I thought about calling this GBCW, but I haven’t even been around long enough to make a dent and my farewell would be met with an endless supply of crickets rubbing their wings together.
I have a great many issues that are important to me and the Daily Kos is amazing at covering them. Usually there is already a post on something near and dear to my heart, so yes I’ve mostly diarized about local politics and John Edwards, who I support for the nomination. I haven’t been shy about this, I’m proud of this choice. But I want to engage in these issues, I’ve discovered that politics is a passion and I want to learn as much as I can.
This is a community, is it not? It’s a real place, is it not? I sincerely believe that everything I do is a reflection of who I am and it is equally weighted by the things I say to people in my life and to those strangers I comment to online. It’s all real life. I am courtesy to all, even when I don’t agree with their opinions or tactics. I think everyone deserves a certain amount of respect.
But I’ve come across a lot of people who seem to make a distinction between their online lives and what they do in the "real world". I have posted gossip Live Journal and was called a bad mother because of this. I was accused of neglecting my child and was also threatened by a call to Child Protective Services. Yes, because I had annoyed someone by posting too often.
I’m not calling anyone out, it was merely a straw as they say and this camel’s back is beyond broken.
I don't know who you are in real life, and I don't care.
I’m here because I care. I care about the political process, I care about those who are affected by it and I care about the outcome of this election because of how this will affect not only my child’s life but everyone on this planet. Yes, I know, so fucking melodramatic, but it is real life. I’ve lived through the last seven years and I’ve learned that I am proud to be a liberal. I’m proud that I value life, all human life, not when it conveniently supports my agenda, but all the time.
Many of the argument s I have observed about the candidates are pretty lack luster. Who is more progressive? Who is more honest? Who eats more apple pie? You know what, it doesn’t really matter. If people really cared so much about voting the most progressive candidate then Kucinich would be ahead in the polls not Clinton.
I’m not supporting a particular candidate because I think they can win or I believe that they have the best chance of winning in the General Election. I sincerely believe that they have the right ideas and I’ve combined that with other personal reasons. And this is not to convince anyone, but to be honest about where I’m coming from.
So when someone says to me that they don’t know me in real life and they don’t care, it bothers me because this is real life. Real life is collecting the time cards of three people I work with, without their knowledge, so we can lay them off the next day. Yes, today. The housing market slump has hit the sector I work in and I had to make sure that these people got their last paycheck.
Real life is knowing my four year old is going to kindergarten next year and that the school system doesn’t really seem to care much about children but more about test scores. Or that she loves running around the house naked and can use the term vagina in the proper context, but how long will that last? When is she going to worry about her weight and start thinking that biological terms are "dirty"?
Real life is my husband who is part Native American and in debt to the tune of $150,000 for his student loans and he never once took a scholarship for his background. I think he should have, because he now teaches in a community college where many of his students don’t read very well by the time they get to his class and have to be told to write in full sentences. (I wish I could find statistics, but very few Native Americans have actually gotten Ph.D.s in this country).
Real life is my house that I bought last year. If things keep going as they are, I will owe more on my house than what it is actually worth.
Real life is about soldiers who have fought this war in Iraq and have come home to tell what they think of the war only to be called "phony", no real soldier would oppose this war and no real Republican would oppose this President’s actions.
Real life is Graeme Frost and his family being bullied by the right for merely telling their story of how a government program helped them in a time of need.
I have values, in real life and online. I believe this election is important and that being civil is imperative. Just because the right lies to save face and will destroy anyone that gets in their way doesn’t mean we have to be saints. But we should be more civil with each other, because this is real life. I can handle arguing facts and opinions (because face it, fact is fact, but many people may have a different opinion of what that "fact" implies).
I am not going to tell anyone how to behave, but I’m certainly not going to be bullied from posting and commenting. A community is for everyone and so far I’ve only been bullied by a small minority here at The Daily Kos and I’ve tried very hard not to partake in the childish fights that happen.
And just like "real life", hearing the same thing over and over from the same person really winds up negating any good the message might have done. The real world is right here and this is not role playing.
So, I guess I should have just called this my "HCW. That’s right, hello cruel world.