Smellincoffee
Trekkie At Large
Every political party has its own platform, issues which it decides elections will be about. In the United States, these issues are chosen every four years at the national conventions, and the media will chose one at random and run it into the ground after a few months of nonstop blathering before finding something else to talk about. In my youth, the issues I cared about were the issues I'd been led to care about, those present in the "National Conversation" -- that is, those which made the news. As I grew older, though, I developed more independence; my experiences gave me my own opinions and values, my own beliefs about which matters wre important. This led to a disconnect between me and the parties. At first I took this for granted because of the issues in question. For instance, I know that since I live in Alabama, most people aren't going to be passionate about church-state seperation. But the disconnect has deepened with every passing year. At first this was because my own politics were becoming increasingly high-minded: in the mid-2000s, I shifted from a Palin-esque conservative to a social democrat. This made me even more frustrated, but as I continued to be influenced by 'the left', my politics became more individually and community oriented: effecting positive change from the bottom up rather than from the top down. I've since then become more interested in practical matters, and less in ideology, so much to the point that I've found common ground between people who I would have otherwise been repelled by because of ideological issues. Unfortunatey, this has not narrowed the gulf between myself and the politicians. To my mind, they keep blathering about inconsequential points and saying little of substance about the things that matter. They don't appear to be taking problems seriously.
I don't think I'm alone in this, at least not in the United States. People seem increasingly frustrated with the two parties, so much so that they're drawn to whatever third-party candidate they can get. So, ignoring the "national conversation" on the television, ignoring what planks the parties will adopt at their conventions, ignoring everything but your own experience: what matters to you, politically? What changes do you want to see? What are you most concerned about? If you were running for office and felt free to address the issues you thought were important, which would they be?
I don't think I'm alone in this, at least not in the United States. People seem increasingly frustrated with the two parties, so much so that they're drawn to whatever third-party candidate they can get. So, ignoring the "national conversation" on the television, ignoring what planks the parties will adopt at their conventions, ignoring everything but your own experience: what matters to you, politically? What changes do you want to see? What are you most concerned about? If you were running for office and felt free to address the issues you thought were important, which would they be?