I didn’t watch the presidential debate, because I knew it would turn out to be exactly what it was: an embarrassing shouting match between two angry, geriatric men who are both greedy for power, money, and control. I am intensely, INTENSELY disillusioned with politics. My vote does not count. I don’t know if it ever has. Not voting is not an option though, so I am forced to piddle away my vote on a candidate who has no chance of winning the election.
I have been offered two piles of poop to eat for dinner. One is from a carnivore. One is from an herbivore. Everyone I know is demanding that I eat one of the piles, but I refuse, because THEY ARE BOTH POOP!
How I long for the average joe to be elected to office.
Me: Hey, Beth Doe! I’ve noticed that you are a very wise person, but you are also extremely kind. I think you should run for president.
Beth Doe: No, thank you! LOL! I’d rather grow kumquats and collect trilobites.
(Beth Doe gets elected president because other people have noticed the same thing.)
Beth Doe: Oh, very well. I’ll do it because I love my country and it’s my duty, but I’m going back to kumquats and trilobites as soon as my term is over.
So how do I make a difference in a country whose government is so far beyond my influence?
Sitting in bed, watching the fan spin quietly overhead, the peace of home floods over me and I have my answer. I begin in the cradle.
This house is a shelter from the chaos raging in the world outside its walls. It is brimming with love and happiness. In here, I can teach my children to be good and kind spouses, siblings, and parents. I can show them the strength of family, how to be a neighbor, and how to improve a community by serving its citizens. Within these walls, I can teach them critical thinking skills and give them the ability to form their own opinions instead of following the masses. They can practice compromising, listening to opposing views, and researching information to find truth. In time, they can pass those skills on to their own children.
So here I cast my vote, where it matters, within my own family. I cannot control or even effect what is going on out there in the United States of America, or inside the pompous White House, or in the arrogant chambers of Congress. But I CAN make a difference in this humble home.
Staci Olsen, Author/Editor 