bad bloggers and an election year

There are numerous reasons why I haven't blogged. Sometimes, it's because I don't really have anything to say. Sometimes, it's because I think, "If I start blogging about that, there's no way that I'm going to be able write a short, sweet blog about that topic..." To be honest, sometimes I don't really want just anybody to be able to get online and know what I think about this or that particular subject.

For instance: Politics. I can honestly say that I cannot remember a single time Republicans/Democrats were discussed in my family when I was growing up. I don't think either of my parents ever even made it known to me whether they considered themselves Republican or Democrat.

And really, what's the point? The fact of the matter is that there are a lot of times (like election years) that I'd rather not align myself with either party. I may agree with some things one party says, but really abhor other things they may be for or against.

For that matter, one of the only things that I'm really sure about
American politics is that both parties have very talented, dedicated publicists and spin doctors who are abundantly capable demonizing opposing candidates and sanctifying their own.

I think the last election that I was paying attention to; I kept seeing particularly mud-slinging ads from one candidate and not from another. This really appealed to me.
Take a common ad that would say something like this:
"Mr. Dude voted AGAINST a bill that would feed 60 bazillion homeless people without any bump in taxes..."
How could anybody vote against a bill like that?

It's been a long time since I've been in government class, but I always have this suspicion that although this may be technically true, the mentioned point was actually referring to something tacked onto a bill that was for something else that nobody in their right mind would vote for.

Like I said, I’m not a political guru. However, I just wish there was some way to know the truth. I don’t want to know all the bad stuff the other candidate has done. I want to know all the good stuff that you want to do and how in the world you think you can do it.

I’ve been thinking about this in my life a lot, too. So many times, it’s easy to think of myself as a good person because of all the bad stuff that I don’t do. What does that matter? I’m making the world a better place by not murdering the person that cut me off? If I did murder that person, that would definitely make the world a worse place, but does my NOT murdering that person necessarily make it better? I don’t think so.

The question, then, is what have I done good? What have I done that I know helps somebody else? And I’m not sure that taking care of your family or helping friend move really even counts for that much. I mean, aren’t we going to take care of the people we know and love? The question is, what have I done to help somebody else just because they need help and I can give it?

I don’t know how I’m going to figure out how to discern in the realm of politics. But, I can start thinking of ways that I can improve the world that I live in myself. Wouldn’t the world be much better if we all did just that?

Whew, this is a lengthy and not very well written blog. I just wanted you to know that I know.