Creating the Divide, A Strategy for Defeat

I was going through the news today looking for interesting articles to bring to your attention. But something else caught my eye. A underlining theme that is the true elephant in the room. The increasing social and political divide in America.  

Me and some of my college buddies from time to time go down to the bars get a pint or two and talk politics to our hearts content.  One of the re-appearing topics are those based on harsh black and white comparisons. Left vs the Right, Republican Vs Democratic, Liberal vs Conservative, and any other political identifying label you can think off. This idea really hit home for me when one of my hardcore right wing friends in the middle of rant stated ;"You know why hey label you? So they can break you down and smother your voice"
At the time this idea seemed a little out in left felt for me, but after i let it sink in i came to see  truth in that statement. In the military they say "A force divided is a force easily destroy', that truth is no different in the political realm.

With the election in Washington state being as close of a race as it is, every vote counts and in groups, block votes hold much power. The youth vote or college vote is by far one of the most divided groups, and because of that fact the voices of the youth hold very little power. Which in turn explains why very few campaigning officials really take the concerns of college student into account during the election seasons. So if we really want change for our government, we have to learn to work with groups and people that are "different" then ourselves. We have to learn to work with people and candidates that we don't agree with 100%.  We have to find ways to get pass the dividing factors that created so much of the voter apathy in our lives and on our campuses. The college vote could decide the fate of this election, and in turn our nation. All we have to do is to get enough of us together have our voice heard.

The Danger of Words

A teacher in Spokane was suspended today for using the lyrics from a Blue Scholars song Commencement Day. The official report stated that some of the content and language used was inappropriate for the students. With book such as the Catcher and the Rye i don't really see what the problem is. Like most things in education if its new or edgy the administration likes to take control. Below are the some of the Lyrics from the song, let you be the judge.

"To the graduating class of two thousand whatever,
Congratulations past due, you deserve better,
Looking dapper in a cap and a gown,
You got fam snappin flicks, clappin loud in the back of the crowd.
Now the band playin Martin Circumstance got you amped feelin like a champ,
Class is out of session at last.
You’ve been patiently waiting,
12 years in the making,
Anybody who has doubted you is sadly mistaken,
With the paper with your name in old English for the taking,
So moms can bring it home and frame it and display it,
With the grade point average hanging over head,
Brother sister please don’t believe the bullshit they said.
Fuck the pledge of allegiance and arrogant teachers
But peace to the people who don’t ever preach in the front of a classroom
All day long, planting seeds of revolution,
We dedicate this song.

It goes one for the student who refuses to submit
And two for the teachers who are underpaid as shit
It’s the next generation of miseducated youth
Who demonstrate the truth and manage to make it through
It goes three for the strikes giving young bloods life
And four for the years you spent stifled inside
It’s the next generation of miseducated youth-next time ask em for proof." - Blue Scholars

Taking the Higher Road

At bumbershoot last weekend. A representative from an another college group stopped by our booth and played a round of water pong with us. Through our conversation i learned that we had a similar mission, but a different method for the same outcomes. It reminded me of a something one of my political science teachers told me.

"Never think that your political opponent, hates or wants to destroy America. They love America , but just have a different view on what America is. Once you start believing you opponent is out to destroy America there can be no middle ground, or educated debate."

I try to keep that in mind with people i encounter along my travels. At bumbershoot i ran into radical leftest that verbally attacked us for our support of the "evil capitalism" and our views on economic reform. After embarrassing himself with his rants and raves the people around him came to our booth to learn more of what he was yelling about. In a way he ended up being a great tool to show the oppressive nature of the left and what the Student Freedom Project is fighting against. A great deal of politics today is done by race baiting and with smear campaigns, and having worked on campaigns and as an activist on college campuses i have been the target of some of this "strategic" verbal anger. As the organizer of the Student Freedom Project i try to rise above that and hold my volunteers and member to higher standards. If we want to change whats happening in politics we to have to change how the game is played.

Letters From the Frontline ( Bumbershoot)

This weekend i spend three days in the Seattle center running the booth for the Student Freedom Project. 30 hour of water pong later, i have an amazing behind the around the back shot and 252 new members for the Student Freedom Project mailing list.  Hosting a table at bumbershoot truly was a new experience. Thought our many ....many games.... of water pong i learned a great deal about the students and young adults of the greater Seattle area. We found out that like most young adults they knew nothing about the current political climate or the world around them and didn't care to know. But even through the apathy, we made many new connections hand helped forge a place for ourselves in the Seattle community. The parents and community members we in counted supported our organization and further motivated us in our mission to help young people get their voices heard in the political climate.  We meet with people from all back grounds, ethnically and politically, and found that one issue transcended all economic reform, and a waste full government. Over the three days we as an organization grew and refined the Student Freedom Project. Thus taking us one step closer to accomplishing out goal ; to enable college students to take an active role in shaping the future they will graduate into.

The Power to Change

There are few times when such a small group can define the very fate of our nation. This November the college vote will decide the fate of our nation.  The New York Times came out with an article today about the impact of the college vote and how it will define the outcome of the nation and state elections.

"How and whether millions of college students vote will help determine if Republicans win enough seats to retake the House or Senate, overturning the balance of power on Capitol Hill, and with it, Mr. Obama’s agenda. If students tune out and stay home it will also carry a profound message for American society about a generation that seemed so ready, so recently, to grab national politics by the lapels and shake." The New York Times

Rarely do students or young adults truly have the bargaining chips that they do in this election. The pivotal nature of these elections mean that the powers to be will have to listen to young adults to get our votes. So the question arises what will the voices of college students call for?  As the Seattle Time reported, voter apathy among the youth is normally high so with this close election will college students understand the power they have before its to late?

"Drawing voters to a midterm election is always a challenge. Although the entire U.S. House of Representatives is up for grabs, and roughly a third of the Senate — plus legislative seats and decisions on state ballot measures — midterm elections don't generate the attention presidential elections do." The Seattle Times

The big question is with the importance of this election will college students take the reigns and decide the fate of our nation or will other define the future our on nation for us?

Responsibility the Crime of Our Time

With the deficit climbing the powers to be had a great idea, tax every movement of your money. Suddenly the cash in the shoe box doesn't look so odd.

"One idea for raising taxes to pay down the debt is the bill introduced this February by Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.). His “Debt Free America Act” (H.R. 4646) would impose a 1 percent “transaction tax” on every financial transaction — whether paid by cash, credit card or any form of financial transfer, the only exception being transactions involving the purchase or sale of stock. Theoretically, everyone would pay one cent on the dollar for every such transaction in America every day — whether $3 million on a $300 million business acquisition, $300 on the purchase of a $30,000 car, or $5 on a $500 ATM withdrawal."--The Hill

Also the federal government had another great idea! Rumors are circulating that confiscation of 401ks and IRA's might fix the budget!

"On August 26, the US Department of Labor issued a news release (http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/2010/ebsa082610.html).  It lists the agenda for the joint hearings being held with the Department of Treasury September 14-15, 2010 on what is euphemistically called “lifetime income options for retirement plans.”  The hearings are being conducted by the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration." news.coinupdate.com

Articles like this make me excited for my future after college (sarcasm). The people in power are going to keep trying to find ways to "decrease" the deficit. There game plan so far is to sacrifice our future for the "preservation of the present". If we don't get involved soon, if we don't let them know in November, who knows what they will try next. I just can't wait till they find a way to tax the shoe box under my bed. 

The Silence Before the Storm

Bumbershoot is only THREE days away. The volunteers have signed up, the gear is in, so come by our booth during bumbershoot to see what all the fuss is about. If Washington State University was is an example to things come, then our booth is going to be a big hit. At WSU in there hours 90 new members! So stop by our booth (we are by the beer garden) to play a game of water bong and get a sweet Freedom T-shirt.   Buy your tickets today for bumbershoot today by clicking on the link below!

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