Yesterday Amoorica
elected a new President. I am not directly commenting on that, but more about the general direction of the direction of this country. For the most part I’ve kept my #CowAWeek project fun and lighthearted. But sometimes, Moo needs to get on the soapbox and standup for what is right, decent, not to mention human. And bovine.
This post isn’t about any one person, or laying blame. This is about moving forward and ensuring hate, misogyny, bigotry, and a whole slew of other negative attributes are not what this era is remembered for. The statistic that saddens me most is the number of people who voted. Out of ~ 230 million voters, nearly half did not vote. This means our President was elected by about 1/4 of the population. Even if the vote had gone the other way, the statistic would hold true.
One of the few quotes that has stuck with me since high school is:
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few. The manna of popular liberty must be gathered each day or it is rotten. The living sap of today outgrows the dead rind of yesterday. The hand entrusted with power becomes, either form human depravity or esprit de corps, the necessary enemy of the people. Only by continued oversight can the democrat in office be prevented from hardening into a despot; only by unintermitted agitation can a people be sufficiently awake to principle not to let liberty be smothered in material prosperity.”
Many speakers and politicians have used variations of the first sentence, this version is attributed to Wendell Phillips, a 19th century abolitionist and women’s rights advocate.
As a nation we need to hold our elected officials to a higher standard. I understand completely why people are upset with the status quo. Individuals are not a concern of the government. Politicians are more apt to listen to big business and their wealthy donors. The system is set up to benefit these wealthy individuals and more horrifying, the wealthy corporations. The middle class is disappearing and the gap between poor and wealthy is growing. This needs to stop. As a nation we need to come together and move this country forward. We are a nation of immigrants. Every single person living in North America either migrated themselves, or their ancestors did. The only difference is when. Some came yesterday, some came around 10,000 years ago.
Not only do we as people need to get out and vote, we need to vote informed!
News media and journalists, you need to step up with this too! Stop reporting rumor and carefully edited soundbites. Give us facts. Give us the whole story. Give us good solid investigative reporting. Humans – read the quality articles and delve deeper than the headlines and soundbites. Humans we need to read/watch/listen to all sides of the arguments. Often if we listen carefully we realize we really do agree, it’s just a tiny thing separating opinions. Focus on what we agree on. Talk to each other, listen to each other, respect each other.
What can I do?
Join or donate to the ACLU. Please click at left to read about their work protecting the rights of Americans across the country – from broad rights such as free speech to specific issues affecting Veterans, LGBT, Racial injustice and Women’s Rights just to name a few.
I Want to do More!
Jezebel has put together a long list of organizations that can use volunteers and donations. Please read the comments as well, people are adding great organizations to the list.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
-Statue of Liberty
Very well said Elizabeth!
Thank you Paula!