All I'm Saying Is...(My Political Rant)

I had a very frustrating moment at work today, and figure I get to blow off some steam (you've been warned, a small rant is coming up (it may sound similar to some of the things my mom says, but that just goes to show how wise I think she is). One of my coworkers who rarely talks to me up and talked to me today. He started off simply enough, just asking if I had another job, what I was studying in school, and whether I was an environmentalist. I said that I was an environmentalist, and that I thought hunters were actually pretty good environmentalists, though I choose not to hunt. With this he said "Good, you're educated." Really, he was going to go ahead and tell me I'm educated. Of course I'm educated! I decided not to pursue that comment because I don't think that my education makes me better than anyone else and really try to avoid sounding elitist. Anyways, then he asked who I was voting for and all hell broke loose.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I'd just to like to say I truly do support Obama, even when I'm not faced with one of the more ignorant people I have ever met. I love that he (Obama) is tolerant, I love that he is concerned with the rising cost of education, supports giving health care to more people, and has an energy policy that goes beyond drilling (it might be my paranoid mind, but I think we've reached peak oil and the oil companies are hiding it). I often hear people say that Obama is the lesser of two evils, but I think he's actually great and not at all evil, I think he represents an awesome change of pace. Plus, he is amazing to listen to, and being persuasive is a plus in my book. I have my opinions on McCain, but I believe that smearing someone else doesn't really count as having a position on real issues, so I'll just keep that down.

Back to my bad day at work, this guy proceeded to yell at me (really, he yelled at me) about how he couldn't understand why I was a liberal and that Obama would run this country into the ground. More than anything else he said, the fact that he called me stupid (duped was the official term he used, several times) and refused to even try and understand how someone could think differently from him were the most frustrating things. I left feeling like there was nothing I could do to make him see me as more than "liberal and evil." I feel far more complex than that.

So, in case anyone wondered, I am an environmentalist, fairly moderate, and an independent.

*I think the less privileged in our country need to be advocated for, I believe that the opportunity to pursue an education is a more important right than the ability to obtain a gun. I think human suffering is intolerable and we should do everything we can to alleviate it, no matter the race, gender or class of those suffering. I think the way we as a group treat the most disadvantaged (the poor, mentally disabled, elderly, etc.) is the most telling example of our true intentions toward others.

*I believe in advocating for environmental protection, that without an active advocate a greedy few with exploit and destroy resources that belong to the entire country. I believe our national forests, rangelands, parks and wildlife are the property of the entire country and that our government is the only interest that can be a worthy steward of such resources. I believe that while diverse interests do need to be taken into account in natural resource decision making, that the long-term effects of any proposal should be taken into account. I find making decisions based on marginal cost-benefit analysis is stupid and selfish.

*I abhor xenophobia, when did being American start to mean that you couldn't be Mexican? I honestly don't believe immigrants, illegal or not, pose a great threat to our country. I think the solution to the "immigrant problem" lies in addressing the reasons they can be more successful in this country as second class citizens than as full citizens in their country of origin. I believe that diversity is important to raising a generation of un-ignorant people. I see no threat in difference, whether it is a different religion, ethnicity, country of origin, sexual orientation, or anything else. I think the most dangerous things happen when people band together in the belief that they all agree on everything and identify discrete enemies.

*I am strongly opposed to divisive politics. I have no fear of homosexuals, I think bans on their ability to have a marriage, adopt, etc. are efforts to manipulate the public's concentration away from real issues.

-On that note, I think abortion should be a non-issue at this point in time, Roe v. Wade was handed down decades ago, and should be left where it is. I have my own religious views, but am extremely uncomfortable with anyone passing legislation based on religious beliefs. I believe that every woman has the right to decide when she is going to have a baby, and that eroding the ability to choose whether or not to have an abortion is intimately tied to with ability to obtain birth control, to get adequate gynecological health care, and to make so many other choices. I think taking one step backwards risks sliding back toward the days before suffrage, it sounds paranoid, I know, but it makes sense to me. And it seriously irks me that so many male lawmakers are taking this issue up. They will never be pregnant, they will never know the struggle to decide how to fit a family in with everything else a woman may want to accomplish, and no matter how sympathetic, they will never know how one man/mistake can change course of a woman's life.

*I think the two party system is flawed. While I know which party I most frequently vote for, I don't believe that declaring yourself a Democrat or Republican makes anyone a worthy candidate for office. I also find that more than playing into the divisive politics that so often take over in our country, the two party system severely limits voters choices. Imagine having more than two real choices for President.

*I don't think we can lower taxes, fight major wars in two countries, bail out our financial system, and support the citizens paying those taxes. I think the governments primary function should be to protect and support its citizens. I can see so many ways the government has supported me (the infrastructure I use everyday like roads and sewers, my state school, my entire grade school time, mosquito abatement, environmental protection....) that I am only alarmed when I see those tax dollars fly out the country (or right now, toward Wall Street).

*I don't believe war is the answer to much of anything. I can find it in myself to support a defensive war, but that hasn't been the case in America since WWII. I think in an increasingly globalized world that being so aggressive will cause the country to overextend its resources in the wrong areas and ignore really pressing issues.

*I am very patriotic. I believe that what makes our country great is its institutions, not the people running it. I bristle when people suggest that by not supporting a war I am not patriotic (I admire the patriotism of soldiers, I am very sad when they are injured or die, I would much rather they remain safe at home, protecting things here). I vote because I believe that it is the way I show my faith in this country. I think one of the most dangerous things about the Bush Administration is that they have sought to erode these institutions, that they have done seriously unconstitutional things.

So there it is, my hippie-dippie-tree-hugger belief structure, I have lots of other opinions, but I'll stop there for now. On a happier note, who saw Heroes this week? It was amazing, right? I had to wait until Tuesday to see it, but afterwards I could barely contain my joy. So many of my questions were answered in the first few minutes, it was amazing. I'm curious if the show has had a religious undertone that I've missed until the episode labeled "The Second Coming." Did anyone else notice that? Where do you think that's going? I can hardly wait until this Monday.

Also, the last day to register to vote in Utah is October 6. Whether you agree with me or not, no one's going to know unless you vote!