So this is my first diary, I’m not much of a writer, but I had all these thoughts in my head and this seemed like a good place where I can share them with like-minded people and receive feedback. Some context about myself, I’m in my early 30’s, a liberal Jew living in Virginia, a state which ironically now has a more liberal governor than the one I grew up in (Maryland). I like to think my parents raised me with all of the correct values. “Treat people as you would like to be treated, be respectful to your elders, be curious about our world, listen to everyone’s opinion but make your own, etc..”
It is with this kind of upbringing, living where I do, that I have been musing about the state of our world and our county within it. Frankly I’m getting very worried about what state both will be in once my generation inherits them. I’m hoping it’s just media myopia, but it seems like values that should be universal have been turned political and upside down.
Since when should the people who run our country be vilified for wanting to provide health insurance for the poor by asking those with more than enough to give just a little more? Since when should the people who run our country be vilified for wanting to create rules to prevent another great recession? Since when should the people who run our country be vilified for wanting to provide citizenship for those who have sacrificed soo much to flee their homeland under fear of death if they stayed?
Since when should some of the people who run our country be vilified for providing intellectual, empirical evidence to complex questions of our environment, genetics and science in general?
Since when should we give credence to those who would espouse hate with no repercussions? Since when do we allow those running out country to lie to us, to tell us who we can marry or what we can do with our own bodies with less evidence or investigation that a bank would ask when providing you with a loan?
I know many of these issues are quite complicated and I can delve into them in further detail in subsequent postings, but I just feel that this lack of honest discourse in our government, this need to constantly appear hyper real and bombastic is creating a self feeding loop of negative polarization amongst our populace.
I constantly wonder how these politicians were raised to turn them into what they are today. Maybe if they just followed the golden rule (treat others the way you would like to be treated), instead of who hath the gold maketh the rules, our country can follow-suit, and start the swing back to normalcy. I know this is an over simplification but it could be a good starting point.