Born to Bleed

O n my mother 's side, I'm a second-generation American.  Both her parents immigrated from Italy.  My father's family seems to go back to the 1600s in the US, so I'm only half a second genner, if you will, but on both sides of the family, my forbears had to work (hard) for a living.  I come from working-class people, with mortgages, 10 year-old cars, and as little credit card debt as possible.  My parents survived the Depression, and never stopped fearing another.  My parents instilled in me a work ethic that says in order to be paid well, you put in a "good  day's" work. I know.  I'm old school. Waaaaay old school.  But that's the way I was brought up.  And everybody in  the family was a Democrat.

I know, the world has changed.  People expect that their college education automatically entitles them to a $45,000+ job, right out of the chute.  They have grown up in a NIMBY world, where Kennedy's challenge of "Ask Not" is just something written in a history book. 

And yet, I don't want to change.  I still believe, as I did in 1970 (when I voted for the first time) that war is wrong, and that no purpose is ever served by bombing the breath out of men, women and children so that the leaders of a country can consider themselves justified.  I believe that if we bond together as human beings, and work for the common good, good things will come of it.  I believe that the government should be one of those good things.  I believe that we should all chip in to pay for services that we all use, but that we should be charged an honest amount, and given what we think we are paying for.  I believe that businesses exist in order to provide goods and services, and that as such, they should be allowed to self-perpetuate, which requires their owners to make money at what it is that they do.  I also think that those business owners should pay a fair wage to those who work for them, and that everyone should be able to be responsible for their own debts.  No one should go without medical care because they cannot afford the cost.  I believe that all humans begin their lives with an inherrent sense of what is good, and right and just.  Some humans lose sight of that as they grow, but that basic core of good is still there, always. 

At one time, I believed that these values were aligned with the party that calls itself Democratic.  Nowadays, I'm not sure my presumption is still true.  However, I cannot align myself with the other major party, which, to me, seems to believe that its leaders have the [God-given] right to tell everyone else how to live their lives.  Despite the fact that these people think they can mandate the lifestyles of others, they expect to do it through words, not deeds.  I don't tolerate hypocrisy well, and so, I could never align with them. 

Other parties seem to be dedicated to a part or portion of what I believe this country was intended to be about.  Isolating the need for fewer taxes, or concentrating on one area of need over another doesn't strike me as sensible in today's complex world.  I think, in order to "work,"  a political party must consider the needs of the global community -- those in countries with very different ideologies as well as those whose style is similar to ours.  A party needs to respond not only to its constituents, but also to those in this country whose opinions differ.  A party needs to be concerned not with "winning" this particular piece of legislation, or puttping that candidate into office, but instead, with building a better nation for all of us.