2012: The Year Ahead in Politics

2012 - it's going to be one heck of a year. A lot of jokes will be made about the impending end-of-the-world (or so the end of the Mayan calendar would have you believe). A lot of nerding-out will occur by people (like me), frothing at the mouth thinking about all of the hugely-anticipated movies headed our way this year (The Dark Knight Rises! The Avengers! The Hobbit!). But, throughout 2011, I talked a lot about getting out of our bubbles and doing a better job of being active, aware, and engaged towards the world around us. And what that means is this: 2012 should be - has GOT to be - the year that my generation is a - maybe THE - force for influence and change in the world. WE have got to step it up in 2012.

One of the biggest - yet easiest - things we can do in 2012 is ... VOTE. Now, I've had several debates with people who think that voting is a waste of time. One line of thought is that the vote of the individual means nothing. True - on 6 pm of Election Day, more than likely, your vote isn't going to be a game-changer. But right now, we're not talking about your vote as one singular, isolated thing. We're talking about your vote as a granular piece of sand in a giant sandbox of people with potentially similar views. Let me put this in more real-world terms: This coming November, we've got a presidential election on our hands. On one hand, we've got a sitting President who's been imperfect, yes - but he's also a level-headed guy who has been at times moderate, at times progressive - though severely hampered in his ability to enact his agenda by a Congress that's controlled by the opposing party. Nonetheless, President Obama is a guy who has it in him to steer us in the right direction. He's a person who's open to listening to different opinions, who is in many ways a pragmatist, who's not driven by ideology or dogma. On the other end of the spectrum, we've currently got a lineup of Republican candidates who would take our country *backwards* in many ways. Back to the Bush years. But they'll take us even farther than that. Guys like Rick Perry and Rick Santorum want to take us back to before the days of the Scopes trial. They want a country in which religious law is national law. They want a place where science is tossed out the window, where our economy is driven by war, pollution, and massive corporate agendas, where programs are cut so that the rich get richer and the poor never stand a chance.

Most people I talk to get this. Most people - particularly those of my generation - see through the absurdity of the Republican agenda and cringe at the thought of President Romney, Newt, or (shudder) Santorum. But if that's the case, then why haven't we been THE major voting block in recent elections? Who knows. I think, one thing, is that too many of us don't separate reality from Reality TV. We treat the presidential candidates like reality show contestants - only paying attention when there's a foible or gaff or scandal. But the fact is, these are the people that are going to lead our country for four years. And people - we don't have time to mess around.

We need to get out of this economic crisis - and it's not just about the short-term fix, either. It's about setting the tone for what kind of country we are. Are all attempts to help people simply to be dismissed as "socialist?" Is universal health care something that we take pride in, or something we attribute to some kind of subversive radical politics? Do we tax the ultra-rich their fair share? Do we balance military spending to get it to realistic levels? Do we spend on important things like education and infrastructure, or fall behind the rest of the world? Do we figure out now how to preserve social security for our generation, or do we just throw our hands up and concede that we're screwed?

We need to think long and hard about what's going on with climate change. Forget politics, it's just science, and it can be seen every month in the form of increasingly harsh environmental conditions. We have to act on this ... now. We can't mess around with projects like the Keystone Pipeline. Job creation is important, but not if the cost is literally destroying our planet. And we absolutely cannot let our agenda here be driven by Big Oil. Too much is at stake. Realistically, we're not going to get off of oil in the next several years. But, we need to be headed in that direction. Is the party of "drill, baby, drill" going to get us there? Oh hells no. To be honest, this is an area where I'd really like to see Obama step up to a much larger degree than he has. But he has shown signs - vetoing the Keystone Pipeline contsruction, for example, that he too wants to get the country on the right track when it comes to the environment.

We also need to look at foreign policy. Obama has been both tough on our enemies (Osama Bin Laden says "hi"), but also willing to let natural revolutions take form and aid them smartly and strategically. Once, the Republicans used toughness on security as their calling card, but Obama has smartly made it a non-issue. That said, the Republicans are all chomping at the bit for more war. Not because it's necessary, but because they simply like the idea of it - "us vs. them," "good vs. evil." There's nothing wrong with being critical of our allies while also being tough on our enemies. At the same time, there's something to be said for approaching other parts of the world with intelligence, open-mindedness, and respect. We all know that we're engaged more so in a war of ideas than anything else - so let's continue to change hearts and minds, and give the world reason to look up to us, not despise us.

Finally, we need to look at our social values. Are we getting more progressive and inclusive, or less? Ironically, the same party - The GOP - that purports to idolize America's founders, tends to forget perhaps the most basic principle that our nation was founded on - SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. America is a place where no one religion or belief system is law. Guys like Santorum and Perry don't understand this - they think they have some kind of mandate to impose Christian-specific values on everyone. It's a joke. And it affects everything from how holidays are celebrated in schools, to acceptance of climate change, to gay rights. Again, are we going forwards or backwards?

So to get back to my earlier point - to those who have a defeatist attitude, who simply think that all candidates and parties are the same - WAKE UP. Obama isn't perfect, and the Democratic party isn't either. In fact, there are elements of the system that are pretty broken. The influence of corporate campaign contributions, lobbyists, etc. on our candidates is out of hand. And yes, to some degree, every presidential and congressional candidate is in someone or other's pocket. But please, don't fall into the trap of uniformly dismissing everyone. At the end of the day, the biggest lobby is still WE THE PEOPLE. Look at a guy like Rick Perry. We all know the kind of big corporate dollars that have gone into his campaign thus far. But ultimately, it's all for naught, because people saw through his B.S. and his poll numbers went way down. So yes, we ultimately wield more influence than any corporation or lobbyist. Part of the problem is that we haven't been vocal - or specific - enough. It's like Occupy Wall Street - it's awesome that people are vocal, active, and engaged. But what is Obama supposed to take away from this? It's fine to have a general sense of what you want, but the world we live in is complicated. We've got to come out in favor of or against specific legislation, or propose specific legislation ideas of our own. By the same token, it frustrates me to see people and peers who blindly throw their support behind someone like Ron Paul. They perceive him as being the alternative candidate, the guy who's removed from the usual party politics. That's fine, in theory. But ultimately, this is NOT a guy we want running our country - he's crazy, and most of his ideas are ridiculous. He's got a long history of bigotry. His foreign policy ideas are completely crackpot. All I can say is, please don't endorse Ron Paul until you've very carefully read up on his positions and past statements.

I started this post as a pretty general statement about getting involved and engaged in 2012. But I'm ending it with a much more specific call to action: Gen Y, forward-thinking individuals, progressives, all who want to see our country and our world headed in the right direction - let's do two things in 2012. One: let's re-elect Obama by an overwhelming margin, and let's prove that we as a people are too smart to let any of the current, whack-job Republican candidates emerge as a serious hopeful for the presidency. Let's prove that, though we may not alway 100% agree with Obama, that good lord, we'd take him any day over the current GOP freakshow. Let's mobilize and get out and vote. The election is not the time to mope, or wallow, or wonder if it's all worth it. The election is the one day where it is us vs. them, a simple yes or no choice. The day after the election, we can go back to being self-critical and critical of the president. But on that Tuesday, we make a clear and simple statement, and we re-elect Obama. But that brings me to the second point. Two: it doesn't stop - or start - there. Right now, we get engaged and we push Obama and Congress to act in our and the country's and the world's interests. And then after the election, we push even harder, and we never stop being heard again.

2012 is going to be a big year. An epic year. History is going to be made. So let us be the ones to make it.