9 out of 10 monkeys believe they are not behind glass

Per Federal law, I registered with the service when I turned 18, and at the same time I registered to vote.

My registration was “Other”, because as a young monkey, I had little to no idea what was involved in the whole democratic process. I didn’t understand the party system, I didn’t understand why there where only two parties of any signifigance, I didn’t understand any of the history of why things are they way they are. I simply did not value the democratic system. I was disillusioned, feeling completely disenfranchised from the system. As a teenager, I felt that this world was not mine, and it would not belong to my generation. We were the “skipped” generation. The world would transfer ownership straight from the Baby Boomers to our kids… no in-betweeners allowed. At the time I felt that I was a part of the X generation, and that X had other implications.

And voting meant nothing to me. (I retroactively blame the school system for that massive failure. Like any other American, I don’t want to accept personal responsibility or think my parents had anything to do with it. It has to be the school’s fault.)

I have not voted in a single election, local, regional or national since I turned 18. I used to think that my vote did not matter. It simply was a non-vote.

I have been ridiculed, criticized, argued with, and ultimately dismissed for my complete lack of involvement with politics. For my married family, who all are staunch republicans, this is not understood. At all. So politics are not discussed at the family dinner table.

But…

Something changed, something clicked internally, when the whole Bush/Gore voting fiasco happened. My mind starting tossing around the questions that everyone was asking about the electoral college. Why? What is wrong with popular vote? And that lead to even more questions…

Then 9/11. Then War without Congress. Then the Patriot Act. Then, then, then. Nothing but a string of invasions, literal and otherwise, on personal liberties, freedoms, and other nations. And the general American public see nothing wrong. Or do they? Are they brainwashed sheep or is there some underpinnings of revolution in the masses? If the approval ratings are anything to go by, the Federal Government is obviously doing it wrong.

Something clicked and set into motion a huge undertaking. I would understand the process. I wanted to understand why something like this has happened. I want to find out why without blame entering the equation.

I think I have come to a ton of conclusions. Through this educational process, I have joked off and on with my wife that someday I should run for president. She rolls her eyes and gets back to keeping me in my place. And I go back to my education. The way the country has developed over the last 80 years is amazing. Everything since the first World War has been a battle between poor choices and chaotic outcomes, with some sad results.

I am not surprised that many believe that things need to be fixed. The how things should be fixed really is the deep underlying debate right now. I think the undercurrents are everywhere, in every important issue. War, Terror, Economics, Oil, Education, Healthcare… is the answer more government, more laws, more acts, more bills? Why is always about adding, but never subtracting?

The outcomes, or should I say the potential outcomes, are scary as hell. I can’t imagine that things are going to get better before they get worse. The question is, how bad are things going to get? How well can we minimize the overall impact?

So last week I re-registered to vote. And even though I may not be a Republican, I am registered as one. Because I think the best fit for the next president is an intelligent doctor from Texas who happens to be running on the Republican ticket. I think I have done a significant amount of research and the candidates… enough to make a vote that has intelligence behind it, and not just based on rough opinion from the media. (Because you can’t listen to the media, they are all saying the wrong things. Like “No Chance.”)

And that is how a disillusionment turned to involvement. By asking the right questions and reading up.

I think that others, that may have thought like me, will do the same. Because that is our duty. It is not about just voting, it is not about parties, it is not about popular opinion (ie what the media says)… it is about searching and seeking the deeper truth of what it means to be an intelligent human being living in a greater community. And understanding that it will take a lot, and I mean a lot, of effort to fix the things that deeply afflict us and the mistakes of the last thirty years.

That is the real outcome.