Recently, I entertained taking a job that would have had me directing an office tasked with registering un-registered voters of disadvantaged economic backgrounds. It would have focused on African American communities.
While debating whether or not to accept the position, I mentioned the gig to a few friends and family. What surprised me was the cynicism that I was met with when I mentioned it to some of my right leaning compadres.
Even my mom responded withs, “Oh great, so they can all go vote for Obama?”
Another friend who will most certainly be voting for Romney this Nov. just rolled his eyes and shook his head.
This organization registering the voters is no ACORN. It’s a non-profit, non-partisan organization wanting to give a voice to the voiceless.
If learned anything from my four years working with the poor in Guatemala, it was that democracy can’t and doesn’t happen without A) an educated population and B) people who care enough about their own situation to make the trip to the polls to vote for candidates that are going to help them and reflect their interest.
The death of any democracy is apathy.
The poor in many countries often lack both access to education and find it difficult to vote on a workday. Living in the margins means that one day of missed work can lead to a whole lot of hurt.
It’s true, African Americans coming from poor communities are more likely to vote for Obama. But who’s fault is that? Which party has forgotten them? To the people that met this job and i’s mission with cynicism, what is their stance? Do they not want these citizens to vote? Would they rather have them left out of the democratic process?
That attitude seems weak and narrow.
What I find most often in the left vs. right debate, is that issues are argued instead of intent. And that leads nowhere. That’s why the debates perpetuated by the talking heads involve little more than people shouting their viewpoints.
Let’s be real. Neither party is perfect, neither is right or wrong. It’s just about who we want to be as a people and where we want to go as a country–who we want to have what and how we want them to be able to get it.
I for one wouldn’t mind “Stifling innovation,” if it means that millions of children would have a chance at a good education.
I personally don’t think that it’s right that any one individual should be able to have billions of dollars. There’s not enough to go around. Period.
Just because someone is smart enough to obtain that much money, doesn’t mean that it’s right for them to retain it. Not when people in this country and abroad are starving for an education, are starving for a meal, or starving for the opportunity to have a fair shot at this crazy game we call life.
Too many people have taken more than their fair share, and it’s not going to be easy to get them to let go of that.
