Looking at Politics from Across the Ocean

This blog's intent is to relay information that I gather in Japan, but I occasionally have to weigh in on what's happening at home, because I'm still American and I still care.  Reading news articles keeps me refreshed, but reading the musings of any given Joe the Commenter keeps me cynical about how intelligently our populace can approach the new administration.

I have a wish list.  On the top of that list sits the hope that those blinded by their pre-election ideologies can peer into politics with a little more clarity.  Internet posts with the terms "Messiah" or "Marxist" in relation to Obama should probably be filtered.  His fledgling presidency is still very fresh, and while his move of going to Congress to confront a bi-partisan approach to his plans may stink to some as posturing, it is the earnest responses of all involved that stands at the forefront of my mind.  Obama wants civil dealings but expects no radical overturns in voting.  Senate Republicans appreciate and are impressed by his maneuver but are unlikely to budge.  That sounds fairly ideal as far as these kinds of decisions are concerned.

Next, I sincerely hope that people of any race, creed, or, moreover, political leaning, can recognize with a modicum of perspective the state that our country is in.  I doubt there are many out there who can even conceive of eight hundred and twenty-five billion dollars beyond knowing that it is a lot of money.  What we do know, however, is that on the personal level, some Americans want a tax cut, and some Americans might want another tax incentive, but there are Americans turning out in the tens of thousands that want little more than to have their jobs back.  Instead of zooming out and becoming enamored with the buzz words, the pork, and the trillions, let's zoom in and take a hard look at our neighbors, friends, and cousins who got canned, need desperately to sell their houses and can't.

In the spirit of international perspective, it's not so different in Japan.  I can find newspapers in the teacher's office every day keeping a hawk's eye on the American economy's trends.  And they have every reason to be concerned.  For me, an American citizen who is paid in yen and transfers money home to pay off student loans, the timing is just right to capitalize on currency exchange.  But the ailing economy spells disaster for the industrial sector in Japan, because they need to export to countries where the profits reaped are shrinking and the buyers are reluctant.  And, in an unsurprising parallel, the direct result of this is a drop in production and job loss.

My final hope is that people re-consider the expectations they invest in politicians and that the politicians follow suit.  We all know that Governor Blagojevich had methods of keeping himself financially stocked, but others involved in high office are presumably in the upper echelon of our society.  It is not unreasonable to expect that a good number of them have cause for investing confidence in plans that will secure the well-being of them and their ilk.  I would be much more at ease if I could truly believe that all politicians had only the interest of the country as a whole in their agendas.

With that in mind, I find that if we look more at the personal reality of what is at stake in our country, we may be more apt to grasp the implications of various policies.  I firmly think that what is good for certain parts of the country will be good for all of the country.  The dumping of hundreds of thousands of retail jobs is a bad signal of class gaps, and I regretfully feel that Obama's calls for some amount of sacrifice will be necessary.  For those who live comfortably and have more money than they truly need, I doubt anyone will deny that your money is your own and has been earned.  But a little mindfulness for Joe the Was Doing Fine and Is Suddenly Homeless or Joe the Future Generations can help us work together towards the future of our country.  

I have no intent to be an ideologue.  I will not endorse socialism, primarily because I felt it was injected into modern jargon by the McCain campaign for fearmongering about anything perceived to fiscally injure a certain demographic, but also because the definition of the system does not seem a propos to 2009 America.  But do I believe that certain parts of America need more help than others?  Yes.  Do I believe that helping them may be an essential part of rebuilding our country?  Yes.  Do I believe that this implicitly involves taking money directly from one person's hands and placing it into another's?  Of course not.  

So let's not simplify the terms like that.  We hear the words "recession" and "crisis" tossed around, and if Obama's inauguration speech didn't alert us to it, the fact remains: those words are a reality.  There is no simple solution.  The current administration has a lot of wounds to nurture on our reputation in the international community.  Wars that we started, civil wars, epidemics, and all demand our attention.  Equally if not more urgent, still, are our domestic issues.  And living here keeps me confident that mending our domestic ills will aid in our position on the world stage as well.  

When it comes down to it, neither I nor anyone else can pinpoint an objective solution.  Whether we support or oppose a bill, no individual has more foresight than those in office.  And for those who oppose the current administration, fine.  That's your right.  Yet recognize that we, the people, voted for it.  In the midst of current crises, we are now called upon to work diligently, to make sacrifices, to help uphold the foundation of what makes America great, and it may be easy to lose our way in these efforts.  So let's carry out our duties, and should the administration's abstract definition of what those are be insufficient, let's carry out another duty, to hold the elected government's feet to the fire until they inform us on how we, individual Americans, can improve the lives of our peers, individual Americans.