I found this letter sitting on my computer. I wrote it about a year ago in reponse to a column I read that asked for feedback. Specifically it asked, "What I Think" about Obama's administration so far, and the future of Americ. Well I can't turn something like that down. This is a little more political than I typically fire off, but I figured...what the hell? I would love to hear some feedback on this myself.
Dear Mr. Ruben,
What do I think... that's quite the loaded question. I suppose it all comes down to what I see vs. what I'd like to see. What I'd really like to see is fairly straight forward. The big things: equality, safety, freedom, the things that typically come to mind when one thinks of America in the abstract. I'd like to see a nation of people that are intelligent, educated and analytical. I'd like to see a nation of people that care.
We broadcast to the world in 2008 that we were that nation. We said loud and passionately, "We want a new direction!" "We want change!" "We want to move forward instead of back!" But then we said, "We want it overnight, and we don't really want to work to hard to get it!"
So we put an intelligent, capable, progressive leader into the office, and we kicked our heels up onto the coffee table and said, "Knock yourself out, Mr. President."
When Mr. President didn't deliver in 18 months, we reacted like a group of spoiled children. We said to the other parent, "Daddy Democrat isn't being nice!" and we elected a group of right-wing extremists that seem to live with the preconception that equality means, “My ignorance is equal to your intelligence!"
Now, we may differ on how much the wealthy should be taxed, or whether the federal government should have control over local schools, that's fine. I can appreciate discussing those issues with an educated, aware person of differing opinion. No problem. Let's do it. But when you come to me and say, "Get government out of small business!" and "We want less government!" while at the same time holding signs that say, "Abortion is murder!" and "No Gay marriage!" then we have a dilemma. Saying government should get out of small business, but get into the wombs of mothers and the beds of gay couples is more than slightly hypocritical. Really, what you are saying is, "I want the government to leave me alone, but become deeply involved in the lives of people I disagree with."
So, what I think... that is the purpose of this little rant, isn't it? I think we have a long way to go. I think that as advanced and civilized as we see ourselves, we are still consumed with greed, and ignorance, and prejudice, and all those other petty motivations that we'd like to think ourselves above. We are waist-deep in bull excrement, and we're celebrating the fact that we aren't neck deep.
I think we had a wake up call in 2008. The people in this country want things to be "better" but we aren't really sure what that means or how to do it. We are ready for a change. We are ready for something new. We are ready to move forward and meet the potential that is hiding deep within the subconscious minds of the dormant American Dream.
We are willing to stand united, but we need to stay motivated. We need that voice that speaks what we're all thinking. In 2008 that voice was Obama, and our support dwindled because we felt he lost focus.
Imagine, the President of the United States being a little busy. Ludicrous. But the voice is still there. It may have lost the vigor it had in 2008, but that proved that we can hear it, and when one person says it out loud we say, "Hey, I've been thinking that too!"
With our voices linked in harmony, we have the potential to rise like a wave again, pushing forward with the single message that we can all hold on to, "There is a better way, and we are ready to move forward!" We are ready to move up. We are ready to move out of the old ways, circling the drain in a downward spiral of self-depravity and lackluster apathy. We are ready to move on.
Sincerely,
- G
Dear Mr. Ruben,
What do I think... that's quite the loaded question. I suppose it all comes down to what I see vs. what I'd like to see. What I'd really like to see is fairly straight forward. The big things: equality, safety, freedom, the things that typically come to mind when one thinks of America in the abstract. I'd like to see a nation of people that are intelligent, educated and analytical. I'd like to see a nation of people that care.
We broadcast to the world in 2008 that we were that nation. We said loud and passionately, "We want a new direction!" "We want change!" "We want to move forward instead of back!" But then we said, "We want it overnight, and we don't really want to work to hard to get it!"
So we put an intelligent, capable, progressive leader into the office, and we kicked our heels up onto the coffee table and said, "Knock yourself out, Mr. President."
When Mr. President didn't deliver in 18 months, we reacted like a group of spoiled children. We said to the other parent, "Daddy Democrat isn't being nice!" and we elected a group of right-wing extremists that seem to live with the preconception that equality means, “My ignorance is equal to your intelligence!"
Now, we may differ on how much the wealthy should be taxed, or whether the federal government should have control over local schools, that's fine. I can appreciate discussing those issues with an educated, aware person of differing opinion. No problem. Let's do it. But when you come to me and say, "Get government out of small business!" and "We want less government!" while at the same time holding signs that say, "Abortion is murder!" and "No Gay marriage!" then we have a dilemma. Saying government should get out of small business, but get into the wombs of mothers and the beds of gay couples is more than slightly hypocritical. Really, what you are saying is, "I want the government to leave me alone, but become deeply involved in the lives of people I disagree with."
So, what I think... that is the purpose of this little rant, isn't it? I think we have a long way to go. I think that as advanced and civilized as we see ourselves, we are still consumed with greed, and ignorance, and prejudice, and all those other petty motivations that we'd like to think ourselves above. We are waist-deep in bull excrement, and we're celebrating the fact that we aren't neck deep.
I think we had a wake up call in 2008. The people in this country want things to be "better" but we aren't really sure what that means or how to do it. We are ready for a change. We are ready for something new. We are ready to move forward and meet the potential that is hiding deep within the subconscious minds of the dormant American Dream.
We are willing to stand united, but we need to stay motivated. We need that voice that speaks what we're all thinking. In 2008 that voice was Obama, and our support dwindled because we felt he lost focus.
Imagine, the President of the United States being a little busy. Ludicrous. But the voice is still there. It may have lost the vigor it had in 2008, but that proved that we can hear it, and when one person says it out loud we say, "Hey, I've been thinking that too!"
With our voices linked in harmony, we have the potential to rise like a wave again, pushing forward with the single message that we can all hold on to, "There is a better way, and we are ready to move forward!" We are ready to move up. We are ready to move out of the old ways, circling the drain in a downward spiral of self-depravity and lackluster apathy. We are ready to move on.
Sincerely,
- G