I was sitting here, minding my own business, and all of a sudden I sneezed really loud and really hard and it really hurt. My first thought-or-theory is that sneaky sneezes hurt more than normal sneezes, which tend to tickle your nose for a while before they come.
Anyway, that wasn’t my original thought-or-theory. My original thought-or-theory is that people don’t get involved in politics and pay attention to what’s coming in this country for one reason: it’s chock-full-o’-conflict. I, personally, hate conflict. I despise it. I do not like arguing with people. I do not like to debate. Mainly, this is because I’m terrible at it; but, also, I don’t like the extremely uncomfortable feeling that comes with telling people they’re wrong. I hate conflict, almost to a fault, because I would almost rather remove myself from an argument than try to impart truth to the other person. I don’t think I’m alone in this, either. Generally, I don’t think people like to argue and debate. Some people do and that’s good for them, but I don’t think most people do.
Now, what is politics? What does it mean to get involved in the political process? It means you’ll have to stand up for what you believe in. You’ll have to express an opinion on certain topics. You’ll have to be part of a debate. And that is why I think most people don’t bother getting involved in politics. They just want to go about their lives, do what they want, have a good time with their friends, make some money, have a family, etc. People don’t want to bother other people, because they don’t want to be bothered themselves. If that describes you, please raise your hand, and I’m raising my hand with you. I see those armpits, you may put them down. What that leads to is a willing ignorance. If I don’t know what you’re doing, you don’t need to know what I’m doing.
I think many people in society today have thought, “Well, I’m just going to live my life, vote the way I want, and the government will take care of itself.” I’ve thought that; maybe not in those terms, exactly, but along those lines. After all, I’m just me. What can they do that’ll affect me? I was willingly ignorant of the fact that the government, the one that I said will take care of itself, is actually my government. I was willingly ignorant of the fact that it is my responsibility to have an opinion and let my representatives hear about it. I was willingly ignorant of the fact that my representatives work for me.
So, obviously, I’ve had a little change of heart, or I wouldn’t be writing this. What happened? What made me wake up? What made me realize that I can have an impact on this country’s future? Well, for one thing, President Obama was elected. That didn’t really seem to be too big of a deal to me, at the time. Then, he started moving. Fast. That sent up a red flag in my mind. Why is he moving so fast? Why is he pushing so much through Congress? It made me suspicious, but I still didn’t think too much about it. I knew he was a liberal. I knew he had a big ol’ liberal agenda he was trying to accomplish. Even when the stimulus package was passed, I didn’t pay attention. In my head, I knew the country would have to spend the next gobzillion years paying that off; but, when in my life, has this country not been trillions of dollars in debt? My brother even told me some of the crazy stuff that was in that stimulus bill. By the way, if you didn’t know, my brother’s running for Congress for the 2nd district of NH (andrewhemingway.com). Anyway, so, when I heard about this Waxman-Markey bill (a.k.a., cap & trade, cap & tax, blatant eco-idiocy), I was intrigued. I didn’t know what it was about. So, I read a couple articles about it (note: the articles were from varying view-points) and I was shocked that something so drastic was trying to be shoved through Congress, while the media was minimizing it and the President was spreading outright lies about its effects on the economy. First, I got a little mad. How could something like this even be proposed? Then, I thought, “I’ve got to do something. I cannot stand by and let something like this go through without having done …. something!” And that was the first time I contacted my Congressman. I didn’t even know who my Congressman was. It’s sad, really, how utterly disconnected I’ve been from the political process — a process that’s supposed to revolve around me and you, the people.
That day, I realized that I am the average American, and I realized that the average American is willingly ignorant of what our government is becoming. To let my inner geek shine through for a moment, imagine this, the most tired of sci-fi plots: a wild-haired hermit of a scientist locks himself in a mansion high atop a craggy hill. In his shop, he builds the most elegant piece of machinery, the epoch of engineering, the holy grail of the scientific community: a robot that can learn. At first, the scientist has complete control over what’s happening. He shapes the learning process that the robot goes through. He knows exactly how the robot will respond, what it will do. However, over time, the scientist gets sloppy and lets some things slip that he knew could have disastrous results. Eventually, when he least expects it, the robot, the scientist’s creation, turns on the scientist and takes control for itself. The robot, gaining power, commands the scientist to spend his every waking hour feeding the robot faster and faster with more and more equipment that makes the robot stronger and stronger. What the robot doesn’t realize is that it needs the scientist in order to ensure its own existence. So, one day, the robot unwittingly drives the scientist to the point of exhaustion and, finally, death. Without the constant maintenance and care of the scientist, the robot begins to rust and decay and, eventually, crumbles under its own weight. The moral of the story is: the robot should have gone online and learned how to make itself into a self-replicating robot. No no no, I’m kidding. This is a flawed analogy, I admit, but this story has some correlation to what we have here in America.
We have the opportunity to build a government that will serve and protect us, but this government must be limited in its power. If it’s not, it will turn on us, the people. That’s why the Founding Fathers put the checks and balances of the Constitution in place. If we, the people, don’t demand that those checks and balances be kept in place, all we can expect is that the government will soon be running our lives. And, you know, when I hear people say, “The government will be running our lives sooner than you think!” I automatically want to roll my eyes and walk away. It’s not fun hearing that, or saying it. But I’m afraid it’s becoming more and more of a reality before our own eyes. Right now, there are so many issues being shoveled into Congress, and almost every one is an attack on the fundamental freedoms that you and I enjoy. What can one person do? Contact your representatives. Don’t know how? Google it. It’s really easy to find. What if they don’t listen? Well, at that point, I guess our next best option is to vote the bums out in 2010.
And this brings me to my final thought: what if we’re too late? What happens if our freedoms are irreparably hamstrung by the time November comes around? I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. What I do know, though, is that we can’t wait until 2010 to let our voices be heard. It seems like people all over the nation are starting to stand up and say, “This isn’t what we want!” Please, make your voice heard, too.
