I am a Libertarian. This blog, however, is not a Libertarian blog. It is a blog exploring the concept of thinking for yourself. The idea of not letting other people dictate the agenda or tell you what you should care about. I am not a professional journalist, nor do I wish to be. What I am, is an activist. I seek to inspire dialogue, independent thinking and action.
What I find frustrating about the current political climate, is that the issues being discussed in the mainstream are not necessarily issues that would compel me to act or even care. Sometimes its because the concepts are so large, so overwhelming, that I don't even have the vaguest idea of what I would do, assuming I was even in a position to do anything in the first place. These issues are absolutely enormous in scope. There are so many moving parts. So many details. And to complicate matters further, the political landscape seems to change so quickly, that by the time one gains even a fundamental understanding of whats going on, the dynamic has already shifted. Then, oddly, those very same situations appear to drag on indefinitely, devoid of any meaningful resolution. It is as if things are simultaneously flying by yet somehow, not progressing at all.
In many ways, politics is merely another aspect of life, no different than any other big picture experience. One could take any crucial moment in time, break that experience down, try to understand what it means in your life, then subsequently take the appropriate action. This is the entire purpose of rational thought. First, reason. Then, act. Let's take, for example, the birth of a child. If you examined your role as a new parent to this baby, you would see conflicting perspectives. You could be (as I was) intimidated by the enormity of the undertaking. A baby brings excitement and energy, and creates a shift in your responsibility in the world. In that way, the new life brings with it forward momentum. Taken from another point of view, that same child will require a lifetime of commitment and consistency, which grounds you. The event brings weight and seriousness to your life and slows your pace in certain respects. Therefore, the experience becomes two sides of the same coin. It pushes you forward in incremental ways, yet in the macro sense, it forces you to be stable. This is a delicate balance. Frequently by the time you have figured out what to do in a specific scenario, the baby is older, and already has an entirely different set of needs. And so you miss your window. You make mistakes. Whatever. And that is frustrating.
Upon closer examination, the flip side of this issue illustrates that while the specific circumstances of child rearing may not have gone exactly the way you intended moment to moment, your child grows to a different stage, and you know what? You get another chance. You build on your past success and failure. You learn. You keep at it. And in that way, the child goes from being a daily project, to becoming a defining aspect of your overall person. The incremental gives way to the large scale. Things start to make more sense. You still make mistakes. But the child keeps growing and you keep getting more chances. And with each new chance, you can draw on the benefit of your past experience. The forward motion that the small daily regimen brings propels your life onward. And the aggregate of the compounded experience, when understood, lends stability to your overall life. It is progress tempered by steadiness.
This is not dissimilar from the thought process that, when applied accurately, allows us to form useable political opinions. Much like a child, the political arena is unpredictable, ever changing, varied, exciting and at times, frustrating. By the time we believe we have a grasp on whats going on, often the climate has changed. But we do have the benefit of experience in this scenario, as well. Perhaps even more so because politics is such an all encompassing topic. Examining individual issues that are of importance can make the larger concepts manageable. It is easy to throw your hands up and scowl because you have no idea what derivatives are, let alone how they contributed to our current financial crisis. It is even easier to feel helpless in the face of yet another conflict brewing in the middle east after billions have been spent in that area to date with seemingly no benefit and no end in sight. You may ask yourself, as one person, what can I possibly do to affect any kind of change? I ask myself the same thing. And I have concluded, more than once, that the bulk of political issues are so complex and specific, it would be difficult to formulate any kind of actionable plan beyond voting. I mean, we all know we can vote. That is our gift. Our mandate. Our voice. Our weapon. But it is one thing to vote. And it is quite another to take the time to understand how to make your vote count.
In my opinion, the best way to begin to become more politically active, is to realize that no matter how intimidating an issue may be, there are ways to understand the concepts behind it. I still don't know exactly how to potty train a child, I fail miserably at parent teacher conferences, and have yet to master the art of listening to my children's full explanations before getting prematurely angry. But I am learning. Parenting is a long haul. It requires discipline. And I know that I cannot allow the weight of the responsibility nor the expansiveness of the idea to keep me from trying to use my rational mind to reflect on specific situations and apply them to my overall experience.
In short, I approach parenting the same way I approach politics.
What becomes evident over time, is that whether it is your personal life or a public policy issue, there is no such thing as a "right answer". The experiences are fluid. Conditions change. Things you thought would always be there in life disappear or become unrecognizable. The same way you learn to manage your children and shepherd them through life's many difficulties, you can also learn to apply your individual experience in this world to more global issues, decide FOR YOURSELF how you feel about them and act accordingly. You didn't know anything about parenting that child when you started. But the lack of specifics didn't stop you from moving forward. That same logic applies here.
Your child, your way. Your world, your way.
Membership in a labor union, a church, or any other group does not dictate your individual value system. In that same vein, no political party can fully encompass any individual persons needs. So try to explore issues for yourself, break them down, and apply your own experience. And THEN vote. If you discover that voting alone is not enough, find other ways to contribute. Recognize that your individuality is an asset. Be willing to argue. Get passionate about things that are important to you. Respect issues that are important to others and ask them why they care about those issues. Then listen to the answer. Don't just sit there and think about what you are going to say next. Read. Communicate. Reason it out.
Not everyone can be a politician or a journalist. But everyone can be an activist. It's your country. Its your world. What are you doing to align your big picture experience with your individual values? Don't spend so much time worrying about the details of things that are so far reaching you cannot change them. Instead, think about how you can use your individuality to make a difference within your own sphere of influence. Politicians don't have every answer or even any answer. They simply have a forum.
Find your forum.
BB
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