Exercise your voice

Budget crisis!!! What a mess. I can never really get my arms around the idea of the government shutting down. I also, can't quite understand why spending within our means as a culture just doesn't exist on any level. Whether it is the federal government or a single twenty-something. Americans are consumer happy. It is a little more basic in China. You buy what you can afford and you pay cash for it. It is a little weird for me to always have cash on hand, but it is also liberating and empowering. You don't have to rely on a datacap machine and you have a better sense of what you are spending. I am just starting to stop calculating the exchange in my head when I go to the store.

But this post isn't about spending.... I was moved today by a simple event. A simple concept. One that does not exist here in China. You see, back in my home town of Longmont, CO. A group of eight graders have been saving up for a trip to Washington DC scheduled for next week. Because of the "budget crisis" they have been worried that their trip would not happen. So a mother of one of these students decided to exercise her voice. A right we have in our country that, at times is underutilized. It is very simple. She wrote a letter.... Now most mothers I know would go to the end of the earth for their children if they thought there was injustice being done to their child, but sometimes we forget how to do it. Or we cannot recognize something as an injustice. The failure of the federal government to come up with a budget plan is an injustice to our children. I would like to see every politician not get their paycheck on time and see how it feels. I know there have been budget issues in the past, and it always works itself out, but it is unacceptable. That aside, this is not about moron politics either. It is about being heard and that a mother's letter made to the top and was referenced in the president's speech this week. A mother's voice was heard.

What touched me, and brought tears to my eyes, was the fact that a single voice can be heard and rise to the top. I tried to explain to my 8 year old why I was crying.... Because with millions of citizens in Shanghai, and billions in China, there is not one voice. You couldn't or wouldn't rise up from a crowd. Even if there was a voice, I am not sure where it would go.... Yes, there are groups of voices, but very rarely are they heard. More commonly they are stifled, covered up or looked down upon.... But in America, "you my son can have a voice." We come from a country that has been built on that very premise and you must not take it for granted.

I feel so strongly about this, that I hope every parent listening takes a moment to explain to their child how important it is for their kids to have the confidence to speak out when their is an injustice. Our vote is our voice. We may not all agree, but we all can cast our vote. I don't consider myself politically astute, but I am an American, and I am very proud of that. Living in a different culture has made me appreciate this more than I could have ever imagined.

(if you click the title of this blog it will take you to the News article in the Longmont Times Call)