I’ve spent some days, nights even, wondering what is going on in our country?! I used to think America was so great and complete, now I feel deep pain for her!
I’ve been an avid fan of history and politics all my life. My college co-major. No one in my family has ever been interested in or connected with government except my oldest sister who married the son of a Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles. I was invited to dinner at her future in-laws home as a child and their family life was so gracious and orderly. They sent me home with a jar of jelly that I savored for weeks.
But, while government, or public policy, is an exciting study, politics is not always appealing. In the last couple years, especially the past 6 months, I’ve been really troubled by some people and issues in national politics! I had very favorable but limited experience with the teams that worked on Marc’s case in Portland, OR. I got a great sense of trust from the court and Police Bureau. I visited some PDX City Council meetings, spoke with a couple people on Mayor Hale’s, then Wheeler’s, staff about Marc’s case, etc. I liked how everyone on staff accepted my tragedy, and how they had a fairly keen focus on their problems and got things accomplished at council mtgs. Even the TV news, major paper in Portland, The Oregonian, are not heavily biased like in Los Angeles.
Last year I joined the Twitter universe, in order to help with blog & book exposure. Only a few of my personal friends have joined that platform. When I bring up the topic of Twitter people usually say, ‘I don’t have time for it’, ‘it’s too scary’, or they make a frowny face. I went thru several phases with Twitter, and finally found how I fit in with it. I’d read articles on how it was ruining communication among people, making the world a terrible place and while there’s something to that debate, if harnessed, it can be a great tool for a person.
I’ve seen how horrid it can be but, it’s also a great meeting place for all kinds of people you’d never have time to meet up with in your own neighborhood or life. Sometimes I just want to share everyday stuff with people …. it’s in Twitter. Sometimes I just want to get immediate news updates from people or sources I trust …. it’s on Twitter. Sometimes in depth accounts from experts … I can find it there. And when you find the subjects that you’re really interested in and get educated, it’s great to comment with notable people in public life, as some will actually ‘like’ or comment back.
Surprisingly, Twitter has helped remove the ‘blinders’ from my mind, helped wake me from my deep slumber as a citizen. It’s helped me flat out see with my own eyes how jaded on life many are. Some are like wolves tearing people down just for differing with their views. The filthy words, the hatred for males, whites, police, leaders, Jews or Christian’s …. is reprehensible! It’s one thing to hear a myth from others about a platform, it’s another to discover for yourself a bottomless pit of depravity. So, I stay clear of their threads, and found my happy road.
I don’t slam people on threads cause I know some are hurt and confused and trying to find truth, you can’t always tell on the outside. But there are some, I believe, who are truly mean or evil. I can’t repeat things on this blog. The only way I could wade these waters is cause I know my solid beliefs in our form of government can’t be shaken. And I’m not that offended anymore since I’ve been so deeply offended by having a child murdered.
I’ve been polling friends and almost all don’t like the news! It just boggles my mind, There’s rapid changes going on in our culture and not to keep aware of them is scary to me. There’s rhetoric recently among a few in our national government where people want to make the U.S. a socialist nation, there are Democratic Presidential candidates spouting these sentiments. I never thought I’d hear the term socialist so loudly promoted in our country! Unbelievable!
So, what’s going to happen to our country? The people who want to steal our country’s character want us to stay afraid. They want us to be so busy with our lives, things, worries so we won’t vote. They want to slip into our politics without confrontation. I used to think there were too many good people to ever let this happen. I used to think God wouldn’t allow the U.S. to experience depravity from the inside like we are now. But I’ve discovered that while there are many good people in the foundation of our everyday life, there is a growing group of people in the federal govt. who plan on us being afraid and ‘quiet’!
I started thinking the other day, maybe I’m wrong about some of my friends, maybe they wouldn’t think being socialist is so bad? Probably many have never entertained the thought we could have a change of government. Possibly a few don’t care about our form of govt, or economic system? People sometimes are so numb from life issues, they don’t think they are part of a whole, part of a population that has traditionally wanted to thrive? I truly understand that some are used to the ‘same ol’ life, thinking America will just go on forever supplying everyone with all their material “wants.”
Politics may seem like too much trouble, but you owe it to yourself to get educated so you vote with understanding of the character behind the issues, the purpose behind the proposals. Yes, politics nowadays has some conflict but you can arm yourself with facts if you wish to stay involved. Buddy up with someone close if necessary and dive in, to protect yours and my freedoms.