My Take on Politics Meme

Border Explorer tagged me with this meme almost a week ago. (It was originally written by Katie Schwartz, so the wording of the questions is hers.) The meme has been making the rounds and now it's my turn.

1) What is your name (nickname, whatever you're comfortable sharing), your age (range), gender, occupation, income bracket (range), how you identify (gay/straight/whatever)? Married/Single/Divorced? Kids (how many)?

Name: Ruth Hull Chatlien
Age: 50; Female; freelance writer;
income ranges wildly because my husband and I are both independent contractors;
straight/married; childless to our sorrow

2) What are the most important issues to you in this presidential election and why?

—bringing the war in Iraq to an end; making sure that we don't establish a permanent occupation of that country (which I believe would be motivated by desire for oil)

—avoiding a rush to war with Iran

—repairing international relations

—providing national health care (We're relatively lucky. So far, we can afford to pay $8,000 to fund our own health insurance--which covers anything over our individual $2,500 deductibles. Not a lot of Americans can afford to shell out $13,000 before getting any help with medical bills.)

—reducing the national debt (which sadly isn't going to happen now with the current bailout)

—securing Social Security

3) Why do you think voters should vote for Obama/Biden, what differentiates this ticket from McCain/Palin?

I would not vote for McCain because I do not want privatized Social Security. I do not want further deregulation of corporations. I do not want to be dragged into the Russia / Georgia conflict. I do not want war with Iran or North Korea. I do not want further erosion of my civil rights such as took place under the so-called Patriot Act.

I vote Democrat because I do want health insurance for all. I do want gun control. I do want clear separation of church and state. I do want a government that is willing to negotiate with other nations instead of seeing himself as the head policeman of the world.

4) If McCain/Palin wins this election, where do you see our country going in the next four years?

I think John McCain still has a Cold War mentality and we will go back to brinksmanship. I think McCain is a "hot reactor" and we'll get embroiled in situations we should stay out of. I think we will have further spying on American and other erosions of our rights such as the arrests of journalists and bloggers in the Twin Cities during the Republican convention. I think the rich will continue to feast off the poor and the middle class. We will come to resemble Latin American oligarchies. 

5) Economically, where do you think this country is today and how do you think Obama/Biden can make a positive impact?

We are as bad off economically as I have ever seen this country. Greed, mindless spending, an economy that is predicated on consume, consume, consume. We need a president who will remind us, like FDR, that the only thing we really have to fear is fear itself because panic will cause us to do exactly those things that will send the economy into a downward spiral. We need someone who, like JFK, will urge us to ask what we can do for our country. We need someone who has a vision to see beyond the consumer / capitalist model of the economy. We need someone to call for discipline and sacrifice. And we need a president who will enact budgetary responsibility such as we had during the Clinton years.

I think this economy needs to become more socialist, not less. It's obscene to live in a society where some people have $30 million and some try to live on $30,000. When you read how the early church functioned or about the ideal of the year of Jubilee in the Old Testament, they sound a lot more like socialism than capitalism. Jesus judges us by how well we treat the least of these. One look at Wall Street tells you how well the unbridled free market does that.

6) In the past 8-years, how do you think this country has changed under the Bush regime? Have you been affected by these changes? If so, in what ways?

I think we have become further polarized into an us vs. them mentality in so many ways. Not just the United States versus terrorists, but the Unites States versus anyone in the rest of the world who dares to pursue their own self-interest instead of putting the United States first.

The us vs. them mentality has further driven apart Republicans and Democrats, conservative and liberal Christians, rich versus everyone else. This mentality affects and harms all of us because it makes it nearly impossible to have dialogues about issues and find workable solutions. Instead of understanding that democracy needs dissent and compromise and concession, the attitude of the day seems to be "winner take all and to hell with anyone else." That applies both to economics and politics, and it saddens and scares me.

7) I have read that Palin is considered the new voice of feminism, which is offensive in my opinion. Of equal concern are her views on abortion and the removal of books from libraries. I'd like to know what you think about all of that and how you feel about McCain choosing Palin as a running mate. And what kind of message you think that sends to women?

A feminist? By whose definition? Feminists don't charge rape victims for evidence kits. Feminists--contrary to what conservatives say--don't think there is only one model for how to be a woman. Palin's instincts are combative, authoritarian, and reactionary. Given her response to legislative probes in Alaska, she has no respect for rule of law or constitutional checks and balances. If she is elected, she will be a terrible role model of women in a position of influence.

This meme has been circulating for a while, so I'm not going to tag anyone. If you're interested in tackling it, help yourself.