Thoughts on the Upcoming Political Season

A couple of weeks ago I was asked by my family to write down some thoughts on the upcoming election and recent political issues. We have a monthly newsletter that we all use to keep in touch and knowing that I had strong feelings about the upcoming elections, they wanted me to share my recent thinking, so I've decided to adapt it and post it here for your general edification and in the hope that it might stimulate some dialogue about the important issues currently facing our country.

Although this piece is largely about politics it may surprise you to find out that I am not astutely following the presidential election at this point. Now, this doesn’t mean that I’m uninformed…I read the paper every day, I’m on many email list-servs that frequently discuss the presidential election, and I am a religious NPR listener so I probably get more election news than the average American; but in the interest of my sanity and a growing skepticism about the U.S. electoral process I am trying to remain a distant and impartial observer as the presidential race heats up.

One of the reasons that I am trying to stay somewhat distant and impartial is the amount of marketing that has come to typify recent political campaigns. Politicians, and especially presidential hopefuls, have begun to take their cues from the brand-based marketing that now pervades American culture. Candidates have moved away from substantive dialogue on the real issues facing this country and have spent more time on slick advertising and catchy campaign gimmicks. Although I like Obama for his enthusiasm and panache, I have to admit that his “branding” has been brutally effective and I’m afraid that most people are jumping on the Obama bandwagon because of his catchy taglines and his carefully cultivated public image and not for his grasp on the issues. In fact, many of my students who come to class wearing Obama shirts and buttons can’t even tell me his stance on the war in Iraq or his proposed plan to deal with the healthcare crisis in America. They like Obama because of the image he projects: young, hip, and vaguely anti-establishment. That’s all they know and they’re fine with that. But I’m not! One of the foundational assumptions of democratic politics is an educated citizenry who understand the issues and the candidates positions on the issues; then, and only then, can they make an informed decision about which candidate is best qualified to lead the country. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case in America; we’ve become a culture more impressed by the superficial at the expense of the substantive.

You’ve probably guessed by now that my general lack of engagement with the upcoming election has nothing to do with apathy. In fact, I am more concerned than ever about the state of this country, our priorities, and our elected leaders; but at the same time I am horribly disillusioned about the electorate in general, and not just because they so easily fall prey to political marketing. As I talk with people here in Moscow and in my travels around the country I am appalled with the lack of critical thinking and the general impotence that has come to pervade the minds of the general populace. As gas prices continue to surpass $4.00 per gallon, as healthcare costs continue to increase at three times the inflation rate, and as we continue to devote over 2/3 of our national budget to supporting the military industrial complex, I can’t help but wonder why more people aren’t concerned. Most people I’ve talked to in the past several months seem to have a “that’s the way it is” attitude and just accept these outrageous phenomena as basic facts of life.

Now I’m not suggesting that we need more public protests, petitions or letter writing campaigns. These are old traditional methods that, in my view, have outlived their effectiveness. In the days of the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War there was a vanguard of organizers who were able to capitalize on the sentiment of the times and mobilize massive groups of individuals who could shut down cities and force the attention of lawmakers. Nowadays, municipal restrictions on public gatherings have stifled our right to “lawful assembly” and where two or more protesters are gathered, the police are among them (biblical allusion intended). Marching around the streets with a sign decrying the violence and oppression in Iraq isn’t going to change the world today…it’s only going to soothe the conscience of the protester and make him/her feel like they’ve “done something”. But what are we to do in a world that makes so many of us feel ineffective and alienated from the public process? How do we make change when we feel so detached from the decision makers in Washington D.C.? That’s been my recent quandary and I’m not sure I have a good answer, but I do have a strong belief in the old adage: “Think Globally, Act Locally” and that may be where the real change needs to take place.

A great example of the global/local ethic can be found in the second wave of the women’s movement in the 1960’s and ‘70’s. In fact, it was only when the women’s liberation movement adopted this ethic that real progress was made towards substantive women’s rights in America. With the establishment of “home discussion groups”, “bread and roses clubs”, and “consciousness raising groups” the women’s liberation movement brought big national issues to the level of the isolated woman in the home. These groups were based in neighborhoods and communities and took these global issues, discussed them locally, which then led to local action and eventually national change. Now, it’s important to note that the landmark legislation of this era, the Equal Rights Amendment, was never ratified, but even today we enjoy the fruits of this amazing time in American history.

Over the past several months I’ve watched Lianne take every chance possible to talk with friends and other people she meets about local and national policy issues. She challenges their assumptions and shares her position on the issues, and as a result has started people thinking about issues that they may have never given a second thought. In fact, earlier this year she got all of the preschool moms out to vote in the local election even though several had said they probably weren’t going to vote…of course some of them voted pro-development, which was not what Lianne was advocating for, but at least she got them thinking and involved. I have to admit that I’ve been proud of her willingness to step outside of her comfort zone and challenge those around her and perhaps that’s what we should all be doing.

When was the last time you asked a friend about his or her beliefs on certain issues or the election in general? Good question, huh? We generally don’t do this in America…there are three topics that we don’t talk about: income/debt, personal beliefs, and politics. These are not considered acceptable topics for polite conversation and yet, in the case of personal beliefs and politics, are there two more important things to get people thinking about? I’m hard pressed to think of any…

Well, I could go on and on, but I’ll spare you my political peregrinations for another time. If there is one message you should take home it is: don’t be apathetic and don’t let your friends and family be apathetic either. That’s it, plain and simple. Now, you don’t have to start a consciousness raising group or go out an actively campaign for a candidate, but start challenging yourself and your friends and families. Challenge their assumptions…ask them why they believe one candidate is better than another and make sure they have a good answer. Ask them what they think about climate change, ask them what they think about organic farming, ask them what they think about wilderness preservation, ask them what they think about the war, ask them what they think about oil prices, ask them what they think about human rights, ask them what they think about civil rights, ask them what they think about health care, ask them what they think about welfare, ask them what they think about education spending, ask them what they think about America, just ask them and they will start thinking.

Now, for one final politically motivated paragraph, I would like to share some observations with you:

• The new Republican Party does not stand for small government or fiscal conservatism. The Republican party of the 21st century has created more new departments and federal programs than any time in American history except for FDR’s New Deal. Similarly government spending in the last eight years has been astronomical! If you look at the history of this country, since 1776 we’ve amassed a national debt of over $9 trillion dollars. Over half of this debt was incurred under President Bush I and President Bush II, and if you include the debt incurred during the Reagan administration then 70% of the total national debt is due to three individual Republican administrations. If we look closer, of the 19 budgets submitted during these three presidents’ reigns only two were balanced. They didn’t even make an effort to restrain spending. In fact, the usual pattern under all three of these presidents was to gut social service and welfare programs and shift those “savings” to the military industrial complex. Of course, a great Republican by the name of Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about this and we have chosen to completely ignore his sage advice, so that we are now spending more on the military today than we were at the height of the Cold War and that’s a fact that boggles the mind. So, how’s that for fiscal conservatism?

• The Democratic Party has largely lost it’s identity by defining itself as simply “not Republican”. Unfortunately this is not a clear plan for change, nor a clear alternative…its simple contrarianism. Demand a clear alternative from your candidates…they should have a plan for at least the following:
• Getting out of the war in Iraq as soon as possible, and a plan for supporting the education, rehabilitation, and transition of our veterans;
• Reducing pollution and America’s oil dependence by providing clear and affordable alternative energy sources that do not tax our food production system, and by strengthening alternative forms of public transportation and encouraging “smart” growth that creates wired and walkable communities and commerce districts;
• A clear plan for ensuring that within the next five years all Americans will have access to affordable healthcare. My preference is a single-payer healthcare system, but I can accept anything that is fair and ensures equal coverage for all regardless of employment status.
• A clear plan for increasing local control of school systems and a clear commitment to significantly redesigning or eliminating the No Child Left Behind Act. An alternative plan for reclaiming public education from private education companies/contractors would also be an important step in restoring faith and oversight in the American education system. We want our children taught by professionals not corporations; we want our children to graduate as well-informed critical thinkers, not pre-fab corporate lackeys and mindless consumers.
  
• A clear plan for supporting and leading efforts at international diplomacy as an alternative to violence.
• There’s a lot more I think a candidate should have, but these are the basics…
  

• It is not the government’s job to bail out banks and lenders who use unwise and predatory lending practices to make an extra buck or 20 million bucks. Neither is it the government’s job to bail out the homeowner who took advantage of risky and entirely unaffordable lines of credit to get into multi-million dollar homes…although a working class family living trying to live within their means who were taken advantage of by predatory lenders is another story entirely. (Sorry, this is my recent issue…why is Congress trying to bail out these slime bags? There should be such a thing as “natural consequences”)

Okay, that’s my 2 bucks for this evening. I’m sure that I’ve given you more than a little to think about and I imagine there will be some interesting responses as a result of my little diatribe. But that’s all good…just don’t be apathetic. Also, feel free to pass this on to your friends and family if you think it will help them think about what's important in the upcoming election. The more people we get thinking the better...