1938

1938

As I waited for Justin at the elections office, my eyes wandered around the room. Hanging on the wall was a ballot from Ottawa Country dated 1938. There were 7-9 different parties listed on the ballot. It told a story in and of itself. Back in 1938 many different ideologies were circulating in peoples minds. Today we seem to have been reduced to one, hierarchical top trickle down capitalist, two party system. What happen to the discussions? Where did they go and why did they leave? This was 10 years before I was born. It is a discussion that I have never engaged in anywhere in my social circles. It seems back in 1938, people in Ottawa County had diverse ideas and diverse ideologies. The place where intellectually I participated in this discussion was at Rutgers University Graduate Studies. The discussions circulated in three classes. One was an epistemology class, another a survey course on economic, both were a discussion on the last 100 years of knowing and the economy. The third course was on Women and Politics, an intensive survey course on feminist thought form Italy, France, England, India and the United States. This discussion is not happening on the streets, or is it?

As I think about it, the discussion is not happening in the Media. It is not happening in Government. It is not happening in places of worship. I have found the desire for discussion on the streets, which has limited leadership in a thorough historical perspective. The capitalist wealth system seems to be our sacred cow, which is not to be discussed, analyzed, or reformed. When something becomes so sacred that it cannot be transformed into something more wholistic, it becomes an anchor which rather than steadying the ship, may sink us in this stormy world. At what cost do we hang on to this anchor? I believe we are experiencing the cost at all levels of life and we need to reopen the discussion on how we should practice our economy. Old paradigms are not working. We need to be opens to new models of blending our economy, our governance and the sacred. I believe women are embodying and articulating new ways of organizing that are wholistic, interconnected, historically grounded and emotionally sound. They are bringing a new dimension to an old discussion which needs to be raised form the ashes. We have forgotten that an educated population is the sound basis of Democracy. If we have been trained to be loyal to a particular line of thought without understanding its connection to the whole we become like trained monkeys (sorry to insult the monkeys) rather than thinking, feeling human beings who are able to continue to re-envision a "more perfect union".

Were the founding fathers interested only in the economy, or were they truly interested in liberty and justice for all? If the United States of Amereica is only invested in the former, we have failed to be the model of Governance which we sought to be. It is time to address this failing. If I am elected Governor, my motto is and will always be liberty and justice for all.