Presidential election? Horse race? Beauty contest?

Here is part of the problem we encounter with our electoral process.  It is spring 2007 and we are knee deep in Election 2008.  If we didn’t spend so much time on this we wouldn’t get bogged down on the absurdities of our electoral process. First of all, all of these people have jobs.  Are they just ignoring their current jobs trying to get a better one?  Second of all, why don’t they all just travel together and appear in joint campaign appearances.  If would save time, money and if the real goal is to pick the best candidate and not to pick each other apart then how better but to share the stage?  Finally, it would really be nice if we had an actual discussion on issues rather than this obsession with name-calling and blaming for votes and statements taken completely out of context.  Why are campaigns allowed to dictate debate format?  Why should they be able to filter the information the voters get?  We should have political scholars set the format and if you want to be part of the election, you participate.   These are just a few thoughts on the ridiculousness that is our political process.

I explained it right???

As a teacher I have students who sometimes ask good questions.  Like, if everyone is so fed up with these politicians why do they keep getting reelected.  As I was having this conversation for the umpteenth time this year, it finally struck me.  The rate of reelection for incumbents is somewhere in the 90+% range.  When politicians do things and we reelect them we  reinforce the status quo.  It is like simple behaviorism.  We reinforce the behavior by rewarding it with more terms.  To extinct the behavior we don’t want it would be a simple matter of punishing the behavior.  Don’t whine about politicians, but then believe and vote for incumbents when they say they will make changes.  If you don’t like the behavior of our political leaders, punish the behavior by  voting for someone else. 

The news should make us ashamed…

I read, on Yahoo, an article that describes a study of the workforces of the world and how much they whine.  I can understand France being number 1 because, well, no explanation needed.  For the United States to be in the top five should make us all ashamed of ourselves.  We have the highest standard of living in the world, and yet we complain.  This is a travesty.  It is too bad that the rugged, frontier, pull yourself up by the bootstraps mentality has been replaced by the woe is me, victim, the world owes me attitude.  We have become to reliant on government, litigation, and lotteries.  To get something, it should be earned. 

Now, lest some right-wing, Darwinian, capitalist come along and peg this as a diatribe for unbridled capitalism I must beg to differ.  I also read an article on CEO compensation that listed the top 10 in America.  These salaries are not based on production nor contributions to a company.  They are purely a handout in an old boys network of corporate greed.  Boards that agree to such compensation at the expense of stockholders should investigated for fraud.  They think nothing of firing thousands of workers to cut costs when the most obvious useless cost is sitting at the head table. 

I guess what I am trying to say is that the attitude of many needs an adjustment.  CEO’s and entry level alike should be sent to other parts of the world when they get to unhappy with what they have. 

On this mother’s day….

It is a good time for a reminder that being a parent means being a parent, not a friend.  That means you love your child unconditionally and do what is best for them.  Sometimes this might mean sacrificing so your child can have more than you had.  Sometimes, though, it means that they can’t go somewhere or have something even though they want it.  Raising your child is your charge, not keeping them happy.  I have witnessed too many parents of one of two ilks.  One who gives a child everything they request, never question what a child tells them and always takes their side no matter what.  The other pays no attention to their children, don’t care what they do and is uninterested in their child’s problems.  Both abandon their responsibilities.  Though it takes a village to raise a child, you first have to have good parents.  On this mother’s day I would like to thank my mom (you to dad) for being a good PARENT.

If anyone really cared…..

If anyone really cared about abortion in this country things would be much different. 

 If the anti-choice crowd actually cared about preventing abortions they would acknowledge that legislation would not stop abortion.  All of the time and energy used to try to legislate abortion will be for naught.  Before Roe vs. Wade there were abortions.  Legal, no.  Did they happen?  Yes.  If they really cared they would be trying to prevent abortion.   Anyone with common sense knows that you would reduce abortions by eliminating the conditions that make that choice seem like the best option.  Fighting poverty, providing support to pregnant mothers, educating about birth-control, and promoting adoption would all be more effective than the garbage that takes place now. 

 If the anti-life crowd really cared, they would acknowledge that abortion is a choice, but a sad choice to have to make.  Any woman that is put in the position of making that choice sees no other option.  Abortion takes a sad toll on women, emotionally and physically.   It should stop being promoted as a safe happy way to make your problems go away.  If the anti-life crowd really cared about the people whose rights they vow to protect, they to would be working to make abortion a choice, but one used less often. 

 If anyone really cared about the women and their babies the political posturing and negative crap would end and both sides would go forward working to limit abortion as a worst of bad options.  Too often we look to legislation as a way to end something that can be prevented by removing the conditions that promote it.  How many social problems could be ended by merely reducing poverty, making education accessible, making sure kids have medical coverage, and making sure everyone has enough to eat.  Go lobby Congress if you must but don’t expect that it will solve the problem.

Simple way to make our country better….

Make our representatives do their jobs instead of spending half their terms off campaigning for the next job!

Political Parties

I know I rant and rave a great deal about our political parties.  I do this for two reason.  The first is that the founders of our country were wary of political parties and warned us to “beware of factionalism”.  The second is that our political parties of today do not act in our best interests.  If parties operated as they should they would police their own instead of being apologists for their own.  If they really wanted what is best for America they would rebuke the members who bring disgrace upon their party rather than trying to haphazardly blame it on others or downplay the problems that have been caused.  But, then again, since people blindly follow political parties with no common sense or critical questioning what should we expect them to do.