Our House

If you are following my personal tumblr, or if you have spoken with me lately, you know that I am very actively working to focus on the positives in my life. One result of this new focus is that I have realized I am most stressed when I am reading the news. Other than the fact that I am acutely aware of many injustices occurring in my state/nation/world, there must be a simple reason many news stories make me so upset that I can barely breathe. This morning I think I may have pinpointed it.

Every time I read a positive news story, or look at a poll that shows more than half of the respondents agree with my own views, I think “I cannot wait until my generation is in charge.” I am not naïve enough to believe that everything will magically be mended when that happens, but I do believe that we will take many, many steps in better directions. But the frustration comes – and here’s the connection to my previous point – from the realization that my generation, the one with the desire, innovation, skills, and compassion to change everything, is overwhelmingly stuck.

The system we want to change is so broken, and the people who run it are so possessive of it and afraid of change, that we have not yet found a way to wedge ourselves in. We are facing a dearth of opportunities to prove ourselves. We are lucky if we can even claim opportunities to support ourselves via work that we are severely overqualified for, thereby minimizing our usefulness to society AND simultaneously taking entry level jobs away from people who have not been as fortunate as we in obtaining education and experience. In this system, everyone is depressed several levels below their potential.

Regardless, I am focusing on the positive whenever I am capable of doing so. Even though we are not being given many opportunities, we are beginning to make them. We are making our voices heard, even though it takes thousands, tens of thousands, millions of our voices to reach a handful of privileged ears. And much of it started here in Wisconsin, the place that allows me to be proud of my home even at times when I am embarrassed to call myself a US American.

In this morning’s Wisconsin State Journal, there was a small cover story about the one-year anniversary of our current political battle, which has “practically turned Wisconsin politics inside out.” But it’s not just Wisconsin. Two quotes in particular made me feel so good about what’s happening here that I nearly cried.

One poli sci professor notes that Wisconsin is now “viewed as ‘Main Street USA’ nationally” and that we have “come to represent the power and potential of people getting involved in politics.”

A young Wisconsin woman who says she was never interested in politics until last year is now very engaged, and has traveled to other states to participate in protests as well. She had this to say about going to the nation’s most publicized protests:

“I went out to Occupy Wall Street a few months ago, and I was overwhelmed with people telling me how Wisconsin was the spark that started the fire of the Occupy movement.”

And so, finally, we are becoming a force in this country. We have made it abundantly clear what we want and need, so no legislator can claim to have our best interests in mind when she or he works against us. This many people can’t be wrong, and even if we were, this is our house. The house of the 1% may be bigger and fancier, but our house has room for everyone. Our house has more love. Our house has more hope. Our house has more potential, just waiting to explode into action. Soon, the 1% will wish they had come over to our house when we first invited them, because the party is going to be unbelievable.