The Up-and-Coming Generation Needs Help Taking Down the Roadblocks

The most difficult part about paying attention to the political-sphere is the feeling of hopelessness that can sometimes accompany knowing just how inexorable the system can be. Goodness knows with the "big six" in charge of nearly all forms of popular and "credible" media, it seems like even the voices of people who wish to make a difference have little opportunity to make the mainstream unless the procurer of said voice is some kind of well-connected prodigy of thought.

I personally don't know how people like Michael Moore, Bill O'Reilly, Tom Vilsack, or John Edwards got into the positions they did where their voice is respected, listened to, and even welcomed, but as a product of the Millenial generation, I'd like to figure out their methods and publish them to my peers since our voices are the ones that need to be heard in this dialogue.

As we sit in the classrooms and read our textbooks, we know that we're their for one reason, to get a better job. Certainly our dreams are forever whispering in our ears, but they frequently pale in the shadow of larger realities like the concept that, though we aspire to it, we individually may not be the ones to revolutionize medicine, journalism, or even our local communities for that matter. While in high school, our fears were of things like social ostracism, I think that the prevailing fear of college students across the nation is the fear of obscurity.

You see, we get degrees, we hit the polls, and we attend protests because the feeling we get of making that personal contribution to a cause that's important to us gives us hope that we too may someday be heard on national television, published in a national newspaper, or elected to national office. In light of ranting, ego-centric pundits and personal Washington agendas on both sides of the political aisle, it becomes increasingly difficult for my generation to see the silver lining in the clouds.

Yet when you consider that the national docket has all but written us out due to low voter turnout, "prevailing apathy", and a supposed disregard by my peers and I toward the important things in life, perhaps the real issue is that the voices of the potentially obscure, are the ones that journalists, talking heads, and especially politicians should be digging for but aren't. This is because, despite a growing feeling of cynicism and reality among those my age, we still believe in the altruistic ideals preached from the highest pulpits of science and philosophy that our opinions can be frequently uplifting, inspiring, and needed in a country that so badly needs a pick-me-up these days. Our aims are often high and our dreams are often lofty, but to borrow a page from Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl, the only way to achieve high goals is to aim idealistically and, by such means, achieve highly.

Fortunately, politicians like Barack Obama have begun to tap into the youth culture and conduct that survey of America's future movers and shakers that is so badly needed through My Barack Obama.com. Similarly, John Edwards has begun a similar system of social networking, clearly designed to connect with the nations 18-28 year olds on the networking portion of his website as well as John McCain, something that neither Rudy Giuliani nor Hillary Clinton have done.

So our opinions may be considered under-developed. Then inform us! Give us news through our channels that we can relate to and tap into. Otherwise, believe me, we'll make it ourselves, whether by blog or by social networking website, we're ready to make a difference if you'll just give us the chance.

Doublespeak

Growing up on the south side of Des Moines, Iowa, I've always been offended by pretentiousness. From the fact that Paris Hilton was arrested for drunk driving in a McLaren Mercedes SLR (a car that she couldn't appreciate, nor could she afford it if it wasn't for our culture's embrace of the wealthy elite) to the overwhelming support of the Republican higher-ups by the socially and economically elite. From big enough boats to well-timed smiles to maintaining proper appearances at White House sponsored events (page 6), the socially elite, and now politically elite, maintain an air of amiability and pleasantness through the art of well-groomed public appearance both physically and rhetorically.

Of course now that the patented doublespeak of 1984 is back in style (retro fashion I expect), the pleasantries enjoyed by the elite are being exposed for what they really are, because much like an Iowa river, the surface may be smooth, but beneath the mucky waters are dangerous currents and jagged rocks.

Let's take the War on Terror for example. What began as an all out, bombs-away attack on the terrorist strongholds of the middle east under the banner of extreme patriotism and the preservation of democracy quickly became suspect as motivation from oil, fulfilling campaign contributions from private contractors, and recompense for Bush Sr.'s mistakes. Besides throwing us shoulders deep into a war that we only supported largely enough for action for a few years, the White House continued to defend the position despite cries to reconsider our strategy. Furthermore, Bush Jr. continues to push us deeper into the quicksand despite obvious results from pollsters that the American people feel the cause is either lost or that we need comprehensive help from foreign allies to attain our lofty goal. Despite initial promises to protect the people, Bush and Co. continue to speak out of both sides of their mouth, promising to do the will of the people, yet pressing on with personal interests.

Even the right's up-and-comings are playing into the game. Who could forget the countless attacks on John Kerry as a flip-flopper? Now, leading by example, the President's views on justice seem to change with the wind, giving one stance on the treatment of criminals and then taking another when the chips are down. Following in his footsteps comes Rudy Giuliani, adamantly pointing the figure at Democratic former president Bill Clinton and then backpedaling along the party line.

Not is this prevailing trend of hypocrisy becoming pedestrian with the current administration, but all around the political landscape are outlandish claims with no true connection, such as the Fox News claims that socialized medicine is a breeding ground for terrorists. Fortunately for the powers that be is psychological research that as long as an opinion is repeated, especially from a credible (this time "credible") source, it has more effect than another opinion expressed by a true majority. This means that, as long as Fox News keeps crawling the evils of socialized medicine, Hillary Clinton, environmental protection, and any and all scientists that agree with global warming across the bottom of the screen, people will believe it.

So why do 9 in 10 Americans believe that the founding fathers would be displeased with the country today? Pay attention and I'm sure we'll have an answer soon.

With priorities a little askew, maybe it's time for our society to re-examine itself

Because this and this are two of the top stories on the Washington Post and Blog rings.

Political jokes have fueled our society for the longest time. But for goodness sake, when Howard Dean can be literally forced out of the political spectrum because of some noise that he made in an excited rally after the Iowa Caucuses, perhaps it's time for us to look at our priorities.

At least, within 48 hours of the fact, the infamous Inconvenient Youth scandal hasn't saturated the webrings and video sites with parody sufficient to unseat Gore. But in retrospect, while we dodged a bullet with the Gore III fiasco, greater things are happening in our society including the alive-and-kicking spell of racism from a Louisiana school to the recent court decision to allow segregation in schools, our energies seem to be directed at correcting the wrong social inequities.

After reviewing several of the Democratic primary candidates, I took quick note of the fact that the only person expressly addressing the issue of minority inequalities in business was Barack Obama in his plan to fight poverty (near the bottom).

Not to mention the fact that we've grown so complacent on an international level that stories like the developing Russian missile controversy fly virtually under the radar. This kind of disregard for the social universality of our existence is also part of the reason that we've developed no kind of plan in our government to deal with the Genocide in Darfur, global poverty, the conflict in the Congo, or even the work of other madmen in the world like former Liberian President Charles Taylor who's rebel groups committed unthinkable atrocities in Sierra Leone.

Even further in that state of social isolation is a general neglect of domestic poverty and a lack of decent health coverage for the poor demonstrating that along with our society's disregard for fellow, non-American man is a disregard for fellow, American man.

Similarly, though, there is hope. Since the new scrutiny of conservative pundits like Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, and Michael Savage began just a few months ago as their hate mongering, fact bending dogma came under more intelligent analysis, progress is being made in removing these voices from the airwaves and their influence is being duly noted. Referring to women who wear burqas as "hateful Nazi[s]" that want to "kill your children" to a national audience is one thing, but the fact that for this long we as a society have simply accepted it is another. Similarly, Ann Coulter's attack on John Edwards is sometimes met with agreeable laughter from conservatives. Is this really the kind of language that we need flying around our politics and is it any wonder that we've become desensitized to the important issues?

It's about time that the change begins, and it begins with college students right now. According to Millenials go to College by William Strauss and Neil Howe, studies show that the incoming generation of High School and College students are displaying an increase in public service, and an overall decrease in long-term, detrimental behavior like teen pregnancy and smoking. This kind of service and overall outlook for the long-term is exactly what we need in this country. When we can't even spare a couple of dollars to pay for our fellow man's well-being because we don't want their problems in "our backyards" the outlook is good for the Millenial generation and what we're about to do to the political landscape.

On top of this, a very interesting article about...well...the universe.

About that time

As a young and impressionable college student, I find myself thinking, more often than not, that my opinions in politics may be underdeveloped and too ideological. I don't think I'm wrong on this one.

According to "How to Win at College" by Cal Newport, it's important for younger people to get involved politically since they 1. are ideological enough to stand on principle, and 2. not cynical enough to back down. I think that, despite his inexperience, Barack Obama's position on political corruption in Washington is an excellent example of what Cal Newport was talking about.

But beyond the problem, is anyone proposing a solution? After all, it wasn't too long ago when leading political pundits accused Republicans of being corrupt and Democrats of being gun-shy and unwilling to take a controversial stance for fear of rocking the already unstable boat. Then Scooter Libby came along.

Thank goodness he did too because now early criticisms that the rhetoric used at the beginning of the War on Terror was simply a method of appeasing the people on the surface while allowing vicious political undercurrents to flow is appearing like more than just political dogma. Everything from the nature of Mr. Libby's crime to the way that it's being defended are further exposing the overly-empowered right in Washington as a win-at-all-costs group of well-spoken crooks. Furthermore, the crimes and methods that the Bush administration has been employing are empowering the left and pushing us out of our easy chairs and forcing even controversy-laiden figureheads like Bill Clinton to speak out.

And besides the partisan chess match, the powers that be are even beginning to re-examine the practices of the "unitary executive".

It's a great time to be on the left and I hope that the practices of the "minority" of the conservative party don't damage the reputation of the United States so greatly that we're left out of the international stage as well.

Press on friends.

Additional links include a John Edwards blog post about the Nixon scandal that won't die, Gore's editorial and an interesting new insight on the Scooter Libby debacle, and of course, more laughable quotes from our unitary executive comparing Iraq to the Revolutionary War.

Nothing better than a little cold, hard, truth

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/in%20dex.asp

Fantastic. Just when every liberal in the mainstream these days is affronted with attacks of "well prove it" from conservatives that are out of ammo, a site like this comes along.

Follow the link and choose a sector or industry and you'll find hard statistics for monetary contributions to either party in a certain area. Which anti-global warming party is receiving the most money from big oil, health, and insurance companies? You guessed it!

So when Elizabeth Edwards called and personally requested that Ann Coulter stop spewing the personal attacking, hate mongering, irrelevant babble that's corrupting the political dialogue anyway and she asked that Mrs. Edwards stop asking conservatives to stop campaigning for the issues that they believe in, did she mean the ideas of receiving campaign contributions from the companies that would rather see our climate permanently changed, our lives further put at risk, and our "personal assistance" services become less and less personal for the sake of corporate profits and heavy payouts for the already saturated wealthy elite? Sounds like the man that every citizen would "like to have a beer with" would rather drink champagne.

Additional links: a little more evidence that the human impact is much broader than we all like to believe.

Issues

Do you ever have those days when you think nothing exciting is going to happen?

It was definitely one of those days today, the only thing special planned was to go see Michael Moore's new documentary SiCKO. It should've occurred to me however that that was all it was really going to take to make a dull day into an interesting one.

To begin with, I've really got to hand it to the Fleur Cinema, they've got their act together since, not only do they provide muffins and hot chocolate (which was a great alternative from popcorn and pop since I'm on a healthfood kick), but that's just a downright cozy little local place to see a good artistic movie. The crowd there was obviously ready to see a movie that was going to have an impact and the staff and set up were just welcoming. I am just over-f*ckin-whelmed.

So we sat down to see the movie and I've got to give it to Mr. Moore, because I don't know how you manage to make a difference with each and every film that you make. From stories of healthcare and insurance nightmares to point/counterpoint of any potential holes in his arguments filled with real world, unemotional, factual examples, he just never seems to stop despite overwhelming criticism and displeasure with his controversial viewpoints.

I think the world needs a person like Michael Moore, if I may, especially since no one in Washington besides my boys in blue (democrats) seems to want to step out from under Bush's power umbrella and get their clothes a little wet. From Edwards lengthy and extensive total-country-involving energy plan to Obama actually proposing a way to deal with the ever-evolving church and state debacle to Hillary's wheel's-already-spinning support of universal healthcare, from parties to governments to fraternity houses, I think that controversial viewpoints should be and need to be voiced.

The things that Mr. Moore does much better in SiCKO than in say Bowling for Columbine or Fahrenheit 9/11 are that his arguments are less emotionally based this time around. The scenes of crying patients are overshadowed by the interviews with socialized medicine doctors who, despite all of conservative pundit claims of lengthy waits for treatment, lack of equipment and funding in hospitals, and government controlled slave/doctors, are a living, breathing demonstration of not only the viability of universal healthcare, but its inescapable benefits. He keeps it impactful by juxtaposing humor with real-life, tearjerking stories, and never allows you to lull into an arms crossed, dogmatic denial of all claim that his arguments stake. Finally, to top it all off, he manages to hit all the major go-to "enemies" of the United States and shows how, despite their obvious evil, manage to make the system work AND preserve respect and admiration for the American people in the process.

So there you have it. Thanks again Michael Moore, your work here makes us liberals smile, especially this one.

Press on friends.

Giving it a shot

So this is my first blog and frankly, I don't know how far I'm going to take it. It seems like a cool tool so I'm going to give it a shot.