How Can I Help?

I attended a first time home buyers seminar last night. One of the other participants and I (as so often happens) got into a discussion about politics. She started saying the same things that so many people do. "The government" this and "the Bush administration" that and "congress" the other thing. I told her the same thing that I tell everyone who falls into that trap… WE ALLOWED. You have to preface all of these statements with "WE ALLOWED", because WE are the government. Remember? We are Barack Obama's boss. We were George W. Bush's boss.

So she ended up by asking what she could do to help improve things, talking about both the state of the economy and the state of the nation. The first response that always comes to my mind when someone asks that is "Fuck if I know" because I feel like I'm doing everything that I think that I can without money, and it seems to be doing little good. Of course, if LOTS of people did these things, maybe it would. So here goes.

I know that I've said it before, and I'll say it again… VOTE VOTE VOTE! And serve jury duty. And research the candidates, damn it. Don't just watch the TV commercials and vote for the richest democrat or republican. Vote a "third" party (although that is a misnomer because there are currently more than 20 political parties in America). Vote for the candidate that best reflects your view. As a matter of fact, I'd say let's kick the republicans and democrats out of office entirely. I think that the two big parties have become so hopeless corrupt that we may not be able to fix them without booting them out of office entirely.

Volunteer. Especially if you're supporting a third party candidate. They need all the help that they can get. I remember years ago I was watching Robert Reich, who worked in the Clinton administration, give a speech. One of the people in the audience said "How can an average Joe like me help John Kerry win the election?" Reich thought for a second, and then said "Give up ten hours of TV time per week to volunteer on the campaign." The audience groaned like he had just run over their collective puppy. He shrugged as if to say "Well, you asked!" Yes, it takes time. So does researching the candidates. You want to change things? DO IT.

Don't shop at Walmart. Their low prices and huge profits are the results of screwing the American workforce. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but there it is. And don't buy the "lowest prices" brainwashing. Yes, they have SLIGHTLY lower prices than a company that treats their employees well like, say, Target, but it's pennies on the dollar folks. For instance, in April I'm going to dump Sprint and go with a pre-paid cell plan. Walmart has one for $45 per month with unlimited everything. A little research showed me, though, that Radio Shack has one that's just as good for $50 per month. Guess who gets my business?

Take a look at where your merchandise is coming from. If you can get a Chinese-made piece of shit for $10 and one that's made ANYWHERE ELSE for $11, spend the extra money. If you can get an American-made one for $15, do it! It's worth the extra five bucks to support America's economy.

PAY ATTENTION, DAMNIT! Turn off Fox news and MSNBC and CNN and all of the other corporate media and look into this stuff yourself. Again, it's time, but it's time well spent. For instance, Americans, in my opinion, are not nearly scared or pissed off enough about the recent supreme court decision to allow corporations to spend basically an unlimited amount of money on campaign ads. That's a shortcut to the end of democracy in America.

You know that little check box on your 1040 that says "Do you want to donate $3 to public financing of campaigns"? CHECK IT. It won't cost you anything, and it helps.

That's how.

Peace.

Rev. Randal