People have said to me throughout the years that it isn’t just my right to vote but it is my responsibility. I have voted and I have listened and watched the political bologna go on and on. I have come to think of politics as I think of cancer, it is there and no matter how many people try to deal with it there is no cure. Today it is worse than ever, go on CNN, MSNBC or Fox it doesn’t matter and you will find talking heads discussing politics as if it were a sport. You know the difference is that this is not a game and they are all making money on it like it is. If you don’t know how elections work follow this link http://www.govspot.com/features/electionprocess.htm if you do know, don’t waste your time going there to read.
I know, you have probably heard enough about this stuff and you don’t need me telling you what to do. I promise that isn’t my intent. I simply want to point out that this 2012 election has a 8 Billion dollar price tag http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/election-cost-price-tag/2011/04/14/id/392926 and I don’t think that even deals with Anderson Coopers salary ya know (keeping them honest) and stuff. All the media outlets are playing games with OUR lives and frankly I don’t feel as though I have a person that will represent me in this race.
You know what is funny though, I can find people with similar ideas and interests. I grew up in the Bronx in a place called Coop City it was a true melting pot which I think is a great representation of what is special about America. To this day I have friends who have worked hard and become lawyers and doctors and I also I have friends that have worked hard who have become bus drivers, security guards, city workers and beyond. I share their values and I don’t judge them for the size of their home or the choices they have made. I think that is inherently a Generation X trait. Now that the GenX’rs are grown ups we are the ones that need to step up to the plate to make a difference. Currently I don’t know of anyone running for President that represents us. But what better group is there? We can after Martin Luther King and were raised with the idea that fairness for everyone is simply right. Our grandparents fought in WWII and told us the stories of hardship in the 1920’s to 1930’s, our fathers served in Vietnam and fought the war at home when they came back which not only changed them it became our fight. We served in the Gulf war and we lived and worked through both political parties making horrible choices. We watched the demise of Saturday morning cartoons and the rise of all day every day media (remember when there were only like 7 channels?) Now we have children of our own who have more sugar in their diets than ever before.
We have watched our country turn into one big mall where everywhere you go is a Walmart with a Subway in it next to a Loews across the street from a Home Depot and don’t even get me started on what they did to Sears. My point is our generation has watched America become defaced. It was business that ruined Christmas and now every other holiday. Once again, when I talk to my friends or people I grew up with, we still share the same values. SO, what is wrong? Why are their movies like Brewster’s Millions or Dave?
What can I do about it? I don’t know, probably not much. I was dreaming in the early morning of having eloquent words to say that would convince people to do something. I realized that I didn’t have something for them to do. I know what I am going to do. I am going to sit this election out, I am going to turn off the news and I am not going to feed the media beast. I am done. They want to talk about all the things that they will never do and spend 8 Billion plus dollars on lying to us that is not on me because I will stand down and ignore it.
The days of kicking our children out of the house to play are over. Saturday morning Smurfs have turned into The Regular Show or every Disney and Nick show having no parents around. That wasn’t what we were raised on and frankly I think it’s gone.
So, here is my message to any of our presidential candidates If you can show that you are taking all that money that you were getting to convince me to vote for you and do something good with it and prove that, maybe I will pay some attention. Otherwise you are over 8 Billion lies deep and you and I don’t have the same idea of what helping America is all about. BTW http://www.ssa.gov/oact/TRSUM/index.html regardless of their bullshit arguments, 8 billion is a lot of money that can make a difference to the American people.
The Cohenization Project 