Originally posted by: Centinel
First, this is not a flame....believe me or not but I genuinely am curious.
I know many of you do not like Bush, are liberal, are from blue states, etc. Now, my question is how many of you are involved to make the changes you feel are needed in this country?
If you are, what are you doing? How are you participating?
This is not the libertarian in me asking this.....this is the political scientist. I see part of the problem with the democratic party is alot of verbal committments, but no follow through. Hence the huge "vote or die" and such campaigns targeted at youth voters, but still the same amount of youth turnout.
Is this beginning to change? Did this election cause you to become more politically active?
First, I could be seen as a conservative by some in that I: Am married w/children, was a stay at home mom for years, and in general model prudent behavior in all aspects of my life. No 'alternative' lifestyle for me.
But I don't like Bush.
Why? And what am I doing to make the changes needed in this country?
Well, I put my money where my mouth is. I support recycling in every way I can, and my husband and I both drive vehicles that get excellent gas mileage. We will drive and maintain these cars until they fall apart, even though we could afford to do otherwise.
There is a building boom out here... lots of sensitive woodlands/wetlands being raped so brand new houses can be built, but we are against the rampant, thoughtless development that is going on. We believe in using our resources wisely and bought an older house, which we have been repairing and updating for the past few years.
We are appalled by the way food is mass produced... before there was Mad Cow (which hasn't been stopped by any means) there was just plain old animal cruelty in the name of cheap burgers and nuggets. We eat a mostly vegetarian diet, and the meat we eat is almost entirely chicken and eggs that are cruelty-free.
We are teaching our children to be open minded and tolerant of others while still being able to think about their own best interests. We think being open minded and tolerant IS in our best interests.
I work as a special education teacher. I don't really have to work... we've lived within our means, but I see this as a way to: A) get ahead so we can retire sooner to the country (where I will raise my chickens!) and B) it's a form of giving back to the community (nobody wants to do what I do, and the pay is pretty bad in my state). The majority of teachers are not very happy with NCLB... it's written by a bunch of laymen and mostly benefits companies who make tests.
My husband was a Republican for all of his life until a little over a year ago. He finally started to see that our society is pretty much an out-of-control state of capitalism, with very little actually effort being made to improve things. Everyone wants their tax cut and sale at (insert name of favorite store here).
I don't see myself suddenly becoming some kind of crusader, and I don't think there is anything wrong with making my statement through my choices in life. I suppose when my children are grown I could 'do more' so to speak, but for now there are still science projects to do and dentist appointments to make. We are a
family that is trying to live what we believe, and I make no apologies.
