Miner Queries: Holiday season question: can we change?
As usual, the holiday season has me thinking about the state of our society. It’s been a long hard year, with storms, conflicts and continuing political divisiveness.
But despite all that, I believe things can change – if we make it happen. It depends on our willingness to look at the world differently and to act.
I take some of my optimism from Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s action on the federal budget last week. From her platform in the Senate, Warren called out both the big banks and her colleagues in Congress on their hidden agenda, asking, “Who do we work for?”
Sen. Warren led the charge to limit corporate-written addendums to the budget. In the process, she shed light on maneuvers designed to undo programs to reign in financial special interests. As Jon Stewart pointed out in a segment on the Daily Show, “They [Congress] just wait until no one’s looking and slip the toxic stuff in,” he said. “It’s the Bill Cosby of legislation.”
But even though Warren and the House Democrats who stood with her lost the fight, they managed to advance their cause as Jim Newell points out in a Dec. 18 Salon Magazine article. He writes: “At least one (anonymous) bigwig tells The Hill that they’re having to draw down their expectations for next year after the fight over the pushout rule shone the spotlight on them. ‘One senior financial industry executive said the dust-up over the funding bill has forced the industry to recalibrate its lobbying priorities for the coming year,’ The Hill writes. ‘Given Warren’s megaphone, the executive said, getting through the next Congress without new restrictions on large banks would constitute a win.’”
I also found it heartening to learn Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer is calling for Democrats to defend government. Michael Tomasky writes on The Daily Beast about a recent Schumer speech, noting: “The big idea in the speech is that Democrats have to come up with ways to show the middle class how the party will put the government to work in their behalf.”
Tomasky blames Democrats and mainstream media for not communicating all the daily good government works in our lives – from clean water to highways and schools. “But it extends down to the millions of people who accept and applaud the right-wing rhetoric even as they suck on the government tit every day of their lives in one way or another, either without knowing it or (worse) knowing it but denying that they do because they’ve stuffed their own heads full of some nonsense narrative about how tough and independent they are.”
This is us, folks. Do we simply accept someone else’s version of reality or do we open our own eyes? Do we trust well-dressed and styled talking heads on TV and radio, or do we trust the experiences of people we actually know?
Change begins with us. We can let someone else control our destiny, or we can take up the reins ourselves.
On Dec. 30 we can take the first step. Be sure to vote in the special election to fill Joni Ernst’s Iowa Senate seat.
Vote for change by electing Democrat Steve Adams. Like Warren and Schumer, he believes government works for the people.
Cherie Miner is a local parent, community volunteer, freelance writer and artist. In a former life, she was a corporate writer and public relations professional. Contact her at news@redoakexpress.com or on Facebook.