Core Issues to think about when Voting...

When preparing to vote I think the issues are unclear to a person new to the political world. So, I am going to spend some time defining these issues, and guiding a thought process. I will NEVER tell you what to think, but instead I will help you have a deeper understanding of what is happening in our society. It may take a few blogs, but here goes...

Most issues wrap around how we view the qualities of a person. Once we define how we see each person, then we will view political issues based on that definition. You can find some of this information in my discussion of “The Individual.”

Ultimately, I believe that people on both side of all the issues truly care about others, but their views on how to care for others varies because they see the individual differently.

Let’s look at the first issue, “The Underprivileged,” also know as the Welfare issue. Conservatives believe that people have the ability to care for themselves and that we should empower them to care for themselves. Liberals believe that “the man” takes advantage of people and thus they need caring for. This issue can be further discussed when discussing socialism vs. capitalism. The socialist would say that society should equal out the opportunities in life and take from the privileged to give a hand to the underprivileged. The capitalist would say that the barriers to progress should be removed so everyone has a chance to “be all they can be”, and thus increase the individuals ingenuity ... Both views care for those in need, but they approach it in a different way. One (conservatives) want to “teach them how to fish” and the other (liberal) want to feed them. Obviously, for this blog I have simplified the discussion of this subject, but I may decide to revisit it later....

Just a note: I assume everyone is concerned for the poor in our country because I assume we all have hearts. This does not mean that I assume all people receiving care and benefits are legitimately receiving care. In fact, many people take advantage of “the system”... which is why I am a fan of the local non-profit. The local non-profit has the ability to reach out to each individual in a personal way and walks through the problems with the person instead of pushing them through a system...as a result, they are more likely to help the truly needy and not be taken advantage of by the dishonest.



*when I use the term conservation and liberal I use it as it is used politically in the US, I do not use it in the traditional views of those terms

VOTING...the how to's

We turn 18 and suddenly we have a new responsibility...vote. “They” just say to be sure to do it...no guidance, no explanation...just do it.

I disagree with that approach. Here is a quick foundation on thoughts before you vote.

You should first find a foundation of where you stand on issues. This will be the core that will direct you how to vote.

Once you have a core of how to vote, then you can compare those foundations to where the candidate stands and choose which candidate fits into your values.

There are some additional things I personally take into consideration. For example, when a candidate is expressing their views on a topic, does what they say match what they have done in the past. If not, how do they justify the change-or do they lie about their previous actions until “caught”? This would speak to the candidates character and help guide my voting.

Power...relaionships (read me second)

So, when I was in school I learned about how people view power relationships. That sounds so complicated but it really isn’t...let me try to explain. When one person or a people group has “power” other another, the suppressed person can relate to this control in different ways. For example, they may or may not fight back, or they may or may not even vocalize that they dislike being oppressed.

The key is the underline view of how the powerful and the oppressed interact. There are “3 faces” of power-or 3 views of power. So you can see the relationships in three ways...

In the 1st face of power, the relationship is viewed in a very up front way. So, if the oppressed don’t vocalize that they are unhappy with the actions, then everyone is to assume that the oppressed is happy with the relationship. For example, if the general population in America is unhappy with a law, in this view of power the citizens would vote to make changes-and they would write letters to their legislatures to pursue change.

In the 2nd face of power, the relationship has a little more of an undercurrent. In this case, the oppressed disagree with the actions that are being taken against them; however, they do nothing because they are under the belief that any action they take will be worthless. It don’t mean that the action really is worthless, but the oppressed BELIEVE it is worthless. Thus, no action is taken.

In the 3rd face of power, the relationship is the most powerful in my opinion. In this case, the oppressed are convinced that they are oppressed for their own good...they believe that although they are oppressed, it is for their ultimate benefit. In this case, the powerful are most easily able to control the oppressed. The oppressed obviously are not taking any kind of action because they are sold on the relationship.

Most of the time I would view these relationships in a social structure...or in government to citizen relationships. But, in this case, I want to return to a previous thought I started...how does this look in a marital relationship? ...hummm

Power... (read me first)

Let’s talk about Power. Why do people have it and why do people give it up??? Of course, we all know “everybody wants power.” Well, I always thought that was not true for ME or for most of my friends. It was for the controlling, mean, evil people that are probably CEO’s and politicians.

Stepping back, I have to assess this. First, what really is power? Next, how do people gain or lose it? And, third, why do people gain or lose power? ...Does this have anything to do with me?

The dictionary has several definitions for power. one definition is: physical strength and force exerted by something or someone...not something I relate to. But, another definition says that power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. This is a little more relatable... most parents want to direct or influence their children. Also, the piece of the puzzle that I most relate to is a pier to pier relationship that is influencing another. Which relationships are the most influenced in our lives? ...Marriage?

In marriage does one person have power over the other? Do both persons have power over each other? How does it work in your and my marriage? Are marriages better or worse if one person or the other has “the power”?

Little Did You Know...who you are talking to

Who would have guessed I would marry a person who is an opera singing, clogging, public speaking, exercise scientist who can connect to another person on a deep level in seconds. When I met him all I saw was a mullet guy who seemed a bit arrogant and wore brown tennis shoes. It took time to learn all the amazing things about him.

In fact, I have found it interesting in life how little we know about what is happening around us.

For example, how much do we know about the people we see and interact with on a daily basis. Unless we choose to reveal things about ourselves, or unless we choose to learn the details of the people around us, we have a limited knowledge of who the person is. And, as a result, we make initial judgements and then treat the person in a particular way as a result.

One time my husband and I decided to test this. We knew some people who owned a cleaning business and said we would clean a small bank twice a week to help them out. The people who worked in the bank only knew us as cleaners. We wore clothes to clean in, so they didn’t have another reference point. How would they ever have know that we had “day jobs”? They treated us like we were below them. They were rude and condescending.

Interestingly, I believe that no matter what a person does for a job, we should judge them on their character. They could be a mother or father, a sister or brother...

What did we learn? That you never know who you are talking to. I never know who I am talking to. So I get to treat each person I meet with respect and compassion.

I think it is the way we treat the people we do not know that reveals our character.

The Individual

Many people have written and theorized about “the individual”. They have used the term “the individual” to discuss each person in a society and how that person interacts with the rest of the society and his/her environment. The reason the debate of how the individual interacts in the world is so important is because how we view “the individual” will change the way we view every aspect of life, government, and religion. And, American society’s view of the individual has always inspired and developed the direction of Americas progress. The fight for independence from England, the CIvil War, and the fight for Civil Rights are all examples of when America has acted upon it’s core view of the individual.

The question of how we feel about the individual goes deeper than just whether or not to honor and respect each person. We must ask ourselves: what do I believe the individual is capable of. Do I trust the individuals ability to care for one’s self, and make his/her own decisions? Or do I believe they are not capable of these things, and thus society and the government is responsible for the people? When do I value one individual over another-if ever (a women’s right to choose or a baby’s right to live)? These answers will shape our core values, and how we act upon those values. In turn,
how we answer these questions will develop our future as a country and as a people.

I believe these questions are fundamental when deciding who should be our next leader. And with the answers to these questions it will be much easier to answer the question of who to vote for.

Deviant Child II

I was much older in my second memory that exposes me-I was probably 12 years old (not that I was never “a bad girl” before then). On my mothers side of the family I have dozens of cousins, of which I am in the “younger” bunch. Most of my cousins close to my age were boys, but I had one female partner in crime, Janice. Where I grew up in a city setting, she grew up in the country close to my grandparents-Henryetta, OK. So, whenever I went to visit my grandparent I had a chance to bond with Janice.

Janice and I had developed quite a bond because of the mini ongoing conflict we had with our male cousins. The conflict wasn’t because of any particular experience; but somehow it was understood that girls were suppose to be against the boys and vice versa. Now, at the same time this conflict had been brewing, I had received a shinny new Daisy BB gun for Christmas. Going to my grandparents was the perfect opportunity to break in my gun with the help of Janice. We decided that we would build a fort that we could use for shooting and sleeping. My grandfather’s truck was the perfect location. It was an old green rusty truck that has racks for ladders, so we could hang blankets and sheets around the bed of the truck, thus creating a tent teepee. From inside this tent we had been shooting cans.

The problem was that our cousins kept invading our territory and we were getting angry. Well, as I recall, Janice and I had had enough. We tried tattling several times and it wasn’t working. So we decided to take matters into our own hands. I don’t remember what the last straw was, and I don’t remember who pulled the trigger-but I do remember that we meant to pull the trigger (note: I was aware that it shouldn’t do much harm). We shot my cousin Joey...I am pretty sure it hurt.

As you can guess he was screaming and running. He didn’t run to us, as I would have expected. He ran to tell my Granddad, hoping that we would get more than a talking to. My Granddad has been gone for a long time now, but I still remember the smell of chewing tobacco and coffee on him. June Allison was born in a small town in the south and had never ventured far. He was a country boy who lived through the Great Depression. We had a farm and worked in the smelter factory until he was diagnosed with emphysema. As you would guess, he was bigoted against everything that not like him-including women. So when my screaming, recently BB shot cousin came running into him I expected to be in huge trouble.

It went differently than both Joey and I expected. My Granddad proceeded to explain to Joey that girls can not shot straight. If we hit him with the BB, then we must have been aiming at something else because if we were aiming at him we would have missed. I didn’t realize what my Granddad had done at the time. And it didn’t surprise me that a man would have that type of opinion of girls. It surprised me that a bias against me would work to my advantage.

Somehow in life I have learned that the barriers in my life can be a way to catapult me forward in life...could this have been the first step of that process.

❑ For help developing these thoughts read “Failing Forward” by John Maxwell