We've been together now 10yrs and married for 7, he's now a firm Democrat, and unlike me who pays a bit more attention to politics and would describe myself more as a Democratic Socialist, he has given President Obama huge credit and a bit of a pass when it comes to what is happening in America today. As he puts it, we were in a huge hole, the outlook was terrible, but somehow we are managing to slide through a bit, and its not nearly as bad as it could be. He recognizes the horrible hand that any President was dealt with when entering office back in 2009...
I mean we are talking about a man who voted for Bush, was rah, rah to go to war for "cheap oil" and thought cowboy antics were cool. Now, he's older, seen the devastation of the war, seen the rich get richer and ourselves get screwed over more and more. Mostly, its all rigged for the rich, yet somehow, President Obama has managed to get a few things going in the right direction even though the Republicans are doing everything in their power to block anything good for people in order to win an election... And we are in Tampa Bay, we have seen the direct effect of having an asshole like Prick Scott as Gov and losing out on the HighSpeed train, and we have had the oil spill, and have actually been handed money from the oil spill effecting our income. Had a Republican been in the White House, we wouldn't have gotten shit.. or we may have received a few bucks from FEMA; not the amounts that we did.. And you know what, we stimulated the local economy by doing the things that we had put off year after year, like put up our yard fence, fix the issues with our roof, pay off some debts, and use some of the money towards a purchase of a new car that we desperately needed.
The reality is, everyone in the real world understands that American's need money to survive everyday life, that money was tighter and tighter through the years starting with the policies of Reagan. They are understanding now, as the the economy has cratered, that all of those social safety nets they thought that "Welfare Queens" were living the high-life off of, are a myth, and that America doesn't take care or Americans. People are, for the most part, identifying with the OWS movement, and younger people, who will be the "elders" one day, are not scared of socialism... they are recognizing the need for society to extend to its people advanced education, health care for all, an ability to retire and live comfortably, food to not poison one another, the environment around the world protected, worker's rights... in general a more equitable share of the whole pie, and for needless wars to not be had in the first place. The older people who are sitting comfortably in retirement with the pensions (that are nonexistent these days), medicare, and social security benefits, are unconnected from the world in which most of us are having to eek out a living... They think we are just complaining and want things too fast. They don't realize that a higher education means mortgaging one's future. They don't realize that saving 20% downpayment on a first home is nearly impossible with today's wages and the extra cost of paying on the college loan, and they don't realize that health care costs are so extreme that, depending on where one works, are not offered as a benefit or the premiums are so high, that it would take nearly all of the employees paycheck.... Let's not even get started on those who are stuck in low paying wage jobs. Minimum wage does not support an actual living wage. As these old's die away, I think more progress can be had.
First step for real, getting the money out of politics in the first place.
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