2020: My Political Stance

We’re entering the worse time of year in any 4 year cycle: presidential elections. And I felt it was important, for myself really, to decide where I stand on things. I am not a single-issue voter, I actually think people who do that are ridiculously dangerous for a democracy, but sometimes my ideas fluctuate, change or contradict themselves. I’m ok with that. I’m human and I also fluctuate, change, and contradict myself. 🙂

I am pro-life.

What I mean by that is that the moment a sperm and egg meet it is a new DNA, scientifically, it’s its own person, and I don’t think I have the right to decide if that human deserves to live or die. BUT I am also pro-comprehensive sex education, pro-affordable health care, pro-social programs for low income families and single mothers, anti-stigmatization of single mothers as “loose women,” pro-increased financial assistance for families with kids born with disabilities. I am anti-death penalty, pro-gun controls, anti-euthanasia, anti-war. It’s morally wrong if pro-life stops at pro-birth.

Now all that being said, I’m not for abolishing all abortion laws and go the way of The Handmaid’s Tale because that always seems to be coupled with dangerous health implications for women. I feel that if the life of the mother or child are in danger an abortion should be 100% allowed (along with a pregnancy from rape), if the mother wishes. I would prefer, however, that people are educated AND provided with the economic means if they find themselves pregnant at an “inopportune” time.

I believe we are morally obligated to take in refugees and migrants fleeing political, economic, environmental catastrophe. I don’t care if the USA is the cause (although we usually had a hand in it) of the issue, I believe as humans we should help other humans.

I am pro-religion.

I am a practicing Catholic BUT I will never tell you to stop believing whatever you want, be it Satanism, Rastafarianism, Evangelical Christianity, etc. I will also never expect you to believe in anything, Atheism should be protected alongside religious belief. I am not going to try to get you to heaven, and I am never going to think you are going to hell. I firmly do not believe people of other religions are stupid or ignorant or [insert whatever insult you want]. If you believe your religion is the only option, fine, then just be satisfied with the fact that you can’t prove it until you’re dead. Then we’ll know. 🙂

I believe teaching about religions in schools should be required. And I am not talking cheesy lessons about “all the different winter holidays like Christmas;” I mean a fundamental look at what global religions believe, why they believe it, and how that affects people’s daily lives. I believe you cannot be a good global citizen and seriously think “all Muslims want to kill me.”

Read more: Learning not Converting

I am pro-education.

Just to be clear: I AM VERY ANTI-TRUMP. I believe he came to power because people lack information fluency (and people compromised their supposed strongly-held religious beliefs). Stop watching commercials to get your political information, pick up a book or read a well-researched article. Our appalling standards for education in the state of Florida has produced people who cannot and will not think for themselves. I teach my students about sourcing documents: historical context, point-of-view, purpose, and audience. You have to be taught to look for bias and we have failed America as educators.

I am NOT pro-free college. As a public high school teacher, I see/hear that my student’s don’t care about the education as much because it’s free. BUT a 4-year public university degree shouldn’t shackle you to debt for decades.

Read more: I just want to be a Teacher.

I am pro-family.

This goes along with my pro-life, pro-human stance. The family (in all its divergent forms) is the heart and soul of any society. Healthy families = healthy societies. There needs to be better and more flexible work hours so that families can make adjustments for their children and other home obligations. I believe in PAID family leave, we should at least give parents 12 weeks paid. I believe that daycare should not cost an arm and a leg and that if I wanted to stay home with my children we shouldn’t be impoverished by skyrocketing health insurance that makes that impossible.

I am also VERY much against the mantra that you have to be doing something all the time: kids in a million sports, social media 24/7, etc. Family dinner, at a table without distractions, should be a priority. It may not happen every night but there is no better way to build family bonds, conversational skills, and healthy eating habits.

Read more: Travel Tips: Traveling with Family

I am pro-environment.

I am not about to sell everything and live in a grass hut with no car or TV but I know I can do more. Although I do believe in a small federal government, certain agencies should and must exist for our country to be healthy. The EPA is one of those central agencies. After living in Europe for a few months and seeing how conscious they are of recycled goods and using public transportation, America feels glutinous. We recycle wrong, we all drive alone in cars, we abuse single-use paper and plastic products. And I am included in that!

I am literally asking for the government to force me to be more environmentally conscious. It will become habit in no time and I think it is vitally important. Climate change is real, it is not a theory or an opinion. But if you do not want to believe the truth, fine, at the very least don’t you want a more beautiful world with clean rivers and trees and birds that do not have radiation poisoning? Wouldn’t that be nice?

Read more: Photo Diary: Joshua Tree National Park

I am pro-capitalism(ish).

I personally like the concept of capitalism Atlas Shrugged style: the best person wins. That’s because ambitious people have an advantage in that type of field, but I don’t think that’s the best thing for humanity. I think as a business your goal is obviously to make a profit, but if you lie or hurt your customers you should be held strictly accountable. The 2008 recession was caused by greed of the banks and it hurt their consumers, that shouldn’t happen. Pure capitalism only benefits those on top, and we clearly see that with unregulated growth during the Industrial Revolution.

I laugh when people act like the word socialism is taboo and evil. Here’s what it is: the means of production in the hands of the producers (that’s the classic Robert Owen definition that get’s expanded when it becomes political). Here’s what it’s not: everyone gets a hand out until no one does anything – that’s stupidity.

Here are some socialist elements I think need to stay: government regulations (FDA, EPA, etc.), public libraries and schools, disability for those who did not CAUSE their own disability (so if you ate yourself into diabetes or smoked your lungs to cancer that’s on you), short-term job retraining assistance for those laid off, public works, firefighters & police officers, public parks, etc. Those are the things I value. I don’t, for example love food stamps, because that is the epitome of “giving a man a fish” and not “teaching a man to fish.” I would prefer that program evolve into family programs for urban agriculture and cooking classes. Of course that takes way more money and manpower on the front end but should totally relieve it in the long term.

In short, I don’t think the government should be your safety net for things you can control (i.e. retirement, lifestyle problems, etc.)

I am anti-hate.

If you sit there in your conservative cave hating the world think about this: every period in history has been global history, we have never been and will never be separate; you are no better than anyone else on this planet. You cannot hate your fellow man without hating yourself. We need each other to survive, thrive and build the future. What do you hate about your life that you are projecting onto others?

• Are migrants really stealing your jobs or are you just frustrated your wages have not kept up with inflation?
• Are you angry that girl in the dress tempted you to lust or are you frustrated because your marriage is falling apart?
• Are you angry at all those “degenerates” stealing welfare or are you frustrated because you feel your benefits don’t match your level of work?
• Are you angry at Islam and have been been told not to learn about other religions because then you’ll “lose” your own?
• Are you afraid of people like me? Young, educated, globally aware, feminist, religious, Hispanic-American, tolerant, and angry. Maybe you should be.

JMF