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.