Community, Politics and America's Hope (by Cody)

By community I mean the commonwealth and common interests, commonly understood, of people living together in a place and wishing to continue to do so. To put it another way, community is a locally understood interdependence of local people, local culture, local economy, and local nature. (Community, of course, is an idea that can extend itself beyond the local, but it does so only metaphorically. The idea of a national or global community is meaningless apart from the realization of local communities)...

- Wendell Berry, Sex, Economy, freedom & Community

I watched and listened to Barrack Obama's acceptance speech last night and was moved. I then listened and read commentary, hatred, and condemnation for everything the man said. To say the least, the negativity and hatred saddened me. The quote above is from a book of essays by Wendell Berry. Berry truly does transcend the liberal/conservative divide.; he opposes big government and big business- (though some call 'transcendence' elitism, I believe that is a naive critique). I believe that there are commonly held values by Americans. The pro-life/pro-choice debate is bogged down in divisive and thwarting rhetoric. Global trade has been reduced to a morality based on monetary gain; what value is their in gaining the whole world yet forfeiting your soul? The environment has been reduced to extreme radicals (Gore/Evangelicals). Most Americans want unwanted/teen pregnancies reduced. Many Americans long for monetary, cultural, and social equity. Many Americans and people of faith (Christian, Muslim, Jewish) long for responsible stewardship of the good earth, even if its not profitable.

Community is the only third party interest that can truly transcend the liberal/conservative divide. America has many problems: lack of self-restraint, indifference to the environment, consumerism, racism and acceptance of the myth of redemptive violence. Local people, cultures, economies, and stewardship of the earth will bring about the change that this nation needs. I am not speaking of some conservative limited government/free market utopia; neither am I speaking of some liberal government program solution. I am talking about local people, citizens of neighborhoods, members of churches and lions clubs taking a stand for their commonly held values and passions.

As I thought about the many view points presented after Obama's speech I thought about my own involvement in my local community. After long hours of meditation, I was saddened. I do not participate as I should in the local economy. I do not promote peace in every aspect of my life. I do not strive to do the best I can (pragmatically) to be a good steward of the good earth, created by our loving creator. In other words, I realized I was a hypocrite. What then are we/I to do?

I believe that as a nation we must realize the importance of local economies, cultures and environments. Our military receives more funding than our endangered species protection agencies. If we are going to continue down this road I would appreciate it if the people who claim we are a 'christian' nation rip out Psalms, Isaiah, and Job. Cherishing and supporting our local economies, cultures, and environments is our only hope of achieving a sustainable, spiritually sound, and responsible solution to our nations ailments. The global/industrial economy deals in abstractions, not humanity and the common good.

Gandhi said, "You must be the change you want to see in the world". I agree. It must begin with me. Obama has been creating many realities with the use of his inspiring language but, without action it is meaningless. Through language Dr. King made possible the reality of equity among peoples of differing cultures. Through creative action he gave the empiricists something tangible to grasp; the idealist something to hope for; the cynics something to ponder. If Obama desires the highest office in the land, he will need to find concrete solutions, rooted in local communities, that will build a bridge between tradition and progress. Speeches are inspiring, action is world shaking.

Come on Obama, give us something to hold on to.

I love our country.  I love Democracy.  However, I'm frustrated with the unwillingness of elected leadership to follow the desire of "the people".  I like what Glenn Beck says, I'll paraphrase: "We the people are in charge, not the elected officials and like it or not, it seems that once 'the people' have spoken our leaders should act accordingly".  I know that's pretty bold but I like it.  Its seems right.  When I think about elections, I don't vote to give complete power to someone for four years.  If that elected official is not doing what he or she said, kick'em out!  Give me a pitch fork!

I've often wondered why so few participate in national elections.  I do have a theory; maybe it feels pointless to many.  After all, why vote for change when change never comes?  The Democrats took congress during the last election cycle and were going to clean up Washington & end the war in Iraq.  What have they done?  Nothing.  Even today, 66% of our nation feels that we should not be in Iraq and 62% feel a timetable for withdrawal in Iraq is in order (http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm).  So, why are we still in Iraq?  This same type of situation is true for off-shore drilling.  74% of our nation supports drilling off-shore as a partial fix for energy prices (http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1519).  This may or may not be a good solution but like it or hate it, its the will of the people.  So what is Congress doing?  Look at Ms. Pelosi's stance on drilling:

On the Stephanopoulos Sunday news show, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi underscored her refusal to allow a drilling vote. Asked about the Republican rebellion in the House, she said, “What you saw in the Congress this week was the war dance of the handmaidens of the oil companies.” She went on to say, “We are spending all of this time on a parliamentary tactic, when nothing less is at stake than the planet, the air we breathe, our children breathe.”

I can't disagree with her argument but 2/3 of Americans want to drill.  Make a more persuasive argument or get out of the way.

This begs the question: can elected leaders really go by what "the people" want?  I'll agree that decisions can NOT always be made based on the demands of the people.  But thats precisely the problem.  There is NO REAL system for sounding off and giving our leaders direction.  Thus, elected leadership does whatever it wants and the people are told to get in line.  Oh, wait.  we do have a system.  We get the privalige of voting every four years on our leaders, right?  Are we still in Iraq?  Do we still have an economic problem?  Are any elected leaders doing what polls indicate people want?  Nope.  Congress is deadlocked.  Stuck.  The system works real well...

If "we the people" were really allowed to input on decision making, would we always get it right, do the right thing, or demand the right course of action?  No.  But that is not the point.  Democracy does not necessarily require the "right" anything.  It does however require participation and action by both its citizens and elected officials.  Which we don't currently have and may not have for quite sometime.  But I see this lack of participation and ownership by US citizens as systematic of a failed government.

What say you?

Does more experience make for a better president?

The chart to the left (click on it to see a larger version of the chart) shows the amount of experience presidential candidates had at the state and federal level before taking the office of President. The author of the article suggests that the idea of a candidate with the most experience will make the best President is a fallacy. McCain has been around since the beginning of time and Obama appeared out of thin air from Chicago's harsh political arena.

• Will McCain's experience give him the upper hand should he take office?

Will Obama's lack of experience give him a 'fresh' perspective on the politics of Washington?

Does more experience make a better President?

What do you think?



The link to the article is below:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12290.html

Bios

This is Mari. Just a comment: I like how on the bios on the right, I have been affixed the Democratic "D" and everyone else has eventually become Independent. Oh people! Just show an affiliation and get over yourselves!! Dustin, you're a Libertarian, Cody's a Democrat, and Josh is a Republican. We don't have to agree with or endorse every party line, but we do owe readers full disclosure of our political leanings at the very least. Unless you want to be considered above it all as an Independent. But then some noble contributors might object to being called elitist....