Screw It or Rock it? - A Creeping Conversion

I predict that half of the two people who read this will tune out by the end of the first paragraph. Tomorrow marks the unofficial official beginning to electing our next President of the United States. The Iowa Caucus will take place tomorrow, increasing hopes and dashing others who want to be the Commander-in-Chief. And I find myself caring to an ever-increasing degree.

(Now, to the one person left reading) I can honestly say there was a time in my life when I actively campaigned for people not to vote, that our system was broken and true representation wasn't possible, that (especially in Indiana) your vote didn't matter (especially Presidentially). And so I never voted. Yet, somewhere, somehow, my thinking began changing. I don't know how or why, but I'm sure it started slowly. A creeping conversion. And today I find myself moving across the spectrum of attitudes. I've voted in the last three possible elections, read up on political news and websites, even read a candidates book this winter.

Most people say that politics are so messed up: corrupt and just a game, detached from real life, boring, a waste of time, and most of all, completely dividing. And I'll agree to a certain degree on most of that. But, for some reason I've come to the point of setting a personal goal for myself this year, politically. My goal is this:

Get/Persuade/Cause/Lead 15 people to vote in the upcoming election who did not vote in the last election.

I think the reason is this: In my growing interest in politics, one thing has changed, not my perspective on the electoral college, or the political system, or the Washington goons - but instead my understanding of our my State, our Nation, our World. In listening to what positions candidates take, in listening to what issues are (and maybe more importantly what issues aren't) at the forefront, I've been able to do my own reading, my own postulating, growing of my own worldview.

I don't think anyone should vote or actively follow politics because it is necessarily fun or exciting or beneficial in a tangible way. I think people should vote (or actively follow politics) because it causes you to examine your own beliefs and understanding of the world. Issues like Fair Trade, Medicare, and Maternity Leave are issues that had only a technical meaning or understanding in my mind, but then I started read and attempting to understand these concepts/theories/themes through the perspective of someone who has to deal with them. The human drama of it makes it clear that something is at stake, even if it won't ever effect me.

And that is what Americans experience every day: an isolated life. At least here in middle-America, where people shop at Wal-Mart in order to "Spend Less. Live Better", meaning, spend less on peanut butter so we can afford to buy a $500 cell phone with games, photos, movies, and Wi-Fi capability (Lord save me if I can't Google or Wikipedia the name of the drummer from Def Leppard [I'm a hypocrite, I know]). I digress.

I'm stepping out and risking what I sense to be the prevalent pop-culture pride, that not caring about politics and never voting is cool. Sort of like being in class and not wanting to answer a question, because you don't want to be "that guy."

We are all in this world. We all play a part. Not all of us realize that. And I think that playing a part begins with understand where we are and where those playing along with us are starting from. For me, that means learning about the issues, the problems, and the people whether they are or aren't represented properly in a government thwarted by special interests, lobbyists, zealous causes, and party lines. My vote may not change the world, but learning about and understanding people and their lives, that just might change me. And I consider that to be well worth all the trouble.

So it begins. And tomorrow, good luck Barack.



(that's Obama hooping it up at the Des Moines YMCA)