Division and Fractions.

So this blog post has been composing itself in my brain for well over a year now, alongside many others which sadly have yet to be transcribed. I think it’s due more to a lack of confidence in my understanding of politics and ability to coherently express my concerns, combined with being overwhelmed at how chaotic it all is. A couple recent articles and podcasts have left my mind too cluttered to function properly and this is the result. If I contradict myself, or jump from subject to subject, it is simply due to my using this platform to sort of “think out loud.”  Please keep in mind while you read this that I am a lowly political science major, not a qualified expert on these matters. Government has done a good job of making itself too complicated to be easily accessed by an average person such as myself, and I am still struggling to sort through the mass of convoluted information pertaining to these issues.

And we begin.

For starters, I am not necessarily opposed to lobbying. Organizing ourselves into motivated groups in order to gain persuasive power is human nature. The desire for change is the heartbeat of society. Being the argument addict that I am, I love listening to the various ways people reason for or against issues that face our community. I do believe that they have their place and serve their purpose. But, like everything else, I believe there should be a limit. Our founders recognized this too. They saw and despised the abuse that occurred when power was unbalanced and unchecked and developed the Constitution with this in mind.

I am also not opposed to campaign contributions. It’s still a confusing part of the political process with which I don’t have much experience, but I want to believe that if I were running for office I wouldn’t be accepting donations from organizations whose values I did not already align with. It seems to me that the issue could possibly be resolved by making donations blind, so that nobody, be it the politician or the public, have any knowledge of who has contributed or how much. Not only would that eliminate the incentive to participate in the quid pro quo if you weren’t going to be recognized as having donated to any particular person in any particular amount, but it would also reduce the need for contribution limits because people would be more likely to throw support behind people with whom they generally agreed, or not contribute such obnoxious amounts in the first place. This would also require a separate banking entity to keep record of the money in each persons campaign, and make money laundering more difficult to do, and much easier to track.

Of course, the politicians are the ones who would need to pass this and respect it. And therein lies an issue.

A few months back, I confronted a Kansas Legislator about her lack of support for any sort of health care reform (in particular, any that might have a negative effect on insurance companies) by questioning how the large donations she had received from the insurance industry had influenced her votes. Like any smart politician, she denied that it had any impact on her vote. And it’s true that it may very well not have. But in the same breath she also claimed that she had no knowledge of who specifically had contributed to her campaign. I don’t know of any politicians who don’t know who donates to their campaigns. Especially since they’re often the one calling these people and soliciting money in the first place.

 Correct me if I’m wrong, but not keeping track of where your money comes from is pretty much unheard of and in many if not most cases illegal.

Anyway. There are a few specific issues relating to current events which have lead me to question the patriotic morality behind lobbying. In particular, I am reminded of the concept of no taxation without representation. We currently have a system where legislators tend to represent the big business and wealthy elite who are able, unlike myself, to generously fund the campaigns of those who support their interests. So how come these tend to also be the groups who receive the tax cuts and subsidies and bailouts? I am no longer being represented by my congressmen and women. I no longer feel – assuming that I ever felt – that my congressmen and women are concerned with my needs as a voting citizen. I feel like if a good, reasonable solution to a serious problem came along that helped thousands of people but hurt some industry, they would find a way to stop it. Without money or influence, my vote is no longer a viable threat.

So, in order to fix with this government-gone-wild, I am told to pick a side. Stay occupied with grassroots organizations. Unite with a political group. Find a cause. My voice needs to be multiplied ten fold to be heard, or it needs to come folded neatly inside an envelope and paperclipped to a fat check.

Am I concerned about access to reproductive health care? Yes. Do I want to make sure we have resources and assistance for victims of abuse, rape, violence etc.? Damn straight. Do I firmly believe that in the right to life and liberty is the right to maintain that life through access to proper healthcare? Of course. And do I believe that the average blue collar workers, the roots and foundation of our economy, need to have access to suitable, sustainable employment in order for our economy to fully recover? Most definitely. There are a million things that I believe in. And there are a million cliques and clubs I could join who will go out and force my opinion down the throat of any legislator.

But I don’t think I want to do that anymore. I swore to myself that I was an independent. That I would not align myself with a party and let the battle lines and allegiances be drawn. For every opinion that I hold dear, there is somebody in this country who holds a different opinion. And they have a right to that opinion. And creating a bad-guy out of somebody I disagree with is simply forfeiting an ally in the underlying struggle. I refuse to believe that creating enemies solves problems. I don’t think a single, solitary side can make the changes we need by itself. We need the people we have vilified. We need our enemies. We can’t fix this system alone.

And this is the beauty of state sovereignty. I was raised to embrace differences and not place myself or my opinions on a pedestal. To me, that is what state sovereignty is about. Not necessarily being 100% right, 100% of the time, but making our differences of opinion work. How great is it that, if done right, we could have conservative states, and liberal states. That we could choose to live in a state where abortion and marijuana and public nudity are legal. Or you can live in a state that is conservative, where conservatives do what they do, bitch about stem-cell research and hug guns or whatever. And I will probably never live there, and that’s okay. State sovereignty is about more than just limiting federal control. There’s reasoning behind it. It’s about creating effective change, unifying different communities, and testing new solutions and techniques in places where such experiments are supported and encouraged, instead of making the entire country an unwilling test subject. It’s a brilliant part of our system that we have let slip away. I don’t know that we’ll ever get it back.

As a side note, I feel like I should have seen this coming from miles away. I ranted about our tendency to create toxic relationships where we would see better results by fostering equal respect ages ago. Between Iraq and Iran, we’ve sought little more in the Middle East than to gain significant influence and put our values and customs on a pedestal. We hold our noses high in the face of difference. It seems to me that by recognizing and respecting the sovereignty of these countries (like we seek for our own states) and treating them sincerely instead of hypocritically, we would be dealing with a much more manageable situation.  Instead we donate the lives of our youth, and for what? For profit. For cheap labor. For control. For sending our jobs overseas. For oil.

Somebody’s overcompensating.

I know it’s not this simple, but wouldn’t our efforts be better used by if we invested instead in developing sustainable energy resources? Wouldn’t we create jobs by doing this? Wouldn’t we improve the planet? Wouldn’t we foster peace? And at what cost? Profit. Various industries stand to lose money. They face increased costs of labor. They face reduced benefits. But with increased employment we’d have more people paying into the national piggy bank.  We’d have better schools, more solid futures, stronger purchasing power, less debt. I know it’s probably not this simple.

But even if it is, we’re not the ones with the money. We’re not the people with influence. We’re not the people being represented. The people who are being represented are the people who have abused the free market system at the expense of their foundation. Us. The little guys. And look where we are now.

We bailed out the banking systems, and what did they do? They turned around and used their “loan” to lobby against consumer protection initiatives. They bit the hand that feeds. Lobbyists representing the interests of other countries have better access to our legislators than we, the people of this country, do. This isn’t the 60’s. We don’t get a say anymore. And what about the money we pay for our less than adequate health coverage? Those premiums help fund lobbying campaigns against increased benefits, coverage mandates,  and laws that prohibit denying coverage. They take the money that should be funding your chemotherapy and use it to lobby against these reforms.

This is corruption.

This is NOT we the people.

This is what happens when the concept of no taxation without representation is turned on it’s head. This is what happens when those who are taxed are not represented, and those who are represented are getting the breaks. 

And how do we address this situation? By drawing swords. By calling our fellow countrymen Socialists, and Nazis, and Tea baggers, and Communists. And after being at the state capitol less than two months, I am ashamed to say I’ve become just as guilty.

Being an intern here, I have watched both sides make what appear to me as destructive attacks, based purely in partisan vengeance and point-making, which have resulted in problems not being resolved as well as they could be. I’m not an expert in policy-making. I know I don’t know all the facts and factors, and that my perspective is skewed and sheltered. But it feels like sticking it to each other has become a bigger priority than actually improving our state. I should also clarify that I don’t mean this is a universal occurrence or that these political stunts don’t occasionally have their merit, but I still hear the voice of one of my favorite legislators in the back of my head saying that it’s not about being right, it’s about getting results. You can argue philosophy and morality and ethics until you’re blue in the face, but politics is about improving the community and finding resolutions for our problems. If you aren’t creating the results we the people need to see, then you aren’t doing it right. Period.

And I think to myself that there has to be a better way to do this. These problems can’t just continue to fester and bleed us dry. Eventually that billboard on I-70 calling for a revolution won’t sound so hideous and absurd. But, should we ever reach that point, I fear it will be too late, and the voices of our founders will lost their majesty. Men like that are not born of times like these. We’re digging our own graves this time, people. Not digging our way out.

But WE are still the majority. Black, white, brown, religious, atheist, democrat, or republican, this is still OUR country. We are still the people, and WE are the ones who are paying for representation. I don’t know how to fix this nosedive, but I do know that it’s time we stop eyeing each other with fists, and start turning to each other for help.

Division and Fractions.

Cackling Crusades

This office is illuminated, but not in a way that mimics summer and sunshine and glimmering clarity after rainfall. It is cold and still and dry like an empty mud bunker where souls with business linger in their purgatory. Nobody knows I'm here.

Out in the hall are the footsteps of soldiers and snakes who slither and pace and wait for orders. They plot their moves and draft sly strategies for attack and surrender. Some write letters home. At midday they meet on the infinite battlefield with their swords and slings and arrows drawn.

And someone screams CHARGE.

In one swift motion the regiment and reptiles race towards the front lines where they convene for tea and gossip. The clank of porcelain fills the hills. Nobody talks about the war.

Cackling Crusades

I Suggest You Read This Article

A Recovery For Some

The financial elites have flourished in recent decades to a great extent because they have had government on their side, with the politicians working diligently to ensure that rules, regulations and tax policies established an environment in which the elites could thrive. For ordinary Americans, it has been a different story, with jobs shipped overseas by the millions and wages remaining stagnant, with labor unions under constant assault and labor standards weakened, with the safety net shredded and the message sent out to workers everywhere: You’re on your own.

Keep this in mind and stay tuned for an upcoming post in abstract relation to this.

I Suggest You Read This Article

Preschool Is Back In Session...

So I’m 2 weeks into my internship and there’s really nothing I can tell you. Either because it is confidential, or because it might be confidential, or because it’s personal and I don’t wish to disclose it. Ever.

But while I can’t update with any thrilling gossip or answer any of the many unsolved mysteries about what goes on right in front of your freakin’ faces. I can say that I’m loving Jefferson City and the sluggish fast-paced oxymoron that is politics. 

There’s lots of great bills being filed which probably won’t get a hearing, but there’s also plenty of stupid bills being filed which make for humorous reading.

Three resolutions were recently filed which declare Missouri a sovereign state. Of course, I agree with the 9^th amendment and I agree that the constitution is being grossly abused and our powers as a state are shrinking faster than Missouri’s budget. The issue I take with these resolutions is that 1. they should have been brought about years ago, 2. they aren’t solving anything and make us look like bigots. I would be entirely for these were they not blatantly partisan. They’re frosted with conservative values, and preach hegemony, intolerance, anti-choice, anti-gay, selfishness, etc. If you don’t know what resolutions are, they are basically the way your local representatives communicate with congress. It’s our way of collectively, as a state, telling Washington what we want. These are the people who represent YOU. If you think about it, these resolution tell congress this is how YOU and your community feel. Do YOU really feel this way?

HCR11 - Cynthia Davis' bill
HCR25
HCR29

While the other two resolutions are pretty mild I still must say I disagree with the motivation behind them (Democrats are in power and are trying to do stuff! Oh noes!), Davis’ resolution is embarrassing. Here are a couple classic lines from her resolution:

Whereas, the economic principles that allowed our country to flourish and prosper were based upon our trust in God (orly?), economic freedom (yay big money!), hard work, high moral standards (I can has campaign contribution limits?), and private charity, all of which are suppressed in the socialist model (Sounds frighting, Comrade.);

Whereas, among these rights, the State of Missouri affirms and declares in our state statutes, Section 1.205, RSMo, that:

            (1) The life of each human being begins at conception; (and while that cluster of cells has no discernible personality, feel free to kill Bessie for your burger.)

            (2) Unborn children have protectable interests in life, health, and well-being; (but if you’re 24, uninsured, and get Cancer, you’re on your own…)

            (3) The natural parents of unborn children have protectable interests in the life, health, and well-being of their unborn child; (except in cases such as this, this, or this. Also, fuck your postnatal child.)

Whereas, it is the role of the national government to protect our borders and to secure our liberty, especially safeguarding us against those who adhere to philosophies that conflict with our uniquely American and Missouri values of freedom and equality; (Because Mexican Catholicism so obviously conflicts with American Conservative Values.) 
Whereas, the national government is diminishing our future prosperity by escalating the national debt at an unprecedented rate by squandering trillions of taxpayer dollars and demonstrating wanton disregard for protecting us and our posterity from insurmountable financial burdens, which in large part originates from spending beyond the legitimate authority derived from the United States Constitution; (You mean by funding a ceaseless undeclared war in the Middle East which only pisses off the locals and makes them easy prey for recruitment into terrorist organizations and effectively puts us at a greater risk and makes us look like assholes? Point taken. Oh, that’s not what you meant? My bad.) 

Whereas, some of the most egregious usurpations of legislative power have come from appointed federal judges who craft rulings that strip our citizens of their constitutional right to religious speech, such as ruling to remove all references to God Almighty and suppressing our right to display the Ten Commandments in a public arena (you mean in government arenas?), declaring prayers in public places illegal (uhm, prayer in public is not illegal), and forcing an atheistic culture upon our citizens: (yeah, they all seem really upset about this. which is why the "aesthetic" industries are going bankrupt.)  (BTW, I believe this is how it goes, “ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Take note of the bolded items. That’s what I bolded them for.)

Be it further resolved that this resolution shall serve as Notice and Demand to the federal government that we will not tolerate our tax dollars being spent on abortion, drugs, research, or procedures that destroy unborn human life, nor any policies that disregard the freedom of conscience of any citizen of our country or any other; (Because prohibiting life saving research saves lives!)

Be it further resolved that this resolution serves as Notice and Decree that the national government has no authority to impose assisted suicide or euthanasia, nor to impose any rules purporting to force our state to acknowledge immoral sexual perversions as a marriage or the equivalent; (Death to the death panels which don’t exist anyway!) (Are you saying gay people don’t ever save themselves for marriage? When did being gay become just about sex?)

Be it further resolved that this resolution serve as Notice and Decree to the federal government, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of its constitutionally delegated powers, especially those based upon unproven science such as a global warming alarmism (alarmism is a science?) as well as mandates that show no regard for our state laws as they pertain to agricultural practices, manufacturing practices, motor vehicle operation and energy generation options; (Oh Cynthia. You’re so gosh darn funny sometimes!)

Oy. One thing is for sure- session wouldn’t be nearly as interesting without Rep. Davis’s wild sermons.

Then there’s HB1271.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
            Section A. Chapter 10, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 10.115, to read as follows:
            10.115. 1. The Newfoundland dog, known for its large size, tremendous strength, sweet disposition, loyalty, and natural water rescue tendencies, is selected for and shall be known as the official canine breed of the state of Missouri
          2. Seaman, the Newfoundland dog which accompanied Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their expedition of the new territory acquired by the United States through the Louisiana Purchase, is selected for and shall be known as the official state canine of the state of Missouri.

It was also the first animal killed in the development of the electric chair. Exciting! This obviously solves all of our economic problems and employment issues. I’m thrilled to see our elected officials taking such bold strides and drafting this invaluable legislation.

Preschool Is Back In Session...

New Years Resolutions I'm Imposing on State Representatives

A few days ago the world celebrated the 10th anniversary of the New Years Eve when an unfortunate number of people became paranoid hoarding lunatics fighting over gallons of water like it was the last Tickle-Me-Elmo in the western hemisphere. All in anticipation of the dreaded Y2K. Now, a decade after the beginning of the apocalypse, planet Earth is still taking it’s precious time killing us off. Usually by the inefficient means like Cancer or bear attacks, though in some cases -tsunamis, hurricanes, governments with the natural need to exert a masculine dominance- by mass casualties. While these earnest attempts by mother nature have often been successful, they have generally failed in hastening the overall disposal of our species. We’re still reproducing like Xerox machines and it's causing a worldwide budget crunch. Too many mouths to feed, children to teach, and diseases to cure. Existing is expensive. A for effort, though. You can tell Mother Nature’s really trying. But, ten years later we still walk around angry and dumb like the post-apocalyptic zombies we apparently are. And with the welcoming of baby 2010 and it's subsequent Legislative session fast approaching, I thought I’d begin this “promising” new decade with a couple of resolutions I’d like to impose upon our representatives.

1.
Stop cheating and lying and doing bad stuff. Yeah, we’re all a little slow since the end of the world because we still have this image in our minds of Toby Keith singing about how our government will kick those daft a-rab punks in their keester with a cowboy boot. For a second we thought the government was put in place to keep us in check, and not vice versa. We’re so silly sometimes. But believe you me, we’re catching on, and we’re coming for you. Well, not us personally, but some big government agency who’s job it is to do that sort of thing will. I mean, provided they’re not corrupt too. You make the good politicians look bad and it's your fault I have to listen to people complain about how much they hate politics and how they don't understand why I want to spend my life dealing with people like you. But yeah. We're watching you. And boy, when we pick up the paper the next morning and have to read about your moronic cuss resigning over campaign fraud instead of about how one of the Palin Girls got caught with Tiger Woods, we’ll be angry.

2.
Stop using religion as a basis for your arguments. So I’m sitting in my apartment the other day watching TV, because it’s the first time in 6 months I’ve really had one, and I stumble upon a show on one of the boring channels called The History of Sex. I was curious. I am a curious person so don’t act so surprised. While I watched awkward images of ancient erotica fade across the HD screen, some Ben Stein impersonator droned on in a quite unseductive manner about the sex lives of the Romans. Apparently they had a form of herbal birth control which was almost entirely effective in preventing pregnancy. So effective, in fact, that they used it all up and the plant doesn’t even exist anymore. It’s extinct. That’s how you know it was popular. That’s also how you know they had a lot of sex. But then the Roman Empire began becoming more conservative. They began focusing on “religion” and “virginity”. (Those poor Roman men!) And then *POOF* they collapsed. Separation of Church and state, people. There’s a reason for it. So unless you’re trying to bring about the Collapse of the American Empire, I suggest quoting Orwell next time. Not Jesus.

3.
Support the Autism Bill. I used to nanny for a wonderful autistic boy named Peter. He had a smile as beautiful as any normal child, and his laugh was like sunshine, but rare. He was five and he couldn’t talk. He had a strange habit of shredding everything he possibly could into one long strand. He could turn a leaf of lettuce into a 5 foot long string, and a plastic bag into a rope that could reach from the basement to his bedroom where he was probably eating soap and hiding from me or his mother. He also enjoyed pulling all the ice cream from the top shelf of the freezer, then using it to give the walls a fresh new coat of Mint Chocolate Chip. And while pastel green can be a refreshing hue for any vintage style dining room, it’s a mighty hassle to clean up. Pete’s tantrums were the equivalent of getting sucker-punched by Chuck Norris while the fat lady sings into your ear canal. Though his parents had two nannies in employ, they struggled to keep us, to find him a school that could handle his eccentric behavior, to work, and especially to pay the bills, what with all his dietary restrictions and medical needs. I watched their family suffer intense strain. His father didn’t know how to cope with his only son being autistic and avoided being home most of the time. His mother couldn’t handle the tantrums for more than a couple minutes at a time and often entrusted me with her fears that her husband would leave her for some Barbie Doll and elope to Vegas and forget about his present offspring and leave her without a penny or a college degree. Peter’s elder sister was undisciplined because the moment she threw a tantrum her parents would give in to her demands, unable to deal with anymore screaming or crying. My only refuge was the sunny days when Pete would sit on the trampoline and stare for hours at spiders. I’d lie on my back on the hot cement porch and his sister would trace my body with pink chalk as I pretended to be dead. That part was her idea, not mine. She wasn't fond of me. I made her do her homework. The financial and emotional strains that can result from autism, even in its mild forms, like any long-term illness, can be enough to make a whole family crumble. Anybody running on the concept of family values is a hypocrite if they don’t support this bill and I don’t mind a bit saying so.

4.
In words similar to those of Chris Crocker, "Leave Abortion Alone!" Not everybody can afford a baby and I don’t see you stepping up and offering to pay for it for the next 18 years, so hush. Also, not everybody wants a baby, or wants to suffer through the loss of an non-viable one. Besides. Babies grow up to be skanky smart-mouthed horny little teenagers, and Lord knows we have more than enough of them running around growing weed in their basements. Plus, they're expensive to educate.

5.
Education. Fund it. Let me put it this way: If knowledge is power, than those who control the knowledge control the power. This is just a little fun fact for those constituents of yours to keep in mind next time they listen to you debate about publick skool funding. Who’s scared of an alert well educated public? Not you.

6.
Stop saying dumb things and making us look bad. Now, I’m all for Missouri gaining national notoriety, but I’d rather it not be for having the Worst People in the World. Saying things like, “Hunger is a positive motivator” is dumb. Pardon my asking, Miss Representative, but haven’t you seen Aladin? I mean yeah, there’s a lot of kissing and Jasmine’s kind of a slut, so it’s probably not in your preferred genre, but it is Disney, after all. Besides, there’s a much more important message than just “slutty girls get the guy.” And that message, my dear, is that hunger is NOT a positive motivator. The main guy’s starving, so what does he do? He goes and gets a job at McDonalds! Haha YAY! Just kidding, he steals an apple. It’s at the very beginning so if don’t believe me you can rent it and you won’t even have to watch the whole movie. But the point is that hunger is probably more likely to lead to stealing apples off the streets of Arabia (or, you know, prostitution, selling drugs, robbing me at gunpoint…), not providing excellent customer service at to the happy customers at Burger King. Ding fries are done.


In conclusion, these are the resolutions I demand be kept by my elected representatives. Fortunately most of the politicians I'm familiar with tend to keep these out of habit anyway, but lately the whole organized chaos that that takes place up in Jefferson City has fallen off it's rocker. It's time to dust off those politicians and help them back up into their mechanical saddles. Cowgirls don't cry.



Laugh. I'm only three fourths serious.

New Years Resolutions I'm Imposing on State Representatives

Ho Ho Ho Hum

I feel incredibly guilty when I do not update this convoluted blog of mine. This leads to stress. Stress leads to an inability to concentrate on things that might actually impact my future, which leads to a sense of self-loathing. And you know where that leads.

Ben and Jerry's.


It's not entirely that my mind is broken, though that vary well may be one of the causes; it's that the world is out of control and I got dizzy and fell off the ride and barfed a little bit. You needed to know that part. It's important to the story.

So after regaining my balance and dusting myself off, I decided maybe it's best to focus on the things I should actually be getting anxious about. Like finals, and starting an internship, and moving. I talked it over with myself and we (I) agree a short break is in our (my) best interests. Admittedly, I haven't updated with anything that has consisted of any newsworthy insight in quite a while so it will be an easy transition for all of my faithful readers.

This isn't to say I've given up blogging. I have plans to update occasionally with mindful rants about how dumb and disobedient men are and how wise and intriguing and heroic and otherwise generally flawless women are - with the exception of Sarah Palin. I may also interject with clever anecdotes about instances where I was irritated by something, or with poetic odes to strange things like toenails. spice racks, or cacti.

I'm just a wacky crazy awesome chick like that and dammit, I do what I want.


Yours Truly,

Anne|X



Also, there is no snow outside and it's December. You should fix that.

Ho Ho Ho Hum

Winner Winner Turkey Dinner?

Like many people, I gathered around a table and stuffed myself full of the festive autumn essentials alongside family and friends this past week. Thanksgiving used to be a holiday that celebrated and distorted a historic period of American brutality. And while the rest of our beloved holidays have become over commercialized and lost in political blather, the third Thursday of November now marks a day when we as a nation join together to reflect on the good fortune that has found its way into our lives. Admittedly the economy has gone to hell and we're all struggling, but this year I've found it easier to recognize the gifts that I have received.

Like everyone else, the list of things I’m thankful for starts with the amazing people around me. The support and motivation I’ve received this year, and every year prior, has been a godsend and I would be a huddled mass in a ditch somewhere without it. I’m also thankful for my job. Not because it’s particularly enjoyable but because it pays the rent and mass of parking tickets I've accrued since moving to the city. It allows me to afford to drive 3 hours to spend the holidays with my family. Not everybody is so fortunate. I am thankful for my broken health care system and my expensive and currently useless medical insurance. There are people that don’t have access to the level of care that I have access to. I’m thankful that I don’t loose loved ones daily to ethnic or ideological battles that take place in this country, or in other countries. I'm thankful that despite the ignorance, misguidance, and utter hostility, people are becoming active in government affairs again. I’m thankful I’m allowed to say these things without much reprimand. I’m thankful foreign troops don’t walk my streets under the guise of protecting me. I’m thankful that I live in a future empire instead of one of the countries it will destroy on it’s path to world domination. Kind of.

I’m thankful that when I someday meet a wonderful man and fall in love, that I can get married and not have my happiness be looked down upon or discriminated against. I’m thankful that my parents, both of whom spent the past year unemployed through no fault of their own, have been able to receive unemployment benefits that make them financially able to stay above the poverty line while they look for work. I’m thankful that when they had full time jobs, it was enough for them to survive on. I’m thankful that even though I no longer live in a democracy, I am still able to enjoy the protection of some of the freedoms and rights bestowed upon me by our forefathers. My protests have not yet been violently repressed. I can still ask questions without persecution.

In fact, upon reflection I’ve discovered that almost every complaint I have about this country is something that I have been blessed with. This is one of the driving forces behind my involvement in politics. There are people in this country, in this world, who, through no fault of their own, don’t have these things to be thankful for. Why? On Thanksgiving I saw a tweet posted by Al Jazeera (English). It said, “Bomb blasts in Iraq claim lives: Dozens wounded in addition to fatalities in attacks outside Baghdad.” Included was a link to this article. I can’t rightfully use this post to go on about how not-thankful I am about our foreign policy, but it’s hard to be thankful that I don’t live where things like this take place because to me it feels like I’m also saying “Better them than me.” I don't believe that.

I’m involved in politics because I am thankful. I’m involved because I appreciate the life I, out of pure luck, have been blessed with. And I stand up, and I speak up, and I fight for those blessings, because there are people out there who are not so fortunate despite the fact that they are no less deserving of them than I am. Lost cause or not, I’m in this battle because to let a single freedom, a single one of my god-given rights fade away without a fight does the people who live everyday without them no justice and makes a mockery of their struggle.

So yes. I’m thankful for so much more than just my family and my friends. I’m thankful that I was lucky enough to be born into a situation that has allowed me to find a path in this world where I can give thanks by giving back. And it's nice to know that tomorrow, when I wake up, I'll still have all of this to be thankful for.

Winner Winner Turkey Dinner?