I was never really politically active as a teenager or a young adult. I remember that the first election I could have voted in was when Bill Clinton was elected. But I didn’t exercise my newly attained right. In fact, it was not until GW was on the ballot that I actually cast my first official vote. My parents were not really into politics when I was growing up nor were my friends, so without those influences, I really didn’t know very much about what each party stood for and how these elected officials would impact my life.
Living away at college was kind of like being in a bubble. My world was very narrow and my focus was limited. My responsibilities entailed doing well in school and going out with my friends. Occasionally, I would take in a museum for a dose of culture. But politics never factored in to my day-to-day life as a student.
When I met my husband, he was a staunch Republican, a huge Reaganite, and proponent of capitalism and small government. He studied political science at the American University in the heart of our political capital. He also interned for Congressman Rick Lazio. He knew so much about the system and had formulated very clear and passionate opinions about pressing political issues. It was a little intimidating, to say the least. I felt completely out of my element because I knew nothing of these topics. But he still liked me anyway.
Then I started to feel the impacts of our government on everyday life as I got older and started my career. It is really easy to turn a deaf ear to politicians and their messages when you live pretty much unencumbered by financial stresses and responsibilities. But when you start collecting a paycheck and see almost half of your salary going to cryptic little acronyms like FICA, OASD, MED, and WDPF, it can be more than a little frustrating. Jeez, I am the one working here, right???
As a result, my eyes were opened to a new reality of being a working woman and having to balance my own checkbook. Just know that I am dating myself here because when I graduated from college there were no banking websites to speak of, so I am being literal about the checkbook bit. Actually, “online” barely existed at that point. It was all about the Brother word processor and Lexus-Nexus back then. But, I digress.
So let’s think about this. If I needed to manage my money, shouldn’t the government have to do the same? I knew the government was taking a great deal of my hard-earned cash, and I wanted to be certain that it was being spent wisely, so as to benefit me on the “global” scale as a citizen. I started to do some research about the parties in office, to gain an understanding of their objectives and how my contributions would factor in. I wanted to make sure that I was supporting the people that were going to protect my interests, financial and otherwise.
I can tell you from my own professional experiences that management expects associates to determine their annual performance objectives and work throughout the year to achieve them. At the end of the period, if you don’t accomplish your goals, your rating and bonus take a major hit. There are direct consequences to not delivering on what you committed.
And I like that system. Because it means that hard work will be recognized and rewarded. It isn’t always perfect, of course. But for the most part, you get paid for what you deliver. The more effort you put into something, the better chance you have for reaping the rewards.
There is a great tale on the internet about a young girl raised by liberal parents. “I was talking to a friend’s little girl, and she said she wanted to be President someday. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, ‘If you were to be the President, what is the first thing you would do?’ She replied, ‘I’d give food and houses to all the homeless people.’ ‘Wow – what a worthy goal.’ I told her, ‘You don’t have to wait until you’re President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and sweep my sidewalks and driveway, and I’ll pay you $50. Then I’ll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food or a new house.’ She thought that over for a few seconds ’cause she’s only 6. And while her Mom glared at me, the little girl looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Why doesn’t the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?” And I said, “Welcome to the Republican Party, sweetheart.”
This story really resonates with me. America is the place where you go to take advantage of opportunities. If you are willing to work really hard, you have a fighting chance at making it big. There are no guarantees, but there are endless prospects. You have to be willing to put in the time and effort and recognize that nothing worthwhile comes too easily. This is the America we should be fighting to preserve.
Embrace capitalism! It is what makes us great and sets us apart from everyone else! We don’t need the government establishing boundaries for how much we can attain to better our lives and those of our families. Give us the opportunity to achieve our goals, support our entrepreneurial endeavors, and provide kudos for attempting to always improve upon the place we are proud to call home – the United States of America.
