Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Suburban American's Dilemma

Tell me if this rings true or not...

You feel lucky.  You won the birth lottery:  you were born in America.  You live the American dream. [Cue John Boehner crying...]  You live better than your parents did:  nicer car, bigger house, much bigger TV, you've traveled more, etc.  Sure, you work long hours to afford that lifestyle.  You have a tiring commute and, unlike your parents' or, at least, your grandparents' generation, you and your spouse both have to work just to make ends meet.  You worry about how to pay for daycare, how to save for your kids' college and your retirement, and still make your mortgage payments.  You spend your weekends feeling like a taxi driver, ferrying your kids to soccer practices and play dates, coaching the little league team, buying the groceries and doing the laundry.  It's an exhausting lifestyle.  But, still, you are living proof that we live in a great country - the greatest country - in the world, with the best type of government available.

Sure, the system is flawed and doesn't always work great, but it works.  And, in spite of your exhausting life, you do your civic duty and vote.  Well, maybe not in every election, but in most of the presidential ones and even some of the others.  And in 2008, you even stepped it up a notch:  you donated a little money to a candidate, signed up for his mailing list online, maybe even made a few calls to help get out the vote.  Mission accomplished, right?

Um... no.  Sorry.  Because we didn't actually get "change we can believe in."  We got a really smart, earnest president who has accomplished an amazing amount in just two years, not the least of which was saving us from a possible Great Depression Part 2.  But it seemed like everything he did was done in a way that reminded us just how little Washington has changed, just how dirty the political process seems, and just how beholden to big business our elected representatives - including our president - really are these days.  Because they depend on campaign donations from the wealthiest individuals and corporations in America to get elected and reelected, that's who they really work for.  Not us.  They spend so much time raising money for the next campaign, they have less and less time for actually governing and legislating.

So as much as we'd like to think that we can continue to limit our involvement in our political system to a vote here or there, every two or four or six years, we can't.  Not anymore.  Somehow, in the midst of our busy lives, we need to find a way to do more.  We desperately need to tackle the urgent challenges of our day - education reform, our dependence on oil, climate change, exploding health care costs, potentially crippling federal and state budget deficits, a crumbling and antiquated infrastructure - and we can't do it unless and until we free our government from the grip of big money and free our elected representatives from the need to perpetually fund raise.

For starters, we need to change the way we finance political campaigns, and we need to do it now.  But it won't happen until people like you and me demand that change.  No, we won't have to quit our day jobs.  We won't have to chain ourselves to the White House fence.  But we need to do more than just vote every so often, choosing between two candidates who represent a status quo we can't accept anymore.  For some, it might mean writing letters, sending emails, or attending rallies; for others it might mean making some phone calls or meeting with congressional staffers.  But if we all do something, it will all add up.  If we don't, then we will cede control of our political system to the extremists in both parties and those who use their wealth to buy access, influence and control in Washington.  This isn't just a liberal or conservative issue.  And while I titled this post "The Suburban American's Dilemma," this is truly the dilemma for the working class American living in the city and for the small business owner trying to stay afloat in rural America.  This affects all of us.  We all lose if we don't fix this.

Now, as I write this, I'm beat.  I get up at 5 am every day, and it seems like there's little, if any, downtime most days.  But I've got to find a way to make a difference here and now.  This blog is one small step.  It's my humble call to see if there are kindred spirits who will raise their voices with mine.  What comes next?  I'm not sure, yet.  But as busy and tired as I am, I now have to admit that I have to do something.

This is our country.  It has given many of us wonderful opportunities and great freedoms.  But, as my parents and teachers taught me when I was a kid, those privileges come with responsibilities.  It's time to turn those words into action.

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