I don't often get angry in real life. I turned the other cheek more times than I should have. Given the state of our nation, I felt like I needed to write this diary. I don't like to rant, so don't expect this from me very often. I know that I am pretty new here and to blogging in general. So I'll have to share some more about myself here so that you all can understand me more clearly. You can read my community spotlight diary here. This diary will be long and it will require patience. I am still new to blogging.
I came here to Daily Kos to become more politically active. I've received a warm welcome thus far. I've carried a positive attitude in these troubling times, but I was not always this positive about myself. It was quite the opposite in fact for a good long time.
I grew up as a geek, both shy and introverted. Those things are not one in the same, by the way. Shyness is having the anxiety of social interactions while introversion is a type of personality that requires less social attention. Some of the most creative people have been introverts, by the way. People who knew me then would be shocked to see me today. Likewise, people who meet me for the first time would never believe that I was once as quiet as a mouse. I'll start by getting into my earlier interests and finish with how I am getting politically active after the fold.
I was a huge video gamer from an early age. I loved playing Atari, Nintendo, Sega, and Playstation systems. I still have an X-Box for Netflix. I've played dozens of computer games through out the years. After getting out of college, I got into Dungeons & Dragons on and off for a while. Gradually, I started playing more and more tabletop board games and I read books more often. For a while, I also played a game called Magic the Gathering. I've loved all sorts of geeky movies and TV shows like Battlestar Galactica (rebooted version), Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, the Hyperion novels and more.
One of the weirdest things that I went into was Amtgard, a LARPing game. If you ever saw the movie, Role Models, it's a big exaggeration of what LARPing is. Basically, it's really nerdy game where people fight with padded weapons, shields, bows, arrows, and such. I started playing to help a friend start a group. I became a welcome member of that small community. I chose to become a bard, a magic class that involves trickery and foolishness like making people only turn left. At some point, I became one of the most feared players there and I would usually get picked first, unlike in sports back in middle school. Basically, I would place enchantments and bolster my team so that we would slaughter the enemy on the field. I even earned kingdom-wide recognition as a master bard, which is seldom awarded. It was fun, for a time. I quit playing at some point during grad school. They still talk about me at the park. My presence still resonates.
I didn't think much about that frivolous experience. Why do I mention this now? It's because I've quit playing games and I entered into a new community. As a bard, I attended kingdom events and share stories, especially at the bardics. As a Kossack, I have come here for the stories, the experience, the news, and most importantly the openness. I came here because I am starting a new chapter in my life. I want to make my presence here known and long lasting. Only this time, my life in politics will have an impact on this nation at some point.
In my previous diary, I mentioned that I was going to become a Naval officer only to be turned down. I wanted to work there, retire, and write books afterwards about my experiences and reflections. I never intended to get into public life, but in my first offline steps I've begun to comprehend who I really want to be and who I should be as a citizen. Daily Kos will be just one more community in which my dreams and ideas will be shared... and for that I will be eternally grateful.
In all honesty, I came here for professional purposes to sharpen my writing and for networking. I will get that and give back much more than that. This is not strange since so many progressive candidates stop here from time to time. Fortunately, I have the good sense to not run for office. However, I do hope that this experience can help me find my way in life. I'd love to earn a living getting involved in politics as do some other Kossacks. I'd like to have a positive impact on this country someday and if I'd end up making it big one day, I'd want to have a Michael Moore attitude towards wealth and taxes.
My politics?
I have a strong libertarian slant on social issues with some progressive influences. I consider my self a Keynesian like Paul Krugman and I share Bill Maher's views on Obama's foreign policies. I detest capitol punishment and censorship. Sometimes I will have a moderate position on a few things. My dreams are idealistic, but I will start and operate by pragmatism most of the time. I consider myself to be a Deist and I love science.
What kind of political reforms do we need to get this country functioning again?
Full public funding of elections.
Gerrymandering reform.
Lobbying reform.
Filibuster reform.
Real healthcare reform.
Energy reform.
Serious financial reform.
Now the fun part. So what makes me angry?
Hearing about the economy fallingwhile the people responsible are not held accountable... and feeling helpless about it.
Hearing another foreclosure story... and feeling helpless about it.
Hearing another soldier coming back in a casket... and feeling helpless about it.
Hearing about another health care tragedy... and feeling helpless about it.
Hearing about another personal bankruptcy story... and feeling helpless about it.
Hearing about another small business closing... and feeling helpless about it.
Hearing about the new price of gasoline... and feeling helpless about it.
Hearing about another kid getting bullied for being LGBT... and feeling helpless about it.
Hearing about another person wrongfully getting arrested... and feeling helpless about it.
Hearing about an innocent man getting sent to death... and feeling helpless about it.
Hearing about a guilty man getting sent to death... and feeling helpless about it.
Hearing about the loss of confidence in government... and feeling helpless about it.
Hearing about how another person won't vote... and feeling helpless about it.
Being in a dead-end job like so many others... and feeling helpless about it.
What have I been doing?
I became angry. I became active. I started changing my schedule. I stopped playing video games. I stopped playing Facebook games. I quit my two weekly D&D games. I started applying for campaign jobs. I started volunteering for Organizing for America. I started going to a local public speaking group and they love me there. I started a Twitter account. I started networking. I started blogging, here. All of this was with good reason. Basically, I've been making more time in my life for activism and in doing so, I started picking myself up.
What do I want to do?
Become increasingly more active in political life. Find a job doing this and being able to support myself in doing so. Engage in public speaking. I want to blog more and then some. If I wasn't meant to be a military leader, then maybe I was meant to become a political figure.
In games, I am the best team player to have and the worst opponent to face. Since I love politics so much, maybe it's time to jump into that game, publicly. It would be something if one day, I get picked up by Barack Obama instead of the Navy. That really would be something. Even if that doesn't happen, maybe there will be a progressive Senator who could take me into the game and I could help maneuver legislation. If that doesn't happen, then maybe it will be a progressive House Member who would give me the chance to help retake the House and fill it with more progressives. If none of that happens, then maybe I will become a pundit and have a blast stirring up the electorate. Regardless of what happens, I will become too dangerous to ignore if I play my cards properly.
I would love nothing more to see the looks on the GOP's faces when Barack Obama get's re-elected. I would love more than that to see a fiery Congress enact progressive legislation while the GOP hopelessly scrambles. I would love to see the look on Grover's face when he realizes that his pledge is meaningless while his Republican "friends" turn against him. I'd love to see the look on Rupert's face when his viewer's start waking up to the cognitive dissonance that they've been feeding them over the years. I would love to see more Republicans like this Kossack's mother. It's narratives like that one that give me hope that it will happen over and over again. It gives me hope that the GOP will realize that they have unknowingly orchestrated their own destruction.
I must also mention again that I studied wars and philosophies behind wars. Since I am no longer getting into the business of war, then I must place those studies to good use in 2012. Why would I want to break the poisonous spirit of the GOP? Money? Fame? Power? No. If you have read my other diaries, it's not what I planned. I would want to crush the Republican philosophy because there is a moral obligation to do so. It would not be easy to do this, but next year it will be possible.
I would want to hear Americans across the country say these three words over and over in 2012:
WE DEMAND JUSTICE
Rightfully, we on the left will define what justice is after the GOP's machine breaks apart. We will craft a message that the DNC and the President cannot ignore. President Obama has done things because he has been constrained by history, but if we played our cards properly in the coming years then we would command history. It all depends on whether or not we can build political solidarity.
The members of the 1% will no longer be able to ignore the ebb and flow of history either. Some members of the 1% genuinely support us. We must also call on the wealthiest of Americans to walk with us and help rebuild this nation. There will be resistance, but it will not last forever. We will demand legislation to root out the corrupt on K Street and put them out of a job for putting millions of Americans our of a job. Take note of what happened to Jack Abramoff of 60 Minutes. We could turn the lobbyists against each other like we will with the Republicans, if we play our cards properly.
The corporate media will resist these changes. Around here, there are dozens of diaries about what they are doing. If we pulled together on the left and organize online, then we could render the corporate media useless in 2012. We would be morally obligated to do so, but success will take a lot of work and cooperation.
As for those who sit high on Wall Street, they'd better start looking at the tea leaves because their hegemony is ending. At least it is with people like Elizabeth Warren going to Washington. The President may have had to responded to Wall Street's tune in DC, but he will also have to worry more about us.
I will fight as best as I can for President Obama because I have hope. I am not talking about hope in him, but something else instead. In 2008, we saw a man come to the White House on the notion that one man would change the nation. I would say that the nation should inspire the President to good and act with justice. A cynical friend of mine complained about Barack Obama back in 2008 and just voted for the Green Party candidate without getting involved when he could have. He also told me that FDR wasn't a labor president until labor pushed him and LBJ wasn't a civil rights president until the Civil Rights Movement pushed him. In 2012 and in his next term, we all push him to do the right thing and fix our economy and get the troops back home from Afghanistan at the minimum.
Right now, I am beginning my journey. It's not going to be easy and it's not going to be pleasant. I truly want to find friendship here and I hope that my experience at Daily Kos helps me find my way. I have a moral obligation to do as I must, given that history is calling.
As a master bard, I can only share with you this small poem for Christmas:
In reason we will think and with patience we will wait,
Together in empathy and compassion we will unite,
In communication will our true voices will speak,
With faith in our message, we will fight!
Happy Holidays, Daily Kos. Thank you for being part of my life.
-nerve