Tuesday, August 12, 2008

My Racing Mind

One of my favorite things to do is think. I love to go on walks, or jog, or just sit so that I have time to sort out life in my head. I also like to bring in the big man upstairs when I ponder, just to know what he thinks too. I have all of these worries and questions that I want answered. Maybe I am just weird, but a lot of them have to do with our country and the economy. I am sure that if you have read any of my other posts regarding these issues, you'll understand.

I heard this morning on the radio (Go NPR! haha) that even more economists are losing hope in the future of our country. That doesn't sit well with me. I wonder how a person can do that. How is it that we allow ourselves to get into these slumps? It seems like there should be, there has to be a way to pull ourselves out, not just scrunch our eyebrows and say everything that going wrong. I just don't know what it is, at least not for the country as a whole. That is another thing I think about. What can I do to change life? Or to influence change? Can I really do anything at all? If I can't, who can?

I believe that too many people sit back, live their lives, and don't ask needed questions. We just accept what goes on around us, like we are incompetent. Just look at my poll, only 39% say that they are actually informed on the party they claim to be a part of. The people we support and vote for influence our lives 100%, but we don't care enough to learn about them? Does that not bother you at all? Maybe I am just fanatical, but would you ever marry someone you know nothing about; buy a car or a house you have never seen? I wouldn't, but I might be too cautious.

Really though, how often do we step back and evaluate what we are doing and how it is influencing the people, places, and things around us? Our actions (or lack thereof) make a difference, bad or good.

I think I just have a different outlook than most. Or, maybe I don't. But, I say this because I don't give up. I don't sit back and let things that matter (or should matter) go unnoticed. I don't take losing or accept defeat like most people. I just know that something good will happen if I put forth the effort. I don't give in to despair or allow things to influence me like they seem to do to other people. I refuse. I really believe that a difference can be made...now I just have to figure out how to get the ball rolling. Any suggestions?

I am sure this post is very boring for most of you...if you got this far. It wasn't really meant to entertain, more it was written to get some things out of my head.

P.S. The other day I took Zoee on a walk and got attacked by another dog...just one more reason I don't like animals. They keep proving me right over and over. haha.

3 comments:

Seth & Kirie

You know, I'm glad I'm not the only one worried about the economy. I also have never understood how people don't research the political party they support - so if they DO vote, they end up voting based on the face value or popularity of the candidate rather than what they really stand for. I stress about this daily...Seth thinks I'm crazy for stressing about something that I personally cannot control. But if there is something I could personally do, I would love to hear about it...but I'm in the same boat as you - open for suggestions.

Hanna

I really am happy that someone out there thinks about it too. Cody humors me, but he isn't as stressed about it.

I just have this urge to do something, anything. I found a few articles about it. Maybe I'll post them.

Granny D

What is important to keep focused on is that there are NO new ideas on this earth. there are modifications and additions to thought but ideology is NOT new. However, as we grow and mature we think our ideas are new. We think we are different somehow from the previous generations and that there is some "perfect" solution. that would only be real if there were only one "political truth" only one perspective; only one place from where we all touch the elephant....but there is not. the reality is that in order to get any one elected or to make even modicum of change we form coalitions and we compromise. The republicans and the democrats are coalitions of voters who hope to bring about change based on their perceived needs of our culture and our economy and our sociality. While third parties have been attempted in America, only one, the Progressive Party under the directtion of a relative conservative former Republican was even remotely successful. (this is good historical reading). Why I don't like evangelical politicians like Obama, whether or not I am a Republican or democrat, is because they are selling to the relatively naive belief that there is "one right way" to salvage AMerica and that "right way is change". That mystical word "change" brings smiles to faces but there is no substance to the "big sell".....Kaitlin is with me and wants to me to quit so I will but politicians like Obama take advantage of the "short term" viewpoint through which most unsophisticated voters see the world. He doesn't care about your grandchildren or your children...he cares about romantic "band aid" fixes that will sell to the same mentality of people that buy a Wal Mart. While Wal Mart does sell cheap; what are the political realities of that...slave labor in China...child labor in China....a polluted country so "sick" from the pollution of out of control and cheap manufacturing that it is beginning to pollute the world. If America never looks beyond the Wal Mart mentality that it is cheap for me so "why care about the world"...then where will we be in 10 years or more?