Rambling Thoughts

                I’m struggling with who I am and who I want to be. With everything that is going on around me, am I doing what I can? Am I just letting things pass me by? Am I capable of looking at the moment and recognizing the importance? Am I just sitting back and saying that everything is as it should be? Am I saying that people have set their course and it is meant to be? Am I saying that we are all pre-disposed to our outcomes? Am I saying that someone is a product of how they were raised?
                I know that I’m not doing everything I can, there are a lot of things I can do. I could engage in organizations that promote voter registration, I could donate to all kinds of organizations. The point is that there are several things I could do, but don’t for various reasons. Stigma, and finances are probably the driving factors. I’m afraid to donate to a worthy cause because we are in this world of everyone knows what you did. Also, I’m trying to balance what is right for my family regardless of all other factors. I’m less willing to fund organizations when I question my own financial health.

                Certainly I’m letting things pass me by. I don’t know how to lend my voice to things that are ongoing. I don’t think that my vote really means much. I haven’t joined any organizations that align with my feelings. I just sit here with a strong feeling that there are a lot of people who are underserved. Certainly I am a social justice warrior who lives in their basement. However, I think about everyone in the country all the time. I think about how to improve their lives, I think about what they could want or what they could think. I think about this all the time, I don’t go to sleep without thinking about what my critics think about.

                As for recognizing the importance, I think I am focusing on this too much. I believe we are at levels comparable to the Civil War. We are once again at a point where 3/5 of some of us count the same as 1 of us. Slavery is gone, but has the recognition really changed? Is everyone truly equal? You can’t possibly look me in the eye and say yes to either of those questions. No matter how far we claim to have come as a nation, it’s impossible to say that we’ve moved past the line of thought that led us to slavery. Sure, we condemn slavery now, but we don’t acknowledge the past. We don’t hold our founders responsible for their part. Instead we revere them and make excuses, “but they freed them”. Why can’t we acknowledge that while their foresight was brilliant, that they had flaws? And their views aren’t adaptable to the 21^st century?

                I’m obviously not saying that things are as they should be. There are way too many things wrong with America to list here. Democracy is flawed, as is any form of government, but we need to do our part. We need to vote frequently, and we need to vote with our hearts. I’ll go along with bills that prevent dead people from voting, but until election day becomes a national holiday, there is no excuse to limit anyone’s right to vote. I will never go along with any law that makes it harder to vote until election day becomes a holiday. If you wish to restrict the vote on felons and less desirable folks, you will ensure that there is a way for everyone else to vote. Otherwise, you are admitting that this is not a democracy.

                In answer to my last 3 questions, No, no one is ever pre-disposed to their outcome. No matter who you are, you can become whoever you wish to be. That possibility remains. The likelihood of your success varies. Unfortunately, that depends more on how you look than your business acumen. That said, there is nothing that says that you cannot try. There is nothing that says you can’t succeed.   There are ally’s that will back you, even if they may be silent (probably like myself). Please continue with your plans, there are supporters. They will support you if you have a good idea.

                Is it that hard of a concept to embrace the thinking of someone who has a different background than yours? Is it hard to think of someone who spent their entire lives dreaming of becoming a U.S. citizen as a human? I’ve never understood why accepting people we’re not familiar with has been an issue. We had the same issue in the 20’s, nativism took over. We have a history of ignoring immigrants, and their impact on our lives. Yet, at the same time. We have a history of embracing immigrants. Where do we stand? Are we willing to take the “huddled masses”? or do we limit admittance based on religious belief?