Boomers: We Can't Change The World But We Can Change The U.S.

Graham Nash (just missed being a Boomer by a few years) wrote Chicago (We Can Change The World). The ‘protest song’ is about people of his generation not standing up for the Chicago 7

Changing the world might not be an achievable goal, but what if we focused on changing the U.S.? What if we started small. Break down the changing of America into manageable bites. What if we focused on getting out and voting this November.  Our voting numbers are our political strength. 

According to a Pew Research Report How Americans View Government
 (http://people-press.org/report/95/) completed back in 1998, 40% of the respondents felt that:
Political Leadership/Political System:
1.    Politicians are dishonest/crooks
2.    Only out for themselves/For own personal gain
3.    Representatives say one thing but do another
4.    Too partisan
5.    Scandals
was the main complaint about our government.

So what, if anything, has changed in the public’s mindset of how we view government since 1998? In my opinion, not a single thing. Maybe the percentages are not exactly the same, but I would venture a guess that the Political Leadership/Political System is still at the top of the list of negative views of our government.

And why shouldn’t it be? Forget about the negative ads many of the candidates run to attack their opponent.  Those are usually sound bites with kernels of truth thrown in to make the negativity stick.  The nightly news, web searches, radio broadcasts and blogs are replete with the full story about our representatives and their follies:
•    Taking bribes –Rep. Randy Cunnungham, Rep. James Traficant, Jr., Monica Conyers
•    Taking credit for successes they originally were not in favor of supporting.  Sen. Corker of Tennessee wants credit for what he opposed - support of the *American automotive industry. 
http://tinyurl.com/2ey3w3z
•    Placing incorrect blame on ‘the other’ party for things gone wrong http://tinyurl.com/2atu8j7
•    Attaching pork/special earmarks into specific bills http://tinyurl.com/yd6rmrq
•    Out and out lie (just Google “Who lied in the Senate?)

Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right.  ~H.L. Mencken, 1956

So where do we Boomers go from here? First become educated about your candidates. Watch the debates. Read the editorials in your local paper. Read the candidate’s literature and visit their websites. Skim the web.

Then go to the polls!

A poll recently released (full story: http://tinyurl.com/23tt6t7) said that about 2/3 of November’s voters will be 50 and over. That’s us, people.  We will be the largest bloc of voters based on percentage and numbers.  We cannot be ignored.

* Full disclosure: I am a retired, non-union salaried auto worker.  I believe that I and thousands of other auto workers benefited from the aid our companies received from our Federal government.