A sympathetic treatise on apathy...

I know lots of smart, opinionated, motivated individuals but some how when it comes to the topic of political activism they suddenly go all shrinking violet on me. It's completely understandable, politics has become a dirty business. The public feels a growing disconnect between it's own interests and the interests of their politicians.

You learn in school that voting is your primary role in a democracy, but in a modern society that places a large value on immediacy the act of voting alone makes one feel incredibly powerless. "So get involved!", I say. "Contact your representatives!" "Accountability is a wonderful thing!" But often what I hear back is, "I don't have enough time to constantly be calling Washington (and/or Lansing), keeping up on my representatives stance on every topic or how he/she voted, emailing, reading up on individual bills, searching out information from multiple sources..." And so a vicious cycle is born. Don't get me wrong, I hear ya. I try to do my share and I know what I am personally able to accomplish is a fraction of what is needed to get real change.

The fact is that I don't have any answers. And frankly, if you were coming here to find answers - you must be pretty hard up yourself! What I do know is that having two small boys has opened up my eyes and left me feeling increasing responsible for the world I have brought them in to. In order to live with myself, I have to do SOMETHING.

I hope to use this site as an outlet for my overabundance of righteous indignation. A place to post political links and stories, offer my humble opinion, and encourage individual involvement in this government. A government that should be OF the people, BY the people, and ultimately FOR the people.