I realized that my political fervor has stemmed more from my being appalled at the way conservatives treat people than from supporting the way that liberals do business. (Note: my ideologies will all be lower case here to avoid pointing fingers at certain parties, but any resemblance to real politicians or groups is purely coincidental, or proof that my readers are paying attention…ha.) I do find the social intolerance that I see from conservatives appalling, and I always think to myself, “Who raised these people to think like this? What would their mothers think?!”
So, I thought of 4 ways that schoolyard rules are fairer, more politically correct, more polite, and more liberal than some of the rhetoric that I’ve heard in this presidential campaign. I was raised to treat others better than certain groups are being treated currently. (I bet conservative parents teach their kids this stuff, too!) To come up with these things, I thought of my own elementary school playground and lunch rooms and tried to think of the things my family and teachers taught me about interacting with my peers.
- Be nice to the weird kids at school.
Everyone knew the weird kids. They were the ones that couldn’t, didn’t, or didn’t want to fit in. In younger years, they were the ones who maybe wore hand-me-downs because their parents couldn’t afford those tennis shoes that lit up (I always wanted those!), and as we all grew up, the weird kids were the Goths, the socially awkward smart kids, the band kids who would rather hang out in the music room than with everyone else (me and my friends), the artsy kids who just sat and drew in sketchbooks and didn’t talk to anyone. Maybe they were the foster kids who moved around a lot and no one really remembered them a few years later. Or, in a town like mine, the two kids in the entire district that weren’t white and/or Christian.
Now imagine your 6- or 16-year-old self. How would your parents want you to act toward those kids who were just not quite ‘like everyone else’? Would they want you to tell them that they way they were or acted or believed was wrong and that they should change? Doubtful. I’m sure my family wasn’t the only one that would have said, “Yes, I know she’s ‘weird’, but you should still be nice to her. Just say ‘Hi’ sometimes.”
We had a few clusters of students (and families) who were ‘nice’ to everyone, but only because they felt obliged to be, and were completely condescending about it. That’s not what I mean. Even weird kids can read through other kids (and adults) insincerity. Just because they’re different from ‘everyone else’ doesn’t mean they’re stupid. - Help others before yourself. Giving is better than receiving.
It is Christmastime, and I am fully expecting to hear and read a slew of stories in the news about people giving to people in need. (They happen all year ‘round, but this time of year, everyone is looking for the warm-and-fuzzy angle.) And, when we come across kids working for people in need, we all get a little teary-eyed and credit their parents with the wonderful job they did in teaching this adorable child to give to others. These stories play out in places like food pantries or shelters.
Aren’t those nice to have in communities?? Lots of warm-fuzzies happening there. Do we all know what those are? Social services. (Dirty words for most conservatives, except when it comes to budget-cutting times.) Yes. We teach children that volunteering for nonprofits and social service organizations is a good thing. If you need to stop reading and get a snack from your fully-stocked, un-government-funded fridge to deal with that shock, be my guest. I mean, remember when you were applying for colleges and scholarships? Those applications always asked for volunteer experience. It shows that you think of others beside, beyond, and (gasp!) before yourself.
Where do you think those social services get the funds and supplies with which they give out all those warm-and-fuzzy feelings? From private citizens and corporations, sure. But, show me a nonprofit that doesn’t at least apply for (read: want) a little bit of government support, I dare you.
From conservatives, I hear a message more like: Work hard and you will get what you deserve. Those poor people? They didn’t work hard enough, and we shouldn’t help them.
Now, I don’t want to be accused of accusing anyone of not supporting volunteerism or food pantries or shelters. I’m sure conservatives do those things, but they don’t think that the government to be involved in helping the country’s people when they struggle.
Another disclaimer, I think something needs to be done with Social Security. It has lasted about 70 years longer than it was designed to, and I’m preparing myself to not reap any benefits of the money I’ve been paying out of my paycheck since I got my first job. I think it serves a valuable purpose for a lot of retirees, but there was a time before Social Security and people retired… I have no constructive ideas, but I just see the problem. - You have to give something in order to get something.
This may seem like a contradicting thought to the previous, but let me play it out. Conservatives want less government and lower taxes (generally, in a nut shell). But, a lot of those conservatives also benefit from the programs that taxes support. Public education is pretty great. It’s so nice that kids can go to school for free. (Yes, public education is not perfect, but it beats the alternative—only private, expensive schools, or nothing—doesn’t it?) Who likes the roads they drive on every day? Who do we call when there is a pothole? The governmental body in whose jurisdiction we find it.
How about clean air and water? I know that no one in Pittsburgh wants to go back to living in ‘hell with the lid off’ (a quote from a visiting reporter back when the steel mills were still spewing toxins.) In Erie (where I grew up), there was a few years ago an event to celebrate the first time in 10 years (or something) that it was safe to swim in Presque Isle Bay. (No, when you go to PI, you don’t swim in the bay. The beaches are all on the lake side of the peninsula.) Did corporations and people just all of a sudden decide to stop polluting? Of course not. It’s a lot easier (and cheaper) to dump crap in the water or in the woods than it is to find a way to dispose of it safely. Even though it is clearly the right thing to do, people still did it because it was easier. So, how did that happen? Rules and regulations enforced by government agencies. These things won’t right themselves if you just let it happen. Not everything operates like a market. - You can’t win/be the best all the time. Don’t be a sore loser.
Two words: Little. League. What happened when you lost at something when you were a kid? Did your parents tell you to go after the kid that beat you and teach him a lesson? Probably not. They taught you that sometimes you’re not going to be the best. Someone out there is going to be better at some things than you are. But, you can be proud of who you are and what you are good at.
So, applying this on a larger skill, do we really need to be the biggest and baddest country in the world? And, I’m not saying that I’m not proud of our country (and the men and women who serve it), but can’t other countries also be proud of their countries? Barack Obama gave a speech in the very beginning of his presidency that essentially said that other countries have a right to think that they are the best. Don’t you think that Lichtensteinians cheer just as loudly for their Olympians as we do? Do they say instead, “We will never win because we are not America. We submit to being last because we are smallest. America must win”? Of course not! We are all proud of where we come from. (Have you met a Pittsburgh Steelers fan who grew up here?! Steal clear if you’re from Cleveland or Baltimore, if you value your dignity.)
And, no, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t retaliate when we are attacked. I’m talking about preventative war, or just walking around the world (metaphorically and literally) with a chip on our shoulder about being the best. Returning to my Little League metaphor, remember the jocks in your high school who thought they were untouchable? Remember how you felt about them? Yep. That’s the U.S. strolling around the high school that is the world.
Now. I’m just telling you these things to put things in perspective. Of course school yard policies don’t apply to all foreign policy issues or tax reform. But, I would like to just present things in a different perspective so that perhaps our larger conscience will be affected. Just remember that there are real people behind labels like ‘others’, the ‘needy’, and the ‘foreign’.