It has been a few days since the Republicans took control of the Senate. Here in my home state of Colorado, a Democrat incumbent was unseated in a Senate race that was negative, focused on little of substance and left us all wishing for an end to it. As any good left wing liberal would, I felt very tortured and sad when I woke up yesterday morning. Additionally, I was a little confused.
My confusion comes with wondering why this country would choose to vote Republican when our economy is clearly turning around. My confusion comes with wondering why our country would vote for a party that wants to destroy woman's rights. My confusion comes with wondering why some think it's bad that scores of people now have insurance thanks to the Affordable Care Act, myself and my daughter included. I wonder why some would choose to a vote for a party with no clear agenda except to block whatever the President wants. The next day, the Republicans proved me right in coming out to talk about what they would 'repeal' instead of talking about their ideas for action to move our country forward instead of focusing on the past.
However, I cannot escape these unsettling feelings that I have had throughout the past 6 years. I wonder if these feelings are shared by others and perhaps played a part in low turnout among younger people and liberals on Election Day.
When the Affordable Care Act passed, I was actually quite upset. I posted a video of Dennis Kucinich railing against it. My feelings of upset were due to my own research on our health care system and health care systems in other countries. Our private health insurance model is the root of many of our health care problems in this country. Many other industrialized nations have found models that work well, while we have lagged far behind. The Affordable Care Act is still based on marketplace private insurance. Contrary to conservatives beliefs, it was far from a 'government' takeover of health care. It has yet to be seen how well it will work. But, I know that my belief is that it didn't go far enough and that Obama backed down from his previous stance that a single payer system was the right way to go. Other countries have done it with great success, but we still collude with private insurers who care more about money than the health of the American people.
Another key reason I walk around feeling disillusioned and angry at our President and his administration is the issue of drone strikes. We are literally terrorizing civilians in other countries who walk around anxious and afraid of what may be in the sky and potentially kill them at any moment. Drone strikes have increased dramatically during the Obama presidency. In his first 5 years of office, he authorized 390 drone strikes which may have reached some intended targets while also killing civilian men, women and children. As of January 2014, the death total reached 2400 with at least 273 reported civilian deaths and countless gravely injured. This covert warfare is unacceptable and leaves me feeling sick about our country. Further, no-one seems to talk about it or really care.
I think about our children. For years, we have seen the poor get poorer and the rich get richer. The middle class is shrinking. Middle class children struggle to afford higher education and sometimes forego it due to the prospect of massive debt. Our young adults struggle to pay rent and often end up at home because they can't afford to live on their own. We have a large population of young adults who see no hope of things turning around, who wander through life in quiet apathy and despair. No wonder marijuana has become even more popular. Anything to numb the pain of seeing your promising future vanish in front of your eyes.
Did any of these things prevent me from voting? No. However, these and other issues could have stopped other people who felt that both parties had regressive policies. Our current political climate isn't just about Obama.. Many of us, regardless of age or party affiliation walk around in an apathetic fog. We vote for the 'lesser of 2 evils'. Big money has far too much influence on our our political process and we complain, but nothing changes. I notice that many people don't think their vote matters any more. We see gridlock and fighting that cannot be blamed on either party. We see politicians that pander to big money donors on both sides of the aisle. We wonder if our vote matters because maybe it doesn't. Maybe it's all about the lobbyists and the corporations who control our Congress and our Presidents.
We are scared to speak out against the policies of people in our party like Obama. We see awful problems like drone strikes and turn a blind eye because 'the alternative', in our eyes, is worse. It almost reminds me of an abusive relationship where we stay with our abuser because we are controlled and don't believe we deserve better. Of course, we can't all get what we want politically, but why can't we stand up and change things that are just wrong in every sense of the word?? Do we care that we are tormenting civilians in other countries and killing children? Do we care that our health care system is run by big money private insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies who just look at their bottom line instead of the health of the people? Do we care that middle class young people can no longer afford college and often graduate in massive debt? Maybe we do care, but feel powerless to do anything about it and then become scared to speak out because we don't want to attack someone who is supposed to be on 'our' side.
The big puzzle is how to come together as people from whatever political persuasion and truly address the issues. Possibly, the vision starts at home. Perhaps we need to start with progressive politicians coming out in droves at the local and state levels to effect change and push the issues at home until this vision spreads to national levels. This vision needs to include affordable housing, living wages, affordable college education, affordable health care, and more. There are a few progressive state legislators in my county that care about these issues, listen to people, speak out for what is right and still manage to get re-elected. We need more like them and importantly, more like them running for national office.
We need to light a fire in our young people and inspire them to be active politically. We can only inspire them by stepping out of our own comfort zone and speaking out about issues that need to be talked about. Somehow, we need to figure out a way to see each other's common humanity and come together, regardless of party, to find real solutions for our future. At times, I walk around with low grade anger, feeling so overwhelmed and frustrated with the state of so many things in this country that I just want to go hide in a cave somewhere. All of us,on both sides of the aisle, need to step out of our collective angst. We need to stop accepting 'the lesser of the 2 evils' and demand more. We need to demand more than politicians whose actions are based on the influence of corporate America. Let's stand up and fight; if not for ourselves, for our children.
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