Isn't It Time to Rethink Our Role?

Ok you may not think that global warming is real, or at least not enough of a reason to stop driving your SUV to the corner store. Well how does $4.00 a gallon gasoline strike you?

OK, you say that you can handle that. After all when you turn on your car it returns the favor.

So how do you feel about home heating oil, airline travel, food, transported goods, pizza delivery, mowing your lawn......?

Ok, you're in the top 1% on the economic scale and you can weather the storm. After all, it's only money. Besides, the war on terror is the most important thing!

So just how is America supposed to fuel all of those aircraft carriers, jets, tanks and humvees?

Are you finally getting the picture?

The one question that is virtually never asked, or at best glossed over, during every presidential candiate debate ( Democratic or Republican ) is how America is going to end it's dependence on foreign energy sources.

Why?

Because the mass media doesn't think that the America public wants to hear the truth. The truth is that no matter who is elected in November, real change is not going to be easy, it's not going to be painless and it's not going to happen overnight.

In other words Americans are going to have to rethink the American Dream.

I'm not talking about core values like freedom and democracy.

I'm talking about the idea that if we elect the "right" people that government will magically fix everything while we sit back living life as usual and acquiring STUFF.

Yes, government does play a major role in establishing policy, creating laws and overseeing agencies and programs that protect the common good. But a government is only as effective as the people she represents are committed -- always has been, always will be.

Tonight I was channel surfing and stopped for a few moments on Larry King Live. The topic, of course, was today's primary elections. A point was made that in some places people might have to wait in lines for 3-4 hours in order to vote and that this might discourage voter participation. Now, this is a point with some validity.

But then I think back to America in the early sixties when as a little girl I watched the news and saw people being beaten for even having the nerve to show up at the polls.

I think about all of the people in various nations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East who today travel hundreds of miles and risk their lives just to cast a vote.

I think about the millions of people around the world who cannot vote.

Then I think of the people who slept in mall parking lots overnight and stood in lines all day to get an iphone or a Xbox.

I think of all of the people who woke up at 5am to be the first in line for a Christmas sale.

And, I think of everything that is at stake in the upcoming presidential election and I say to myself,

If people aren't willing to stand in line 3-4 hours to make a decision that will shape the course of this nation for decades to come, how in heaven's name will America meet the challenges of the future?

If the American people don't rethink their role in solving problems, it doesn't matter who answers the phone at 3 AM.

Get the Facts, Get Involved, Vote and, Be Ready to Do YOUR Part.