Over the past few years I have traveled extensively in the United States. One conclusion I have drawn is that reality is where you find yourself at the moment.
Yesterday, I was having a discussion with my optometrist and mentioned that I had spent several years in Alabama. She stood back in horror. She had heard so many bad things about Alabama, she couldn't believe for a moment that anyone - like me - had actually lived there. Knowing my optometrist's personality quite well, I kept my thoughts to myself and didn't tell her that there were parts of Alabama where she would undoubtedly be happier than she is in Northern Virginia.
For years I felt the same way about California. I couldn't believe that anyone would actually want to live there. That is until I visited California a few times. I still wouldn't want to live there UNLESS I could reverse the tape of my life and arrive in California when I was twenty years old and take advantage of the unique and amazing opportunities that California has too offer. The problem is that I nor any of us can reverse our tapes.
Our country is so vast that the majority of us only know about the rest of us by way of media - movies, TV, newpapers, books, etc. Except for the occasional vacation to the beach,mountains, or Disney, many of us conduct our lives within 50 miles of our homes. It is within that radius where change takes place in our attitudes, economic conditions, our adaptability to new situations etc. Now take several of those circles formed by the perimeter of that radius and spread them across the three million five hundred and thirty-seven thousand miles that is the area of the United States of America. The people living in the circles in central Alaska are definitey having different lives than the people residing in the circles in Northern Virgina, Vermont, or Tempe, Arizona.
If you live in Idaho,Wyoming,Utah,Nevada, or Arizona it may be very easy for you to understand the culture that surrounds Mormonism, however if you're a Mormon in one of those Mormon friendly areas, it may be difficult for you to see the differences between Baptists(freewill,primitive,missionary,etc),Pentecostals,Methodists,and Presbyterians in the Deep South. The fact that a Roman Catholic Cardinal or Archbishop can influence the politics of places like Boston, New York City, or Philadelphia is totally alien to a member of the First Baptist Church of Brewton, Alabama.
It is not only religion which separates us regionally, locally, and nationally, but also prevailing industries,trades, and even factors such as climate and topography.
It is getting more and more difficult for national political candidates to pull people together to achieve the consensus necessary to be elected. Look how close our last few presidential elections have been,simple labels of Democrat and Republican do not adequately define most of us or who we are. Immigration (legal and illegal) is constantly rocking one dominant culture and replacing it with another. The pace of change is mind-boggling.
Technology - such as this blog, is also widening the divide between technology hip Americans and those in our society who have primitive reading and comprehension skills.
As I write this I have a house full of workers connected with a remodeling project that has stretched into six months. I've gotten to know them well. They are good at what they do as carpenters,electricians,dry wall plasterers, etc. Most of them don't have a clue as to who Lou Dobbs is or how Ron Paul is different from the rest of the Republicans, however they all vote. Who influences them and sways that particular "X" on the ballot at election time? This particular group all hate Hillary, but would not vote for Guilliani because of his stance on abortion. All complain about how the gas price is cutting into their incomes. These guys have very much in common with people who do the same thing in all those 50 mile radius circles I mentioned above, but I guarantee there would be much different opinions dependent upon where the circles are located.
The task of governing the United States has become daunting and the present political parties are failing because they are trying to please and obtain consenus with everybody, and are NOT listening to anybody. Independence and populism are very simple. Surprisingly even within this vast land where we all reside most people want similar things. Polls and surveys tell us what we want. When the government reponds to the people in providing those things, you have populism. Leave people alone in their various states and regions and let them decide among themselves how they will manage the various social and economic issues unique to that locality and, voila, you have independence. Central government for the necessary things and decentralized government for the regional and local differences.
Having a FEDERAL policy, law, or regulation for EVERYTHING is what is killing our Society. Independence means being able to BREATHE!
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