I was once registered as a Democrat and ran for office under that label, mainly because it was the only way to successfully run for office in the area I lived. To tell the truth I really had no party preference because I didn't care about that, I just wanted to get something done.
That partisan indifference changed over the years and, disillusioned with my first party choice, I made a second run - this time under the Republican label. It proved to be an even less successful run than the first. Regardless, I stayed affiliated with this political label for a longer time, but have since left, disillusioned again.
I learned a lot from these two experiences and gained a view of politics not many Americans have had or ever will have in their lifetimes. Granted, this did not make me an expert by any means, but learn I did, and I got some new sidewalks for the children in my neighborhood. It wasn't what I had set out to do but success, no matter how small, is success. I made some friends and gained a few enemies along the way.
I never wanted an enemy (who does?), but it is a fact of politics that enemies go with the territory. This warlike character to running for office seems to be inherent in politics, and the quickest way to get an argument or gain a friend is to bring up a political subject. There exists an entire spectrum of views we can argue over, or agree to, and one side always seems to end up hating the other.
I believe it is simply because one side seems to think the other is taking something away from them. I have been guilty of this malady myself and I still have to sometimes fight the urge to see a fellow American as the enemy.
Here of late, I seem to have awakened to the fact that all the arguing and division has distracted all of us from the fact that our country is falling out from under us as we fight among ourselves. This didn't start with the election of any one candidate or the changing of the guard with any one political party.
This falling out from under us began the day we gained independence and later decided there should be two different groups to represent the people in government. I just can't understand how we decided that going from a Whig and Tory mentality, and successfully gaining our freedom from that separation among us, to again dividing ourselves within our new country, would accomplish anything but more division.
I do see that it has served to distract us from our original endeavor which was providing us a safe haven in which to live, with freedom and a government that ruled by the consent of the people, not from its own power.
I suppose that wanting to go back to basics of freedom and liberty may be construed to be yet another division by some. Any time you choose a direction, it always seems the wrong way to go to someone. Some today seem to think anyone opposed to the government intervening in our lives must be related to a party line way of thinking. I suppose if someone actually supports that kind of intervention, I am opposed to them and their way of thinking. That still doesn't put me in with any party except that I like my private property and personal freedom.
I believe I have come up with the end-all solution to these problems and maybe if we settle this once and for all we can get back to being Americans instead of being conservatives, liberals, Democrats, Republicans or whaever label you have chosen.
Let's decide to let every person in America speak for themselves, no one else, just them. Then if you think you have a personal obligation to give what you have worked for to the government or anyone else for that matter, what right do I have to say you shouldn't do that?
By the same token, you do not have the right to tell me I should give my property away. This may sound very simplistic, but you get what you want and so do I, that is, unless you also want what is mine.
Churches seem to flourish using this giving method, and rarely go broke unless the minister runs off with the choir leader. Anyone that wants something done can go to the government with their idea and give some of what they have to get it done. They can even get on television and plead their case that this is the right thing to do and people should send their money.
People seem to like giving to good causes, and everyone seems to not like being told they have to. We all have to agree on that one point, so now can we agree to do away with all the arguing and political party nonsense? Can we all just be Americans once again and agree just to choose for ourselves and let the other guy do the same? Who knows? Maybe everyone will be so happy that the arguing has stopped, they will start working together to rebuild the country we have allowed to fall into such terrible disrepair.
