Ah election year…breathe it in…can’t you just soak in the
sweet aroma of politics in the air...cough, gag, cough, cough…yea, that’s about
how I feel too. This year, it has become blatantly clear to me the massive
servings of bullshit I am being fed every time I look at the TV, turn on the radio,
or(God forbid) actually try to get a non-biased source of information to help
me figure out what the hell is going on in this crazy world. As I flip through
the channels, I get a completely different story or representation of the same
event. I would certainly consider myself a liberal person based on my ideals,
but I can’t even watch that shit on TV anymore because I KNOW that they are
just trying to SELL ME on something…trying to sell me on an idea…THEIR idea.
You would be a FOOL, a straight up liberal or conservative FOOL, to think that “your”
media source isn’t doing the same thing to you. Im scared to even look for
information on the internet because now, based on my recent searches, my
results will be altered. So, because I was interested in looking into some
conservative ideals in order to be an informed individual, all that comes up is
conservative media sources…and believe me, it doesn’t get much more terrifying
than that!
So, given the fact that I cant find a news/information
source that I can trust to tell me real, honest, non-biased facts, this year I
choose to vote based on only things that I, Lisa Summers Smoot, know and
believe. I refuse to base my choice on anything that anyone has told me. My choice is based only on things that I
believe, and my vote will go to the candidate whose plan seems to be most in
line with MY beliefs. I refuse to be fooled on behalf of anyone else’s agenda.
I believe in the core of my heart that the most important
thing that our country can do to help the economy, to decrease crime, to
decrease healthcare costs, and to maximize our great potential is to provide
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY to ALL of our citizens. Equal opportunity to good education,
equal opportunity to preventative health care, equal opportunity to employment,
and equal opportunity to pursue our own happiness. If we are honest with
ourselves, we know that this just isn’t happening right now. Where you are born
and who you are born to will either make or break you. You cant possibly drive
through any inner city of our country without being acutely aware that there is
a group of people who simply do not have access to these basic opportunities.
There is not one person who has succeeded in this country completely on their
own. Yes you need to work hard, yes you need to make sacrifices, yes you need
to make good choices for yourself; but without these basic opportunities, you
will not be able to succeed. One also MUST consider the psychological effect
that being born into poverty, violence, and or addiction would have on ANY
human being. These situations ultimately lead to desperation and despair (and
often time come full circle right back to poverty, violence, and addiction),
unless one is provided with an opportunity to succeed. I don’t believe that anyone
needs saving, or needs a handout. I believe that if we were all actually
treated as equals, we would all succeed, and our country would flourish by
capitalizing on the talents of all of our cultures combined. One culture should
not have to conform to another in order to “make it” in America. We each have something
incredible to offer…if only we all had the great opportunity to be able to see
what it is we each have to offer.
I do not expect, nor am I even trying to change anyone’s
opinion with this blog. This is just an outlet for me to express my opinions.
Please don’t be fooled by the garbage they are trying to sell you on TV. Open
your eyes and form your OWN opinion based on REALITY, not on contradicting independent
studies, contradicting statistics, and contradicting politicians. Seriously, if
each “side” is claiming completely opposite things to be the truth, SOMEONE IS
LYING TO YOU! There cannot be two interpretations of truth and fact. Time to
step back and figure out what YOU really think is happening here. Time to think
larger than your community, your job, your race, your gender, your party, your
candidate…look around and be honest with yourself about what is happening around
you and how we can make it better. Turn off MSNBC. Please, for the love of God
turn off FOX News. What do YOU think?? Do you really think that people choose
to be poor, that people choose to be addicts? Do you think that, if given
another viable and lucrative choice and opportunity, people would really choose
to be drug dealers and criminals? Come on now… Do you think that maybe lower
income populations might have a lower incidence of diabetes and heart disease,
and be less of a “drain” on our healthcare system, if they actually had access
to healthy and affordable food? Think about the last time you saw an organic
store in the poor part of town. Matter of fact, think about the last time you’ve
actually been in the poor part of town…maybe its time to turn off the TV and
see for your own eyes what’s happening. Who do you trust more, the douchebag on
TV trying to sell you a candidate, or yourself? Everybody claims that they’re
not racist…okay…then go have a conversation about the state of this nation with
someone who is not of your race, not of your socioeconomic status, not of your
gender, not of your party, and out of your comfort zone. I challenge you to do
this. Matter of fact, I dare you too…I double dog dare you. Stop worring about
your husband’s political views, your wife’s opinion, the stuff you hear your
parents talking about all the time…what do YOU THINK??
Our parents grew up in different times than we did. Do you
really think that in this day and age it is possible to “pull yourself up by
your boot straps” without a college degree? Do you really think that just “getting
a job at McDonalds” is going to get somebody out of poverty? Come on now… how
much is YOUR rent, cause we all know that McDonalds salary just isn’t going to
cut it anymore. Really try to put yourself in someone else’s situation, THEN
make form your opinion. And if you feel like the troubles of the other folks in
this country aren’t your problem, hey, that’s you…let me know how that works
out for ya…but trust and know that you would NOT be where you are now unless
someone helped you get there. Do you deserve
to enjoy the money you worked hard for? Hell yes! Just like you deserved to opportunity to have that job
that you get to work at! Everyone should be so lucky! Anyone who knows me knows
that I work my ASS off for the money I get, and I deserve to be able to spend
every cent of it, but I would be MORE than willing to shave some dollars off my
paycheck so that I don’t have to witness the devastation of young black people
in Baltimore City every day. Yea, I said it…what, you don’t think race has
something to do with it? Okay, keep telling yourself that…
I sincerely appreciate anyone who made it all the way
through this blog. Thank you for respecting my opinion enough to read this. I
remain hopeful for a better country for my children and I believe that it
begins with honest conversation. I have faith in the ideals of compassion and
love… Thank you.
Always... in all ways...
Lisa
