Of course, those of us on the radical left want to move beyond budgets and regulations when it comes to economic policy. Taxing the rich and spending it on social goals, like education and health care, is after-the-fact "Justice" that doesn't change the nature of the relationship of property and ownership; it only makes the conditions of suffering slightly less odious. The same with regulation: attempting to regulate corporations in order to protect consumers, establish workers rights, and protect the environment means that private ownership of the means of production is still in place. So, when it comes to the Federal Budget or economic regulations, the Left often attempts to run the hardest line, knowing that it doesn't really matter. This is just a stop-gap, a progressive measure to look out for the poor and working class while we organize for a better day.
To a large degree, this is true. But there is the flip side of the coin: If we accept working within this world, rather than writing constitutions and passing resolutions for a fictional republic, we must also accept Capital's power and influence.
The major question facing the left today is: Do we want tax justice, or progressive spending?
Tax Justice is a focus on writing the wrongs of capitalism through the tax code. We want 60%, 80%, 90% taxes on the wealthiest Americans, because, more often than not, they have received their riches off the backs of working people. We want 90% taxes on profits, as profit is the excess taken from the backs of workers. Unfortunately, we cannot have the radical tax justice we seek with a functioning economy, in this modern world.
Which brings me to my point: What do we want more: High taxes on the super-rich and major corporations, or prioritizing jobs, education, health care, green energy, and poverty fighting in our spending?
I feel that we can create a modestly progressive tax system, one that both aids working people and the poor, and one that is "economically friendly" in a capitalist world. Then, we can refocus our spending priorities from aid to corporations and propping up a global police state to more progressive, people-centered goals. We can also do all of this in the context of independent reform-centered movement towards clean government and fiscal responsibility, building a true majoritarian consensus for our actions.
As Jeffrey Sachs put it, the American Left "needs to learn from European social democrats: who know that it's more important to be progressive on the spending side — in education, poverty relief and public services — than to focus tax policy only on the rich." This means the promotion of tax reform. One of the more popular solutions is the Value-Added Tax. This tax is sold as a "progressive sales tax": Rather then adding an extra 5% onto a $5.00 product, the business making the profit pays 5% of the $5.00. This avoids the pressure the deeply regressive sales tax puts onto consumers, particularly the working poor, while also bringing in a lot of revenue and not distorting the economy too deeply.
Another proposal, last publicly advocated by progressive presidential candidate George McGovern, is the Negative Income Tax. This de facto progressive tax combines a flat tax with a flat rebate. For instance, let's say the tax rate is set at 25% of income, while the rebate is $10,000 dollars. If someone makes $10,000 a year, they pay $2,500 in taxes, but receive a net gain of $7,500 dollars. If someone makes $40,000 a year, they come out even. If someone makes $100,000 a year, they pay a net total of $15,000 a year. If someone makes several million, their rebate is marginal. It's progressive by default, but it's effective. It simplifies the tax system and provides a floor against poverty. While this may not be the perfect solution, it does offer new ideas about how to reform taxes.
As far as spending, a number of issues have been "Hands Off" for far left activists for a long time. Any talk of "Entitlement Reform", coming from the privileged voices in Washington, the corporate mavens on Wall Street, or the talking heads in the corporate media, tends to mean privatization and anti-Welfare attacks. However, we forget to look at the flip side: If programs, like Social Security, are becoming insolvent, then doing nothing will lead to the abolition of one of the bedrock pieces of social legislation in American history. How will that help American pensioners?
There are progressive ways to reform entitlements. By taxing the rich more for entitlement programs and providing them less by way of benefits, we attempt to create a more just system. After all, with the ceiling on taxable income, and the general rate of return to all people, we end up paying Bill Gates the same in Social Security as my grandparents, while he payed in as much as they did. This is clearly unjust. Of course, it may take some sacrifice from working people, including raising the retirement age (an unfortunate reality of longer lifespans). But we can save Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and do it in a responsible manner.
Also, cutting back on subsidies (including employer-paid health coverage, "Agriculture" subsidies that go to major agribusiness, and homeownership subsidies that don't increase American home ownership) and refocusing our spending priorities on local projects can make a big difference in both efficiency and effectiveness.
The American Left has an opportunity to take on the Federal Budget as both a moral and a practical matter. We can stand up for working people and the poor and promote progressive spending priorities, while getting support from a constrained middle class that sees it's own benefits in true reform. And in building this movement, we can begin to ask the deeper questions, about working life, poverty, power, and freedom. At that point, reform becomes revolution, and the world is changed.
Authors Note: Much of the material taken for this blog came from Jeffrey Sachs article in Time Magazine, "How to Tame the Budget Deficit," and Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria, writing "Defusing the Debt Bomb."
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1959029-4,00.html
http://www.newsweek.com/id/234277
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Confessions of a Scalawag
I identify as a Southerner. Culturally, socially, politically, my outlook on life is defined, in many ways, from a Southern outlook. But this is a difficult position for a self-identified Progressive Radical. After all, Southern "Culture" is just a softened-over idealistic romantic vision of class division, patronizing sexism, and viscious racism, right?
Well, like any culture, there are many aspects to Southern Culture. True, there are the Plantation Patricians; old money, old power, the "gentlemanly racialist," rather then the course prolitarian racist. The true aristocrats who, through gentle gestures and polite manners, sugar over a type of oppression that should not exist in any democratic society. But this is not my Southern culture.
I am proud to say I am a Scalawag. I am one of the millions of Southerners who, throughout our history, has been oppressed and under-thumb of these "nobel gentleman." My culture was built out of a sense of oppression; we were small farmers, later sharecroppers, later the factory workers and mill workers, who suffered long, inhuman, brutal working conditions to provide those gentleman with their fancy homes and luxurous living.
I love my culture and heritage, but we must look back and see the horrible things that have gone on in our home. 150 years of slavery, followed by 100 years of segregation, followed by another 50 where we are still short of true Equality, true Freedom, true Justice, for our black brothers and sisters. Yet there is also a lack of true Equality, true Freedom, true Justice, for all of us. And I think that's the key: Our oppression has made us more clear-eyed and more genuine. The man on the hill, for all his kindly words, is still a capitalist and an aristocrat. My black brothers and sisters are not so different from me. We both suffer the same yolk of oppression.
Our humor, our hospitality, and our "proper manners" are not guises, like those of our masters. With us, it is genuine. We are gentle men and women, not to provide a polite veil over that most intimate oppression, but because we believe everyone deserves to be treated decently, as a human being.
We fight for economic and social justice here in our homeland, because we see, Black, White, or Latino, the issues facing working folks and everyday citizens unite us as one people. But in fighting for Justice and Freedom here, we see the appaling lack of Freedom and Justice around the globe. So, while being a Scalawag identifies us with our "tribe," as progressive Southerners, it also makes us internationalists, in what Gore Vidal called the irony of our time. The more I identify with this Southern culture, the more kinship I feel with brothers and sisters around the world.
I called this blog "Red Dixie" for a reason. My Southernism bred my Socialism, which I now apply to that region I claim as home, for better and (often) for worse. The Revolution begins at home, so for me, it must begin here. Clearly, we've got a lot of work to do.
Seek Peace, Fly High, Find Love,
Poncho.
Well, like any culture, there are many aspects to Southern Culture. True, there are the Plantation Patricians; old money, old power, the "gentlemanly racialist," rather then the course prolitarian racist. The true aristocrats who, through gentle gestures and polite manners, sugar over a type of oppression that should not exist in any democratic society. But this is not my Southern culture.
I am proud to say I am a Scalawag. I am one of the millions of Southerners who, throughout our history, has been oppressed and under-thumb of these "nobel gentleman." My culture was built out of a sense of oppression; we were small farmers, later sharecroppers, later the factory workers and mill workers, who suffered long, inhuman, brutal working conditions to provide those gentleman with their fancy homes and luxurous living.
I love my culture and heritage, but we must look back and see the horrible things that have gone on in our home. 150 years of slavery, followed by 100 years of segregation, followed by another 50 where we are still short of true Equality, true Freedom, true Justice, for our black brothers and sisters. Yet there is also a lack of true Equality, true Freedom, true Justice, for all of us. And I think that's the key: Our oppression has made us more clear-eyed and more genuine. The man on the hill, for all his kindly words, is still a capitalist and an aristocrat. My black brothers and sisters are not so different from me. We both suffer the same yolk of oppression.
Our humor, our hospitality, and our "proper manners" are not guises, like those of our masters. With us, it is genuine. We are gentle men and women, not to provide a polite veil over that most intimate oppression, but because we believe everyone deserves to be treated decently, as a human being.
We fight for economic and social justice here in our homeland, because we see, Black, White, or Latino, the issues facing working folks and everyday citizens unite us as one people. But in fighting for Justice and Freedom here, we see the appaling lack of Freedom and Justice around the globe. So, while being a Scalawag identifies us with our "tribe," as progressive Southerners, it also makes us internationalists, in what Gore Vidal called the irony of our time. The more I identify with this Southern culture, the more kinship I feel with brothers and sisters around the world.
I called this blog "Red Dixie" for a reason. My Southernism bred my Socialism, which I now apply to that region I claim as home, for better and (often) for worse. The Revolution begins at home, so for me, it must begin here. Clearly, we've got a lot of work to do.
Seek Peace, Fly High, Find Love,
Poncho.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Missing a week.
YES! Okay, alright already. I know, my dear adoring fans, that I missed this Saturday. Well, I have an excuse: Family is over. To be specific, my fiancées brother (Happy 20th Birthday, Pat!) and momma (Love you, Mel) have come by to visit, so spending time blogging about politics would be rude. (Or, at least, that's my excuse.) =]
I'm currently working on something of a "Magnum Opus." It should have been the introduction to this blog, but I didn't finish it before I started writing. It's supposed to be my overall outlook on politics: On my view of Freedom, on my opposition to Capitalism, on my version of Socialism, and on my idea of Revolution. With those laying out my world view, where I stand and what I write about makes a great deal more sense. I'm thinking about condensing these into one overall blog, hitting the salient points and leaving the details for a later date.
Nevertheless, I will be posting again soon!
Seek Peace, Fly High, Find Love,
Poncho.
I'm currently working on something of a "Magnum Opus." It should have been the introduction to this blog, but I didn't finish it before I started writing. It's supposed to be my overall outlook on politics: On my view of Freedom, on my opposition to Capitalism, on my version of Socialism, and on my idea of Revolution. With those laying out my world view, where I stand and what I write about makes a great deal more sense. I'm thinking about condensing these into one overall blog, hitting the salient points and leaving the details for a later date.
Nevertheless, I will be posting again soon!
Seek Peace, Fly High, Find Love,
Poncho.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Saturday Post: The American Dream
The United States has been called "The Land of Opportunity." Here, anyone can come and make something for themselves. You can get a good job, or start a business of your own. You can own your own home. You can worship as you wish, speak your mind freely, and elect your government. Here, you can truly be free. This American Dream has been the bright light behind the eyes of millions of immigrants over the last two hundred years. We've had uncountable millions of young men and women give their lives to ensure this dream.
Yet, to quote Langston Hughes, this is a dream deferred.
In my home town, you've got a few options when you get out of high school. You can get a job at McDonalds, or one of the handful of other fast-food joints in the surrounding area. You can get a job with the local grocery store, or go down the road a ways to get a job at the new Wal-Mart. You can get a job at the last factory in town (standing for a 12 hour shift at minimum wage, while your temp agency gets the lions' share of your paycheck). A lot of kids end up joining the armed services, where they get sent to the other end of the world to catch a hot one for Exxon-Mobile.
A few kids go off to college, but a number of them don't make the cut. Why? Because our high school barely taught us how to get into college, much less how to succeed at college. Our tiny, underfunded school has failed every student who attend. Some of us go on to university and succeed, but very little of that is thanks to our "education." Perhaps the wisest among us decided to go to community college, get a trade certificate, and then go on to be auto mechanics or nurses.
But do you know what the true tragedy is? Even these options are becoming less and less available to people. Getting a job at Wal Mart or McDonalds or Arvato isn't as much of a no-brainer as it used to be, with lay-offs and hiring freezes. Student loan money (along with money for the middle school and high school) is drying up, as tax payment slows to a trickle while private loan companies shut their doors. Mechanics and Nurses are in a market glut; for the most part, all their jobs have been filled. The crummy jobs we had are scarce; the money for education is drying up; and the hope that our specialized labor will carry us through is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
Working class kids, be they white, black, or Latino, be they rural, urban, or suburban, be they native-born or immigrant, deserve more options then a fast-food job or the Marine corps. They deserve the true opportunity to become the best that they can be.
Yet, to quote Langston Hughes, this is a dream deferred.
In my home town, you've got a few options when you get out of high school. You can get a job at McDonalds, or one of the handful of other fast-food joints in the surrounding area. You can get a job with the local grocery store, or go down the road a ways to get a job at the new Wal-Mart. You can get a job at the last factory in town (standing for a 12 hour shift at minimum wage, while your temp agency gets the lions' share of your paycheck). A lot of kids end up joining the armed services, where they get sent to the other end of the world to catch a hot one for Exxon-Mobile.
A few kids go off to college, but a number of them don't make the cut. Why? Because our high school barely taught us how to get into college, much less how to succeed at college. Our tiny, underfunded school has failed every student who attend. Some of us go on to university and succeed, but very little of that is thanks to our "education." Perhaps the wisest among us decided to go to community college, get a trade certificate, and then go on to be auto mechanics or nurses.
But do you know what the true tragedy is? Even these options are becoming less and less available to people. Getting a job at Wal Mart or McDonalds or Arvato isn't as much of a no-brainer as it used to be, with lay-offs and hiring freezes. Student loan money (along with money for the middle school and high school) is drying up, as tax payment slows to a trickle while private loan companies shut their doors. Mechanics and Nurses are in a market glut; for the most part, all their jobs have been filled. The crummy jobs we had are scarce; the money for education is drying up; and the hope that our specialized labor will carry us through is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
Working class kids, be they white, black, or Latino, be they rural, urban, or suburban, be they native-born or immigrant, deserve more options then a fast-food job or the Marine corps. They deserve the true opportunity to become the best that they can be.
Monday, February 22, 2010
What a day.
It's been a hell of a day.
First thing this morning, Meghan had to undergo a very painful and, frankly, quite horrifying procedure called a colposcopy. For those of you who don't know what that is:
http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/cevicalconditions/a/colposcopy.htm
The purpose was, unfortunately, to get a biopsy because of an abnormal pap. The experience was quite painful, and when all you want to do is hold your partner's hand but they make you wait in the lobby...it's shaping up to be a hell of a day.
We arrived home, though, safe and sound. Watching movies and taking care of my baby has been the plan for the day. It drives me absolutely insane when the person I love the most in this world is suffering and I can't do a damn thing to stop that.
I also received some terrible news from my friend, Nolan. Colin, a friend of mine from high school, passed away early this morning. He was home visiting his family, and apparently suffered a seizure. Colin was 20.
How can you...write about something like that? I don't know what to say. I want to cuss, and yell, and scream, and cry, and demand an explanation. And I wasn't even very close with Colin. We knew each other, we respected each other, and we made each other laugh, but we were never close. Nevertheless...I can't stop seeing him.
So...it's been a hell of a day. Colin, rest in peace. Prayers, good thoughts, good karma, and good ju-ju are with you and your family. And if anyone wants to throw some of that our way, it would be much appreciated.
Seek Peace, Fly High, Find Love,
Poncho.
First thing this morning, Meghan had to undergo a very painful and, frankly, quite horrifying procedure called a colposcopy. For those of you who don't know what that is:
http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/cevicalconditions/a/colposcopy.htm
The purpose was, unfortunately, to get a biopsy because of an abnormal pap. The experience was quite painful, and when all you want to do is hold your partner's hand but they make you wait in the lobby...it's shaping up to be a hell of a day.
We arrived home, though, safe and sound. Watching movies and taking care of my baby has been the plan for the day. It drives me absolutely insane when the person I love the most in this world is suffering and I can't do a damn thing to stop that.
I also received some terrible news from my friend, Nolan. Colin, a friend of mine from high school, passed away early this morning. He was home visiting his family, and apparently suffered a seizure. Colin was 20.
How can you...write about something like that? I don't know what to say. I want to cuss, and yell, and scream, and cry, and demand an explanation. And I wasn't even very close with Colin. We knew each other, we respected each other, and we made each other laugh, but we were never close. Nevertheless...I can't stop seeing him.
So...it's been a hell of a day. Colin, rest in peace. Prayers, good thoughts, good karma, and good ju-ju are with you and your family. And if anyone wants to throw some of that our way, it would be much appreciated.
Seek Peace, Fly High, Find Love,
Poncho.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Posting Policy
So, to set up a clear guideline, for myself and for my readers:
Every Saturday, there will be a primary post. This will be on major national or international news, larger public policy or political issues, the deeper end of my political philosophy, or important areas of my personal life. I say this aloud to tie myself to posting SOMETHING every week, to get into a routine.
In-between primary posts, I will post "Extra" news. Local or state news, minor policy news, or whatever happens to be on my mind. This way, I'm not limited, but I am structured. This is good for me (I now have an obligation to keep up) and for all two of my readers (you now have a set time to check for bigger updates).
Seek Peace, Fly High, Find Love,
Poncho.
Every Saturday, there will be a primary post. This will be on major national or international news, larger public policy or political issues, the deeper end of my political philosophy, or important areas of my personal life. I say this aloud to tie myself to posting SOMETHING every week, to get into a routine.
In-between primary posts, I will post "Extra" news. Local or state news, minor policy news, or whatever happens to be on my mind. This way, I'm not limited, but I am structured. This is good for me (I now have an obligation to keep up) and for all two of my readers (you now have a set time to check for bigger updates).
Seek Peace, Fly High, Find Love,
Poncho.
An Unlikely Pundit
What do you say we start from the beginning?
It seems I need a bit of structure in my blogging. So, I have decided that every Saturday, I will make a new post. It could be your basic op-ed, on the news or public policy. It could be a focus on higher political ideals, from a philosophy of Freedom to what Socialism truly is. Others will focus (a great deal) on my life, specifically my fiancée, my work, or anything else. Some will simply be art pieces. But first, an introduction to your humble writer: The unlikely pundit.
I am currently between jobs. I've worked as a sales associate in a fine jewelry store, as an assembly line worker in a digital media factory, as an usher at a movie theater. I've portrayed both Santa and the Easter Bunny at the mall on the bad side of town, I've worked under the table doing gigs for my family and friends, and I've registered young voters supporting Obama. But right now, I can't find work. I'd like to get a job that's relaxed and low-key, a job where I make enough to pay all our expenses, a job that I'm proud to work at. When someone invents that job, let me know. Until then, I want anything that will bring in enough money for me to take care of my little family.
My dream job would be one as a community organizer. I want to work for an organization that focuses both on community economic development and on grassroots activism and lobbying. A job that both helps individuals and communities directly, while also focusing on long-term, institutional changes. This job may be sneered by the far right, by the Sarah Palin's and the Rush Limbaugh's and the Michael Savages' of the world, but I think there is nothing more honorable than making a living by doing good things.
I am also an "artist." I don't know if I fit that term. There are two things I see when I hear the word "Artist": one is an annoying putz drinking espresso, trying to show everyone that they're intellectual by using big words; the others are truly and deeply creative, amazing, talented individuals, who's skill I cannot hope to match. I don't want to be the former, and I wish I was the latter. But nevertheless, I will use the term for now, until a better one comes up. I have aspirations to be a film-maker and a fiction writer, on top of my (hopeful) career in community organizing. I love acting. I enjoy getting on stage and putting on a different person, and then using that to communicate with an audience. I would love to write, direct, and preform in films professionally. Apart from movies, mini-series', and short films, I would like a big focus to be on documentaries. I'm also something of a fiction writer. I love writing poetry and short stories, although I'm out of practice. I've planned on one magnum opus, a few novel series, and several short stories, along with several poems, but I haven't had an opportunity to work on either my acting or my fiction lately.
I guess any artist would say both fiction and non-fiction can be used to convey the truth. That's another part of what I want to do with my life. It's another part of my motivation.
I've recently "found religion," if it can really be called that. I recently discovered that I was a Unitarian-Universalist. I believe that all folks find their way to truth on their own, and they make their own peace with God. In that way, I guess I'm an old-fashioned Anti-Nominist. I can't force you, I can't threaten you, you just gotta find what works for you. And that's what a church is for. I've got plenty of my own beliefs about God, about the soul, about spirituality, and about the nature of humanity. But as far as actual religious views, I don't think there's any way any person can claim absolute authority over something that, at the end of the day, nobody knows 'till they shuffle off this mortal coil. My religion is very important to me. Like many other things in my maturing life, it's a routine that gives me comfort.
But the biggest part of my life is being in love. I've found my soul mate. Finding your soul mate doesn't mean you've found someone who is perfect all the time. It means you've found someone is your perfect match. We've both got problems, we've both got issues, we've both got baggage. But we are perfect, in the end, for each other. I love her for a million reasons, but in the end, beyond the little things I love, beyond the physical, beyond her being my best friend, beyond our compatibility, there is a deep draw I feel towards her that I cannot define. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want her to be the mother of my children.
I mention this, because she's the reason. It's because of my partner and our future children that I write about politics. I don't just want to make a better world for myself. I want it for my family. I don't want my children to be raised in the miseries of this world. I want to make a better future for my kids and my partner.
That's why I write. That's why I organize. It's not just my past, my intelligence, my "perspective." It's for Isabella and Tobias, it's for Sophia and Oliver, Adrianna and Isiah, Rosalind and Elijah. It's for Meghan. It's for my grandkids.
If that's not a good enough reason for a revolution, I don't know what is.
So, this is me, and this is my work. Hope you enjoy.
Seek Peace, Fly High, Find Love,
Poncho.
It seems I need a bit of structure in my blogging. So, I have decided that every Saturday, I will make a new post. It could be your basic op-ed, on the news or public policy. It could be a focus on higher political ideals, from a philosophy of Freedom to what Socialism truly is. Others will focus (a great deal) on my life, specifically my fiancée, my work, or anything else. Some will simply be art pieces. But first, an introduction to your humble writer: The unlikely pundit.
I am currently between jobs. I've worked as a sales associate in a fine jewelry store, as an assembly line worker in a digital media factory, as an usher at a movie theater. I've portrayed both Santa and the Easter Bunny at the mall on the bad side of town, I've worked under the table doing gigs for my family and friends, and I've registered young voters supporting Obama. But right now, I can't find work. I'd like to get a job that's relaxed and low-key, a job where I make enough to pay all our expenses, a job that I'm proud to work at. When someone invents that job, let me know. Until then, I want anything that will bring in enough money for me to take care of my little family.
My dream job would be one as a community organizer. I want to work for an organization that focuses both on community economic development and on grassroots activism and lobbying. A job that both helps individuals and communities directly, while also focusing on long-term, institutional changes. This job may be sneered by the far right, by the Sarah Palin's and the Rush Limbaugh's and the Michael Savages' of the world, but I think there is nothing more honorable than making a living by doing good things.
I am also an "artist." I don't know if I fit that term. There are two things I see when I hear the word "Artist": one is an annoying putz drinking espresso, trying to show everyone that they're intellectual by using big words; the others are truly and deeply creative, amazing, talented individuals, who's skill I cannot hope to match. I don't want to be the former, and I wish I was the latter. But nevertheless, I will use the term for now, until a better one comes up. I have aspirations to be a film-maker and a fiction writer, on top of my (hopeful) career in community organizing. I love acting. I enjoy getting on stage and putting on a different person, and then using that to communicate with an audience. I would love to write, direct, and preform in films professionally. Apart from movies, mini-series', and short films, I would like a big focus to be on documentaries. I'm also something of a fiction writer. I love writing poetry and short stories, although I'm out of practice. I've planned on one magnum opus, a few novel series, and several short stories, along with several poems, but I haven't had an opportunity to work on either my acting or my fiction lately.
I guess any artist would say both fiction and non-fiction can be used to convey the truth. That's another part of what I want to do with my life. It's another part of my motivation.
I've recently "found religion," if it can really be called that. I recently discovered that I was a Unitarian-Universalist. I believe that all folks find their way to truth on their own, and they make their own peace with God. In that way, I guess I'm an old-fashioned Anti-Nominist. I can't force you, I can't threaten you, you just gotta find what works for you. And that's what a church is for. I've got plenty of my own beliefs about God, about the soul, about spirituality, and about the nature of humanity. But as far as actual religious views, I don't think there's any way any person can claim absolute authority over something that, at the end of the day, nobody knows 'till they shuffle off this mortal coil. My religion is very important to me. Like many other things in my maturing life, it's a routine that gives me comfort.
But the biggest part of my life is being in love. I've found my soul mate. Finding your soul mate doesn't mean you've found someone who is perfect all the time. It means you've found someone is your perfect match. We've both got problems, we've both got issues, we've both got baggage. But we are perfect, in the end, for each other. I love her for a million reasons, but in the end, beyond the little things I love, beyond the physical, beyond her being my best friend, beyond our compatibility, there is a deep draw I feel towards her that I cannot define. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want her to be the mother of my children.
I mention this, because she's the reason. It's because of my partner and our future children that I write about politics. I don't just want to make a better world for myself. I want it for my family. I don't want my children to be raised in the miseries of this world. I want to make a better future for my kids and my partner.
That's why I write. That's why I organize. It's not just my past, my intelligence, my "perspective." It's for Isabella and Tobias, it's for Sophia and Oliver, Adrianna and Isiah, Rosalind and Elijah. It's for Meghan. It's for my grandkids.
If that's not a good enough reason for a revolution, I don't know what is.
So, this is me, and this is my work. Hope you enjoy.
Seek Peace, Fly High, Find Love,
Poncho.
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