Take action

Last week's election really got me excited. For the first time in about six years, I think there's hope. Hope that the conservative reaction to the liberal revolutions of the mid-20th century is on the wane. Reaction to a revolution is inevitable cursory study of any major political revolution shows us this. But, eventually, the clock cannot be turned back and the bad old days are gone for good.
The good part of reaction is that it fosters political debate and reinvigorates the forces of positive change. There's a long way to go, so I've added some groups to the sidebar that represent what I'm about: protection of individual rights, protection of women's rights, legalized marriage for anyone who wants it, a healthier environment, separation of church and state and drug-policy reform. It's a pretty crazy liberal platform, I realize.
I want the government (the politicians especially) out of our bedrooms, out of our bodies, out of our relationships and out of our heads. Basically, I want the governement to stay out of it. I should probably be a Libertarian. I'm thinking about it.
Public debate in this country should be about things that affect our security and our future. Not about what your neighbor's doing behind closed doors. It should be about our role as a nation in the world, about how we can use the great power we have to make the world safer for everyone, to make the environment healthier for everyone, to make resources (like energy, food and clean water) available and sustainable for everyone, to bring justice to people everywhere so they won't feel that violence is their only option. We live in a uniquely small world and control a hugely disproprtionate amount of the power and resources of that world. We have the option to do what is right in the face of many wrongs, to lead by example. That may sound suspiciously familiar--it's a message preached by most of the world's religions, though not always as stridently as the messages of intolerance and hate that parade as religion. Ultimately wherever we live, or whatever god we do or do not believe in, I think human beings need and want the same things. They want peace, freedom and justice. They want to live and raise children without fear (of war, genocide, starvation, environmental catastrophe, their neighbors).
And yet, so much of the debate is about issues that don't impact the general good. Will two adult men starting a family together hurt me? Probably not. Does my neighbor smoking pot (and not operating a vehicle, as I hope he wouldn't after too many beers or a dose of Nyquil for that matter) make my living situation worse somehow (yeah, not really). It goes on. As a whole, Americans are so spoiled rotten, we don't know what the real threats to a way of life are. War, genocide, famine, natural catastrophe. Gay marriage, self-medication (even for recreational purposes), choice in family planning are not going bomb us back to the Stone Age or cause depravity in the streets.
Nevertheless, we're arguing about these things anyway and I refuse to let the naysayers win those arguments just because I think there are bigger fish to fry. I'm afraid we've been doing that too long already.