I like warm fuzzies and having my heart warmed. Yeah, I'm a sucker for "Extreme Home Makeover" and "Oprah's Big Give." I enjoy seeing people and businesses put their money where their heart is, where their mouth is. "Pay it Forward" is one of my favorite movies because it follows a philosophy I learned as a child from a mother and grandparents who had generous hearts.
I'm struggling with the money collected and spent on political campaigns. I know Obama and Hillary Clinton did not invent the process. And yes, I know that money talks and everything costs big bucks nowadays. And I've been told that millions of dollars is merely chump change today. $115 million is chump change??
Look around you. What could that "chump change" do for people in your world? I see a woman struggling to survive cancer, living in a run down rent house poorly maintained by her landlord, with no insulation and no lock on her front door and no extra money to spare. I see a homeless man who lives in a city park winter and summer, with an occasional stay in a local motel thanks to the generosity of strangers, or thanks to a temporary job that doesn't bring in enough money for a rental. I see an elderly couple who take turns doing without their medicine so they can splurge once in awhile and have meat for supper. Multiply those people by a thousand and you'll get an idea of what paying forward $115 million would do. It would accomplish much more than an occasional twenty or fifty bucks from concerned citizens.
Oh I know. I'm ignorant to even think about campaign money. But I do. I wonder why the endless coverage politicians get on TV isn't enough to get their message out. I wonder why politicians of privilege receive such largesse and continue living their star-crossed lives while some of the people I see around me can't seem to get their heads above water. Archie Bunker would have called me a bleeding heart liberal, and maybe I am. Mea Culpa.
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About Me
- Laurel Johnson
- I enjoy good writing by writers and poets who are not famous. My mother said I was born a hundred years too late. The older I get, the more I realize how right she was.
2 comments:
I agree. Our election process needs a major overhaul. What a waste of time and money! There has got to be a better way.
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Forgive me. I need to ask a question on a different topic. I saw your profile on Amazon. Your comment about poetry was much appreciated. I noticed that you do book reviews, but are currently busy on a writing project.
I'm self-published on Amazon, and I'd like to create some buzz for my first book. I hate to bother you, but could you do a review for me?
This is a promo for my book:
Flights of Fancy: Volume 1 ($11.95) is my, Dawn Huffaker’s, first poetry compilation. It covers twenty-five years, and includes poems that express an optimistic view of life.
I have been unable to walk for most of my life. However, it hasn’t stopped me from achieving my dreams, or seeing the beauty that God has shown me in this world. I feel very blessed.
My book is an uplifting book of poetry for those times when you need a pick-me-up. The poems talk about nature, emotions, or life events. Read each poem and savor its hopeful flair.
Life is a journey best shared. Look at the world through my eyes. Here is one of the poems from this book:
Summer Interlude
Sunlit, dappled shadows
Dance slowly across the ground,
As the breeze tickles the juniper tree
Above me.
Clouds build in the distance,
With the promise of cooling rain.
Ants hike over rock and stone
In search of tonight’s dinner,
Where ever that might be.
Beetles click Morse code to each other
From tree to tree,
Seeking conversation.
Birds survey the summer afternoon
Atop the highest branches,
Gazing at the beauty of it all.
2008 © Dawn L. Huffaker
The Southwest is an enchanting place to be inspired. I hope you could feel a hot summer afternoon, sitting under a juniper tree, and watching the living forest around you.
Does this sound like something you'd like to do?
The system will never change, because the people who have the power to change it are the ones who benefit from it most.
It's a pessimistic view, but true.
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