The Free Speech Zone

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Knowledge is power- at any age

I’m taking a break from all the presidential election drama (Rice for V.P- really? Richardson as Judas- what!?) because a discussion happened today in my life that I find intriguing, and more than a little disturbing.

The back story: yesterday my kids and I were involved in a commercial shoot for the Obama in 30 seconds contest. It was suggested to me after the shoot (today) that perhaps their involvement was a kind of exploitation for the sake of politics. The kids, after all, had no idea what they were talking about when they were “supporting” Obama in the footage. I can see the validity of this point, though I disagree, at least in this instance, because the focus of the ad was not on the children but on the idea of family.
That aside, there was a further point made in the discussion that I find particularly relevant to my life and to the world at large: it was said that children ought not be exposed to politics and political “issues” until they are old enough to understand what it’s all about. The age for this understanding, according to this conversation, is somewhere around high school. Until then, kids should be allowed to be kids.

I fundamentally disagree with this position. First, because I don’t view political awareness as something only related to a candidate or to an election year. The world of politics is a big, big world and it encompasses government, taxes, candidates, social issues, wars, peace, globalization, and so many other things. Having a child be socially aware, be aware of the world around him/her is so important, not just when they are old enough to vote but when they are old enough to speak, to listen, to go out into the world and interact with others. Second, because, in my opinion, knowledge is power. Raising a child to be ignorant of issues and politics is not the way to raise the future generation to fix the problems we’ve created. It’s short-sighted and more than a little foolish.

There are other reasons I disagree with this position, other reasons I said that I could not in good conscience limit the amount that my children are exposed to politics. Reasons like how important my own personal convictions and activism are to me personally, like how important it is to me that my children be raised to think and to question and to speak out on the things that are important to them (and how else do we do this, except by modeling), like how essential I think it is for me and for my family to make some small dent in this world, to leave it in some way better than it already is (and, again, how else does this happen except through modeling?).

I wonder, if we as parents let our children be ignorant about the world, about issues and candidates and politics, if we keep our mouths shut about our own views and convictions, where do our children get their information? Recently, my ten year old came home and said that he’d heard at school that Democrats are baby killers. Should I have dismissed this and sent him on his way in ignorance? I don’t advocate brainwashing children into following blindly in their parents footsteps. I’ve strayed far enough from my parents to believe in the importance of free-thinking. And to be clear, I don’t care if my kids support the candidates I support, nor do I care if they grow up to be Republicans, as long as they do it with reason and conviction.

Knowledge is power. Not just mine. Not just for the other people who have it (i.e. the people in government positions). But for everyone who is willing to open their eyes and ears and minds to learn. My kids are part of that. And I have to wonder, am I really so odd to think this way? Am I setting them up to lose their childhood because they shot a commercial or because my ten year old thinks it’s great that an African American man is running for President or because that same child is against the Iraq War? Am I wrong to think that politics is not about an election cycle, to think that change is not about campaign promises, to think that social issues like equal rights and environmentalism are life issues that affect everyone no matter their age?

I don’t think I’m wrong. What about you?

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Monday, March 24, 2008

More than numbers in Iraq

I’ve neglected my VITAL blog lately. In fact, I’ll even confess (with total remorse) that I’ve neglected the news, as well. I haven’t paid a damned bit of attention to what’s been happening in the world, nor in the world of politics (which I’m coming to believe are actually two separate things). I hope you’ll forgive me. Or not. Whatever suits your fancy.

Today, I pulled myself out of post-move haze to read through the headlines. And I found myself faced with a sad one. 4000 dead in Iraq, and the newest casualties seen as nothing more than the ones that helped cross that horrible benchmark. Why aren’t more people upset by this? Why aren’t more people upset the way they were in Vietnam? Remember the protests, the anger, the mass appeal to the government to stop an unjust and unpopular war? Yeah, I know it was a different time, politically and socially. But to me it seems like the passive way people disapprove of this war is indicative of the laziness, and the self-absorption, of our society. Ask most people what bothers them about the war and they’ll probably tell you it’s the ever-increasing gas prices. But 4,000 people, 4,000 American citizens, are dead. It’s a sad number; it’s a number that should never have happened.

But do you know how many Iraqis have died since this war began? Any guesses? I did a little googling because I didn’t know myself. All I knew was that the number is much higher than 4,000. There are estimates that pass over a million people. Yeah, I just said a million. We’re so worried about our 4,000 dead (and it is sad, don’t get me wrong) but we’re not getting the bigger picture: we’re in Iraq under misguided pretenses and we’re to blame for the deaths of over a million people. For what? What did they do to us, honestly? Tell me. I want to know.

I’ll leave you with this clip, that you’ve made seen or read. I think it says alot about this war, about our government, about how our passivity and our self-absorption has allowed so much destruction. Here’s our V.P. in all his glory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SypeZjeOrY4

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

My words aren’t as good as his

I have nothing to say today. Soon, there will be plenty to say about the politics of sex, but today the only thing I can say is that everyone, regardless of who they support in this election, ought to read Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union"-
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23690567/

Go do it now.

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Thursday, March 06, 2008

My cynicism is showing

Amy (our esteemed fellow blogger and also VITAL’s managing editor) asked Ted and I to blog yesterday about our thoughts on Tuesday’s primary. I didn’t want to. So I didn’t (those of you who know me are amazed at this small act of defiance!).

Now another day later, and I have some things to say. Amazing again, isn’t it?

Yesterday, I read Ted’s (my fellow political blogger) thoughts on the subject. I don’t have his patience, I think, because, to be honest, I’m pretty pissed that this primary race is going to drag out. I hate the thought of it being decided at the convention. I want to know NOW. And also, I have serious concerns about the party in-fighting, about all the negative attack ads going on so long that McCain won’t have to do anything but sit back and watch them destroy each other. He has the advantage now of being the nominee and getting to attack them both OR attack one specifically (Obama) and letting the double attack completely weaken the candidate. I mean, Hillary’s doing a great job of this- in a recent speech she actually said that she and McCain were the candidates of experience, the candidates who could handle a crisis; Obama’s track record, she said, just relies on one speech back in 2002.

And here’s the other thing that I’m not thrilled with: the media reports of Hillary’s huge win. Was it really a huge win? Has anyone looked at the delegate gains for each of the states she “won”? To me, it feels like a hollow victory much like those of Michigan and Florida- it’s a state to call a victory but it did nothing for her bottom line. And speaking of bottom line, the delegate math now looks iffy. For Hillary, it’s almost impossible for her to win; for Obama, he could still come up short. This is frustrating to me. Unlike Ted, I don’t like the idea of super delegates deciding anything. Some of these supers are barely old enough to vote; they’re not all party big wigs who actually care about politics and the responsibility. I want MY vote to matter, not some unknown entity’s. But, then, I’m selfish.

So, I think what I’m saying, and the reason I didn’t want to blog yesterday, is that I’m actually sick of this whole mess. The excitement is going out of the primary season for me. I’m losing interest fast in stalking CNN and having the up to the minute delegate count. And for someone like me, that’s a sad state to be in. I don’t want politics as usual. I don’t want attack ads and nasty sound bites and baseless accusations. I want change. I want things to be different. I want someone better than Bush to take office and give our country hope again. And yeah, I want Obama to win, but more than that I want the Democratic Party to pull itself out of the whole its dug in the last several years and be something we can be proud to be apart of. And right now...well, it feels like we’re just digging the hole some more.

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Sunday, March 02, 2008

Vote!  Speak Out! Stand Up!

I want to take a break today from election saga, from Clinton v. Obama and all that drama that goes with it (and there’s plenty of drama!) What’s particularly on my mind today is social activism. It’s a rare thing to find people who are true social activists; rarer still to find a business or organization who encourages its employees and patrons to be activists. Just think of how many people don’t even bother to vote, let alone DO something to encourage change.

Last night I went to the Miltown Kings show at the Miraramar. It was revue type night, with drag kings and king troupes from around the country, and the night as a whole was a good time. But there were two stand-out moments during the night, from a political perspective. The first was the evening’s “host” Jack-be-nimble encouraging the audience to vote. Jack didn’t campaign for a candidate, a party, or even a cause. Vote for “Dr. Seuss,” Jack said, but just vote. The crowd roared. I loved this moment because the encouragement was for electoral participation, not for partisan politics, and since the LGBT crowd is so affected by decisions made by candidates in office, it’s all the more important that we vote.

The second moment was at the end of the Miltown Kings final act. They did their own rendition of 9-5, sexual harassment and all, and wrapped up with huge poster-boards saying things like, “Unionize,” “Equal Pay for Equal Work,” and “Livable Wages” and “Universal Health Care.” The crowd got to its feet to cheer. These are the things we care about, not just as LGBT’s but as citizens, as the youth and the poor and the middle class. We care. I was so impressed with the enthusiasm of the crowd, with the level of social consciousness in that room. Are LGBT’s more prone to awareness and activism because they’ve so long been treated shabbily? Is poor treatment and/or oppression the thing that’s required to get people to care? It’s a terrible thing if that’s true. We all need to care. We all need to stand up for those things we do care about. We need to vote, to protest, to demand, to fight, to argue, to be passionate about something besides ourselves.

As I was talking to a friend today (the Slightly Crunchy Parent, actually) about social activism, she mentioned something really awesome that happens at Alverno. The college gives all their employees three hours of paid time off on election so they can vote. How great is that for the university to recognize the importance of the right to vote; how awesome that they encourage their employees to do their civic duty. More businesses need to do the same. The right to vote, as Jack-be-nimble pointed out last night, is a right that not everyone shares, and, so, we have the obligation to exercise it.

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