It happened. After almost two years of pulling for Barack Obama to be President, now it's official...we just have to wait until January 20th. Obviously, I'm ecstatic (despite a small bit of fatigue due to the flu shot I had yesterday), and it's been mostly great seeing so many positive messages on Facebook, but let's be honest: nothing will change unless WE THE PEOPLE get off our assess and do something about it. Our politicians only represent us, they don't do everything FOR us. Yes, I can now say that I feel like I belong in this country that much more than before, but nothing has changed yet, and nothing's going to change for a long time if we don't start helping the government instead of expecting stuff from them, just like Kennedy so famously said.
There are so many things we can accomplish if we truly work at it (in no particular order):
- raising our standards of education (the key to all problems, if not immediately then certainly in the long run)
- taking religion out of politics
- taking better care of the poor and working to prevent poverty
- reducing crime (largely via education of the poor and hopeless)
- reducing our abortion rates
- ending unnecessary war
- making health care reasonable
- ending our energy dependence
- protecting the environment
- improving race/gender/sexuality relations
- trying to bring more voices into this near-monopoly of a political system
- increasing medical advancements (including stem cell research)
- improving our standing on the international stage
- creating more public transportation
- encouraging healthier lifestyles
- increasing our maturity towards alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette usage
- interacting with and caring more for our fellow man
These things aren't going to end just because of a few mandates by the government. On some level, the Conservatives have it right: we SHOULD have as small a government as possible. The catch is, that only works if WE THE PEOPLE step in to fill those gaps.
I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to contribute to all this, but I guarantee you I'll be pushing myself in that direction. If we all do even a small part, this country (and world) will be a lot better off. And, with the tangible hope that's in the air right now, there's no better time to get off our asses and start making it happen!
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2 comments:
I like that you put education at the top of the list (after all, it is a passion of mine). I am not sure, however, that we need to "raise the standard". I personally feel that the standards we have are pretty good, but that the increased use of testing and only using one kind of assessment to say that a student is successful or not is one of the biggest problems. This limits the kind of information that is deemed useful. (Not to say that there aren't things that everyone should know, but the extent that they are tested is what is limiting). I agree, education should be at the top of the list, but I would challenge the assertion of raising standards. (and maybe I just think about standards in a different way than you do...I don't know). What do you mean by standards of education?
Hey Carla,
Thanks for writing. You are correct in thinking I might have meant something different by the word "standards." As I'm sure we both agree, education is the primary way to stimulate progress in society. Therefore, regardless of whether you look at poor communities in America from the Liberal view (that they're unfortunately left behind) or the Conservative view (that they're taxing society with their laziness), education solves both problems.
I'm talking about a broader curriculum...a more holistic approach. We can't just teach kids math, science, English, etc... and expect them to start valuing hard work, knowledge, and respect. The way our society is set up, these have to be passed down exclusively by their communities and families. BUT, if these institutions aren't doing a good enough job (or don't care about these things themselves), then it is the government's (and our) job to try to give them these things, both out of compassion and out of the logic that once the spiral is broken they'll stop being a "burden" on society.
But the reforms in education I'm talking about extend well past standard curricula (is that the correct Latin?). It should include everything from physical education and health (REAL P.E...not the half-assed shit kids get at school) and classes on cultural understanding and community service, all the way to the kind of stuff not traditionally thought to be in the classroom.
For instance...when I was in Europe, I couldn't help but notice that Europeans are less inclined towards bigotry, alcoholism, religion, crime, obesity, and materialism (to name a few). The reasons for this are simple: they have a more mature culture. Parents, schools, and the communities themselves raise kids to value progressive social ideals and to respect their bodies (with the exception of smoking...an oddity for sure), their environments, and the people around them.
So, when I talk about education, I do mean to include the extension of high quality education to our poorer communities and government-funded college tuitions, but I also mean education and enlightenment in the broader sense.
We have to expect more of ourselves and our children, not just passing on the same old comfortable trite that got us where we are today (but no further).
It's awfully idealistic, but if the Europeans could get there, so can we. Sure, they've still got plenty of room to grow, but we make them look nearly perfect by comparison...
Any thoughts?
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