“We must become the change we want to see in the world.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
Watching and thinking about and even writing about this war has been like eating poison. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get past the polarization and the yelling and the name-calling. Finally I decided what I wanted to do was focus on how we could change our society to model the principles we say we love so much – to “become the change.” Here are my initial ideas:
1. Mount a massive get-out-the-vote campaign between now and next fall. Shouldn’t we put as much effort into spreading democracy at home as we do abroad? Voter turnout is pathetic in the U.S. compared to other industrialized countries. Every one of us has a stake in this – let’s act like it. To paraphrase my friend Mr. Kusch, if you don’t vote, you get the government you deserve.
2. Get serious about human rights around the globe. Why not, alongside Tom Ridge’s terror alerts, have human rights alerts? There are a lot of places in the world where people face abuses equal to or worse than the Iraqis. If we truly care about them, we should be doing everything politically and socially possible for a superpower to help those people.
3. Take tough steps to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Don’t we agree with the idea of making sacrifices during wartime for the greater good? Shouldn’t we be willing to cut back on our energy use across the board? I’ve written about this before and got royally flamed for it. But I still think this is a crucial way we can turn this crisis into something positive.
Aren’t these things that every American, no matter what political persuasion, can get behind? I’m going to be writing more about the three principles above in the coming months. No, I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know how to magically make all this stuff come true. But I think we need to come up with some common ground pretty quick, or we’re going to tear ourselves apart in the name of “freedom” and “democracy.” I love this country, and I don’t want to see that happen.
Some Americans that I can think of who won’t get behind those things are anyone with a significant amount of power or money. If apathetic citizenry, the suffering of innocents, and dependence on fossil fuels will help some asshole turn a buck, he’s going for it.
And let’s make that human rights, period. We may have a lot of freedoms in this country, but there’s more than freedom to human rights and our record is far from unblemished.
Sparky: I agree that there are a lot of people who would be against these ideas in practice. But I want to see them defend it. I want to say to them, “So you’re against voting? You’re against himan rights? How’s that?”
Oh, don’t be a whiney boy. You didn’t get flamed – you got healthy debate, which is what you claim to have wanted. Buck up!
People get pissed (or flamey) when someone points out how simple it can be to make the world a better place, because they are lazy bastards. There is absolutely no reason we can’t immediately implement these ideas into our own lives, and that’s the only way our government will hear us instead of just telling us that SUV’s are perfectly safe and to keep shopping.
It takes a brave country to face its own faults, and most of us just want everything to go back to Sept. 10th when we could be as selfish and apathetic as we wanted without having to think about the consequences. I think that’s sad. It’s time for reality and proactivity.
Keep it up Adam. It’s nice to see ideas based in reality.
Thanks, Nik.
Huh. I was kind of shocked by Lisa’s comment, since I didn’t think Adam was whiney or deserving of the criticism. I thought about saying something, but figured Adam can defend himself if he feels it’s necessary.
I’m not sure if Nik’s comment is directed at me or Lisa, or both, but in the event that it’s directed at me I’d like to point out that while I may be lazy, I’m not a bastard, I was not and am not pissed, and I wasn’t flaming anyone. And I’ve been thinking about the consequences of our government’s behavior for more than 1.5 years.
Adam, I apologize if anything came off the wrong way. Though I thought we were just having a conversation, and I suspect you feel the same or you would have mentioned something on the phone yesterday.
Sparky: Lisa was referring to my earlier “one car per household” post. She and others did flame me, but that’s OK. And she was just giving me the business, not really in a mean way. Nik, I believe, was referring to the earlier post and comments as well, and not at what you said. I didn’t think you were saying anything bad at all; in fact, I’ve appreciated when you’ve come to my defense against the conservative horde in the past. So all is well.
Oh, Sparky, I wasn’t referring to you. I sort of meant “in general”, but I’m quite sure that you are a bastard! I mean that in the best way possible.
Adam knows me well enough that I was indeed “giving him the business.” He’ll know when, if ever, I’m really out to get him. Right, dear?
And I still say I got flamed more than you (Adam) did in that exchange. So there.
I hate you all.
Oh, wait, no, I get it.
Cool.
I don’t think I ever got a chance to flame you about one car per household, so here goes:
How about no cars per household, you drooling cretin?
I like this game.
Snrk.
Can I have a moped? I’ll share it with the rest of my household, I promise.
i know this is just picking up on one little point amonst the whole post, but, ………i’ve been thinking alot about the insult-the-people-you-want-to-join-your-side-campaign, the sort of sentiment expressed in phrases like: “if you don’t vote, you get the government you deserve.”
so, what government did us voters get? why, the very same one!! how does that work? I would like, and i mean this without sarcasm, i would really like the folks who champion voting to explain why folks should vote – and not just the usual you get the right to complain once you vote – something a bit more substantial. because if you are really serious about increasing voter turnout, and you really think this will change outcomes for the better, you got to do a better job than insulting folks.
BJ: I really wasn’t trying to insult anyone – if it came across that way, I’m sorry. If anything, I’m trying to find common ground here.
Voting isn’t perfect, but it’s what we’ve got. And I think the 2000 election was a great example of how voting matters. I don’t think there are many people, anywhere on the political spectrum, who don’t think our country would be substantially different (and in a different position) if Al Gore were in the White House. The paper-thin margin made it even more obvious that voting matters.
But the same goes for state and local races as well. Yes, politics is governed largely by money. But if we just throw up our hands and say there’s nothing we can do, we’re giving up the last bit of influence we’ve got. I believe strongly that we have the power to change things, and voting is one of the ways to do that.