Have you ever heard anyone ask presidential candidates what their vision is for America? Is their vision for America the vision what we should follow? Whatever happened to government of, by and for The People? I think it's been hijacked by the political parties who are defining for their members what that vision should be. That's why I'll never join a political party again.
There's a scene in some movie or in the West Wing where it's said that democracy is hard and this is my take on that: Democracy is hard because, as it says in our Constitution, it's for ALL the people, even though at the writing that simply wasn't the truth. But, we've worked hard to get closer to the ideal that our democracy is for ALL.
So, the political parties are not democratic because they define ideologies that are only supported by their own members. That's why our country is so divided now. There's nothing in our Constitution about political parties or only serving some Americans, even though the reality, at the time was that large numbers of Americans were not served and not even considered Americans.
So, let me offer a vision for America that, as a little girl, I thought was what America is all about:
You're head a an American family, father or mother, with 2 to 6 children. You're a "skilled laborer"; in other words, an artisan whether a mechanic, an electrician, a fire fighter, a farmer, a chef, a baker or some other work that requires having learned something and having skill and talent. Maybe you're an artist or a musician.
You work full time meaning you work a lot. In some cases, you work for a business or have your own. In some cases, part of your work is finding customers for whatever you do. In either case, you spend a lot of your week working trying to make enough money. If you work in that way, you should be able to live in a decent place whether you rent or own. You should be able to have a healthy diet. You should have some free time to spend with your family and friends just enjoying yourself. You should be able to go to the movies, or camping, or fishing, or to a local fair. You should be able to afford transportation. You should be able, over time to save for life improvements like a larger home, a newer car. You should be able to meet most of your expenses because you've been working for them.
Our Constitution says "...promote the general welfare,..."; I think that means that in the case of catastrophe, whether for a single person, a family or a group of people, the government should be able to step in to help; isn't that one of the things our taxes are for? So, if a town is flooded, something can be done to help. That's why I'm OK with paying taxes. Taxes are for street lights, curbs and gutters, sewer systems, public water, to pay police and fire, for parks, for libraries, for public schools, for paved roads and for reserves for disasters. Don't you think?
Americans are all different. I grew up in a very, very white Waspish town. (look it up; the meaning of WASP). As a child, I was completely unaware that there was anyone different from me and my family members. We didn't know (or so I thought) anyone different. As I reach high school age, I began to be aware of some differences. My father played golf with a man who was Jewish. I had a couple of cousins who were Catholic. There was an elderly black man who attended the same church I attended and an adult man who had Downs Syndrome. I had a classmate whose sibling had hydroencephalitis and died very young. I had cousins who behaved, more or less like we did; but I also had cousins who were loud and obnoxious and destructive. I had an uncle who was cruel to the point of being sadistic. I found out about people who were thieves. I grew up in a relatively happy household and I learned that there were people who were not happy. I learned that people sometimes were in conflict with each other; think neighbors who have different ideas of what is acceptable noise.
Conflict resolution is one of the things that government and laws are for: "...insure domestic tranquility,"; from local town government to our federal government. Just think for a few minutes of all the people you know; especially the people you don't like or don't get along with. Regardless of what you envision; I don't want to live in where I have to fight, every day, just to live. I don't want to live in the "Old West". Most of us have evolved beyond that kind of combative behavior. We don't have to do battle constantly to be alive; we should all be able to walk down the street in peace and not be attacked for any reason. It is absolutely possible to live peacefully with other people. There is nothing in our Constitution that says that the government is for those whose party gets elected. The concept of "majority rule" is outdated; it means that somebody is always out. I don't believe, for one minute that's necessary. I STRONGLY believe that we can all have most of what we want all at the same time without unnecessary conflict. Some of us may need to evolve more but there are plenty of us who have lived most of our lives without doing battle with others.
The difficult thing about democracy is that, because we're all different, the government, all levels of government have to understand that it must attempt to satisfy the needs of ALL Americans. It will fail because there are so many of us and we're so different, but it must try to be for ALL of us. That doesn't mean that it's responsible for making all of us happy but it must provide certain basics that make our lives decent; that includes a vision of what a decent life is; certainly infrastructure, laws, defense, education and OPTIONS.
Choice is one of the key components of peace; I think. That's my vision for America: People living their lives in RELATIVE comfort and peace with a shared government as backup when things go wrong. The Citizen is the center of it all and we are, each and everyone of us, a Citizen.
