I’m of the belief that our political system is broken. Until we get rid of gerrymandering and big money in politics, we won’t have a government that truly reflects the will of the people. I think this opinion has support from all political persuasions. That said, we can stick our heads in the sand or we can accept the fact that the system we have is flawed, but if we care about government policy, we need to learn how the game is played. Two things elect our leaders and ultimately establish government policy: votes and money – and if you want to make a difference, you need to express yourself with both.
I read a study recently that showed Latinos of all income levels under-invest in politics. In other words, we don’t give money to the candidates who share our political views. I don’t think this reflects ambivalence but rather a lack of understanding of how things work in our society. The concept of one person = one vote is no longer true. So if you think that our government policies favor the privileged few – you’re probably right. People who have money and make political donations have much more power than people who don’t. That’s just a fact. So, we have two choices; complain or participate.
Almost everyone, including Democrats, were expecting last Tuesday’s midterm election results to heavily favor Republicans. Many predicted a “red wave” where they would pick up 50-60 seats in the House and 3-4 in the Senate. Joe Rogan said the red wave that is coming will be like the elevator doors opening in the horror film The Shining.
For most people, there is little upside to writing about the January 6th hearings, but as you probably know by now, I don’t worry about those things. We all must stand for something. The hearings have almost everyone taking sides before a single witness is called. Democrats believe that the events of January 6th were a calculated effort to undermine our democracy by demolishing two of the most sacred tenants of our nation, free elections, and the peaceful transition of power.
Most people consider themselves either a conservative or a liberal. I think if we forget political parties, which flip their positions on things all of the time, and instead focus on the actual definition of what it means to be a conservative and what it means to be a liberal, we might be able to temper the emotional reactions some of us have with political discourse.