Life is all Politics, Stupid!

The USA is a huge place.  Most of us are aware of the big cities, like New York City, Chicago and San Francisco.  But we don't know every little neighborhood in those cities or the small towns and farms in between.

And how separate many of us often feel from what is going on nationally!  We are renting, so our  home loan isn't going to be foreclosed.  I have no children serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.  No one in my family has AIDS.  We have no major CEOs in our families and no one holds an elective office.  We're just pretty plain humble folks making do one day at a time, loving our family and celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, first steps and attending a few funerals here and there.

One problem you'll find in families like mine is the assumption that whatever is happening in the world or in Washington, DC is of no concern to us.  But I think we delude ourselves.  Let's look more closely.

My daughter in law was visiting her family in China with my only grandson when the huge earthquake shook her province.  She and her baby slept in a temple one night and in a car  the next night.  Thank God, with some help from some people who could pull some strings for an American citizen, she and my grandson were home in the USA a week later with only bad memories of the event and a shortened vacation.

Then I have a son who lives in a major big US city.  He amassed more than $100,000 in college loans before he finished law school.  This is more than double any house mortgage my husband and I secured more than 20 years ago.

My younger daughter and her partner love to farm....the milking of cows, gathering eggs, growing their own food, but to get a farm in the USA today is almost an impossibility for young couples without capital.  Today she and her partner live in a commune where they can do all the farm things they love to do, but they receive only a small stipend, have had to give up their kitties and have no vehicle. 

One of my sons is searching for a home in a community that has good public schools.  But the communities that have good schools are few, and when a house becomes available, it is usually overpriced and snatched up immediately.  And this is in a state that used to have the best schools in the nation!  Now most of its schools are among the worst in the nation.

Some good news:  My youngest son is in college.  He doesn't owe a cent on a college loan.  Since my husband and I have both lost our paying jobs, we now live at the poverty level, meaning college scholarships based on need are offered to my son.  He can also perform work-study and become eligible for additional benefits.  He does very well in school because the worry of money is slight, thanks to the state lottery, the university and the federal government.

Meanwhile, my husband continues to struggle (for more than four years now) as he builds a new business featuring sports and the media.  I finally took a position as a VISTA volunteer after searching for a job for more than eight months after I was laid off.  I get health insurance (but the feds don't let the insurance cover pre-existing conditions, won't cover annual physicals or lab tests....the most prominent reasons to have insurance in the first place).  My husband (both of us in our 60's) has to settle for whatever he can find out there.  Last year we made less money than we have ever made during most of our marriage of 40 years. At this time, we live in different cities, thus paying double rents.  I drive a car that has more than 190,000 miles on it; it needs new tires which will probably cost more than my monthly stipend.

One of my children asks me to not talk politics with her.  We need to be positive.  Talking about politics is nonproductive.  Politics has nothing to do with our lives.  Huh? 

All of our lives....from those of us living in the biggest cities, on the university campuses, in  our schools and neighborhoods, on the job and out of jobs, on the farm or on the computer 15 hours a day....are impacted by politics. 

We cannot ignore what our elected and appointed leaders from our town council to our president decide or legislate. Their decisions do and will continue to affect our lives.  You can depend on it!

If you ask me, this is where the American people have failed during the Bush Administration.  As we smother in one family and financial crisis after another in our personal lives, we have let our leaders get away literally with murder overseas and ruination of our economy here.

For our children's sakes and for our grandchildren.....I say talk politics and then go out there and act to make our leaders accountable to us.

Rachael Bliss, after working for 10 years in creative services and community affairs at a local broadcasting station, moved into the nonprofit world with her first job with the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, AL. From there she advocated for the hungry, children and the environment as an organizer and director. Articles by Rachael Bliss at MWC News http://mwcnews.net/RachaelBliss

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