Creating Solutions In Times Of Crisis To Build A More Perfect Union
April 1st 2009 08:58
It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error.
~ U.S. Supreme Court, in American Communications Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382,442
~ U.S. Supreme Court, in American Communications Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382,442
In the year of 2007, I began a journey with only my brains, a keyboard and a social networking site. For those who have been with me each and every step along the way, you will understand the journey I have taken to come to this moment.
A moment that will not be misconstrued as a candidacy for any higher office, nor will it be a call to arms. What this moment will be is a clarification of my Radical Independence and everything it entails for my own journey in understanding the world we live in.
The things that brought me to this point was out of an urge to get past a media that only offers us speech grouped in partisan terms. Plain speak and common sense is what we are missing in political conversations based out of contradictions and double-speak.
The double-speak that says one woman can wear the crown of the women’s rights movement because she fits into all the Democratic square pegs and another isn’t fit to lead because she has a family to take care of.
The double-speak that says we can have rallies and parades when the ultimate glass ceiling is broken but can call another black man who ascends to the top ranks of a different political party an Uncle Tom or a puppet because he has different beliefs about how America can regain her prosperity.
In the months that I have been writing these columns I have been told the one thing I have been missing is solutions. The problem I see with solutions is within the fact that quick and easy solutions are the one’s that brought us into this mess.
Solutions that said one religion or a group of people were more important than another is at the root of world conflicts creating hot spots of strife and anger around the globe. Easy solutions have been the cause of global warming, the spread of famine and disease along with the loss of chances to avoid disaster by allowing dictators to seize power and bring their tyranny to our very own back doors.
The people in power have taken the route of creating easy solutions since the beginning of time and we are no better for it. If I came on here and said things like we need to abolish abortion or abortion is a fundamental right and anyone who thinks different is godless or archaic it would do nothing to advance the conversation to a point where we can simply talk about ways to make our schools better, survive the economic crisis, get back our world prosperity, build better networks to make the food supply safe and become a better America.
If you’ve come here looking for speeches laced around the things Americans need to hear that conclude with a colorful and exuberant ending of why electing a Democrat or a Republican will lead to a better solution than the other you are simply in the wrong place.
If you came to this place looking to open your mind by hearing straight-speak from both sides so you can make your own conclusions from issue to issue this is what I have to offer in an age built on doing anything but that.
The facts are all in front of us slapping us right in the face. The failing economy, lack of trust, wars of thought between the left and the right, do nothing sessions of Congress, corruption, dangers both at home and abroad, and a failing education system all top the list.
These issues hang around the necks of each and every American like a noose waiting for the spring board to fall out from under us. In times of crisis, we don’t need to fall back to our partisan roots looking for easy solutions of what’s going to work in the short term.
Any solution built in the short term is nothing but a mandate and, mandates always back fire bringing out the worst in any society with a backlash. Mandates on Germany after WWI gave Hitler the capability to rise to power and raise his twisted tryranny on the world. Singular egocentric thought on religious beliefs is what fueled events like the inquisition and crusades which still exist in the religious misunderstandings we experience as a world society today. Societal attacks on the institution of religion in China and the USSR began as easy solutions from intellectuals to perfect society but only lead to a deep and dark intolerance that the world still allows to continue today. Slavery, Jim Crowe, and the thought that a woman belongs in a subservient role to her husband and family; they all began with an easy solution.
Mandates no matter how big or small are just that, even when it’s the drunk with power sessions of our current Democratic Congress or the iron fist Newt Gingrich lead Republican Congress, the results will always be the same, in leaving the door open for Americans to be spun and influenced through passions of anger, to put aside any thought of the bigger issues that affect everyone from sea to shining sea.
While it is clear that we have a lot of work ahead of us to fix the injustices in society, none of this will ever be accomplished until we put down our weapons and understand that we’re all not much different from one another as individuals. I’m coming to you as a man raised as a Democrat, joined the Republican Party only to become so disengaged from the system so that I formed my own political thought.
The problem isn’t with the political parties nor is it with the politicians. The problem lies squarely in our political culture and how we decide to fight the battles. Centuries of battles fought with our gender, race, sexual orientation, religion or ethnicity along party lines and mandating to anyone who thinks differently a charge of being out of touch have not helped our country’s long term prosperity.
There is nothing wrong with being progressive or conservative and fighting for what’s right but, there has to come a point and time when we get rid of the square pegs and judge people for their ideas and not how much they fit into one party or another.
Whatever we have been doing is clearly not working and at some point beyond all the campaign rhetoric, real change is something that is required to make America work again.
When government won’t change, it is up to “we the people” to elect new leaders who will change the culture. This cause isn’t helped with bait and switch politics or the same old promises and has to come from deep within ourselves.
A place where we understand the balance of power, the fact that what’s good for New York City may not be so good for Biloxi, Mississippi, all the while still realizing at the end of the day we have the same national problems and end goal for a better America.
The greatest part of the American adventure is having the freedom to fight for what we believe is right but, we also have to take the route of our forefathers from time to time and understand the delicate art of compromise. This is the one thing missing from all the political conversations based around God, Guns, Scare Tactics, and Us vs. Them Politics but, if there’s one thing this crisis will do, it will force us to come to the table of understanding and figure out a way to bring it all together or we’ll go down fighting each other till the very end.
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Comment by ~Geneva
~I know this all to well. My family business that has been open since 1991 faltered..and is now out of business effective January 2009. The service department is still open and hanging on by a thread. However, no one cares to go to a Mom & Pop shop when there are huge "discount" stores touting "great deals". America was built on Mom & Pop shops..
I was angry, but now I want real change..so not everyone has to lose something that is near and dear to their hearts..and potentially their livelihood. It has nothing to do with political alliances..race, religion, gender..etc. It has to do with coming together as a HUMAN being..and making it work for everyone...however that needs to happen.
~Geneva
Comment by Khalfani King
Politics and Culture
Khalfani King
Oldies but Goodies From Campaign 08
It's important for each and every one of us to remember that at some point beyond the divisions we're all in this together.
Together till the very end no matter the outcome and power struggles do nothing but shield this fact.
In the end it's the outcome that matters and outcomes that conclude with one side winning out over the other instead of joint decisions made by and for all the people will only lead to disaster and an even more desperate and divided America.
Comment by ~Geneva
This is about how we get through this--Together.
~Geneva
Comment by Khalfani King
Politics and Culture
Khalfani King
Oldies but Goodies From Campaign 08
If there's anything I want the American public to gain out of my writings it's exactly in that very statement...
At some point beyond all the criticisms of the actions and thought of the Democratic & Republican philosophies the root of the ultimate issue in our survival lies in that very statement.
You're dead on and thanks for sharing it!!!!