, the documentary did a GREAT job of telling the story of what's really going on inside the political arena of today's America going into Election 2008, and they didn't just interview experts. They interviewed Citizen Joes and Janes, and they discovered that for all the differences the media chooses to paint our country in, the fact is the majority of us actually agree more than we disagree.
If you watch the political ads and you really care about what direction our country is headed ... I highly recommend you watch this documentary. It doesn't make a case for any political party, so there is no particular endorsement to be found there.
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