The State of What Union?

The State of the Union Address is tonight. I think I pretty much know what to expect, but we'll see how it goes. This was written about one year ago, the night of the State of the Union Address last year in February of 2014. While more reflection, with some elements of psychological commentary, this piece is politically infused. I know very little about politics. You have been forewarned.

Yesterday my housemates and I talked health care reform with some communists, or socialists; I don’t think they know which they are. I left pretty fired up. If you left that place emotionally undisturbed, there was something wrong with you—in the being human kind of way. Or maybe you said you thought the Affordable Care Act was going well, so you were promptly killed, and carried out in a body bag emblazoned with the face of Joseph Stalin. In which case you left dead, not fired up.

We saw a flyer for this meeting and talk hanging up at a free bookstore over on the East Side of Baltimore: “The Book Thing”. It’s a free bookstore, so we trust it. We decided to check out the meeting, being involved in healthcare provision and being ambassadors of the world and all. When we got there, two beady-eyed fellows were standing guard at the entranceway. They asked for a $5 donation, if that was something that tickled our fancy, but I got the feeling it wasn’t an option.

I especially got this feeling when they said “Okay you can go ahead now,” after having wrestled us to the ground and having pulled the bills out of our wallets, now all crumpled and bloody.

The talk was about the current healthcare system, and was supposed to be a discussion for reform. Turns out it was not a discussion, and it was not in favor of reform. A discussion is an exchange, and reform implies change. This was a tirade and what it wanted was obliteration. Shit was pretty heated, but all flames and no smoke.

Giving the presentation was this lady named Mae, who looked like some sort of amphibian, although I can’t say which. She was anywhere between the ages of 44 and 81, and she hates our society. She can’t even say the word society without clenching a fist, tightening her jaw, or without also saying “rotten” in very close proximity. Everything in this country is rotten, so rotten she appeared to have Ebola (note: this was written in February 2014). I took cover once or twice during her little rant. I also tried not to make eye contact with the lady, out of fear that I might procure whatever sort of viral passion flowed through her vessels. Maybe that is why she reminded me of an amphibian; I avoided ocular joining as if she were a basilisk. But that’s probably a reptile. Regardless, she frightened me. I cannot deny or knock her passion, but boy was it horrifyingly misguided.

Her stance on the healthcare system in this country, I could empathize with. She had some sound bar graphs and more importantly, political cartoons, to support her claims. In the end I’m on her side. Her delivery, however, was a bit of an atrocity. “Spark” was the group she was representing. They said they were communists, and their official group periodicals said they were socialists, so that is all the information I have on them. Like I said, the group seems to be working on its identity. Their members, however, were pretty certain about themselves. They know they hate this country, and now I know that they love talking about their hatred for this country.

They did not show interest in resolution. I never so badly wanted to say the pledge of allegiance as I did during that meeting, because they did not want to resolve. I’m not typically patriotic. I mean I think the place is nice, the United States, but I never considered being a country singer or anything—which I understand as the highest degree of patriotism. Their gosh darn wasted negativity made me wish my dad was Kenny Chesney.

The only thing stated with a glimmer of potential for productivity was that “Medicare is okay.” This was the closest they came to any practical path towards resolution.

My housemate had her notebook at the discussion, hoping to cement something valuable in ink. She left with one quote written down: “Medicare is a good start… everything else is the devil.” These people did not seem to have any intention of working towards reform. They just knew that what is in place is the devil. It was like a giant assembly of Bobby Boucher mothers. Foosball is the devil. Alligators are the devil. America is the devil. Society is the devil. It’s remarkable we have so many structurally sound haystacks come Halloween time, with all these devils running around unchecked.

I err in the direction of liberalism, and can get around the idea of socialized medicine, but these people made me want to purchase a bust of Ronald Reagan to cuddle with at night, and it was all because of their rotten approach.

The socialists made so much noise, that they could not make a sound. It was upsetting to witness. All this fire and passion, something this one nation under God could sorely use, and it was going to waste because they were being ridiculous. It was like they were trying to play the tuba, but they were screaming wildly into the horn instead of buzzing gently into the mouthpiece.

I really saw the whole meeting as a Quaker-house-sized metaphor for how politics works, or doesn’t. Language and tactic are vital. It is imperative to remember you are dealing with humans. You are never going to go anywhere by yelling that things are rotten and other people who do not see this must have brains that were shaped by Lucifer. People do not respond well to that. At best, it is just white noise, and not the kind that helps you sleep at night.

I am not that politically active. I know I lean left, because if I leaned right I would fall into the Harbor—at least according to google maps—along with the hopes and dreams of all those who are leaned on. Despite that ignorance, I know enough politics to know it does not work too well. The Spark meeting helped to illustrate why there are failures in our system.

I really don’t like talking politics. I do not know why I even am getting into this. I admittedly am going to write what follows with no support in statistics, sufficient background, or common sense. It is also going to be very hypocritical. I am going to critique the current state of the government, and offer little practical resolution. The difference is, I am not claiming to do otherwise. I am not saying I am right, you are wrong. You and I are both wrong, and I hope to awaken myself to the slumbering state of delusion that most of this nation seems to a prisoner of.

I have no reason to suggest why anyone should take this writing seriously. But it is a free country, so I’ve been told, and therefore I shall write.

I think whoever had the idea for political parties was pretty short-sighted. They probably cheated in Monopoly as a kid, thinking victory would make them more loving husbands. By forming groups, we form competition. That is how humanity has functioned for as long as I can remember, but I would be willing to bet it was also the same way before 1997.

Competition can be a means of advancement. Competition raises the bar. We see this in economy, in standardized testing, and in binge drinking. Competition pushes people to places they would fear to go on their own, but it must be practiced in a healthy way. It is effective only if you raise others while you rise yourself.

When we formed two parties, we introduced competition; it is just that a couple centuries removed, we have forgotten that we are on the same team. I actually think some people would be shocked to find out we are on the same team.

Last night I was in the middle of writing this when I remembered the State of the Union was on. The timing was perfect. I’ve never received visible confirmation of something I was trying to explain in writing like I did while watching the State of the Union Address.

The whole scene was absolutely hysterical. You had a room of Republicans and Democrats basically doing alternating sets of squats. One group stood to applaud the President, then the other stood to applaud rich white men, then the other, ad nauseum, until Biden had to ice down his hamstrings.

The Republicans would look around at each other to try to collectively decide how they should react. They would do their best Kayla Maroney impression if the Democrats seemed at all pleased. They would hop to their feet if “raise” and “taxes” were ever uttered in the same sentence, whether they were adjacent in that sentence or not. Democrats would fart every time they stood so that the Republican next to them would get a face-full of their vegan dinner. It was obvious that this was happening.

The only thing both parties stood and cheered for in unison was the promise that the U.S. would take home gold in the Olympics. The only thing both parties could agree to support was competition.

This shadow of a useful political system is the result of not competition alone, but a combination of competition and an individualistic society. This country is a melting pot, a beautiful array of cultural, linguistic, physical diversities. It is our foundation. Even a snooty Brit like George Washington saw the U.S. as a fine foreground for diversity. Ellis Island poured gasoline on our multicolored fire.

We embrace this; it makes us special. We are proud of what makes us different. When this individualistic sentiment is carried over to politics, and combined with the competition that is pretty firmly in place, it spells disaster. Our pride and uniqueness is felt to be threatened by the pride and uniqueness of others, rather than accepted and weaved into our own. The result is two groups who are deaf to anything not spoken in their own perfectly accented and velvety voices. We speak and expect to be heard, when at the same time we would never think to listen. Pretty egoistic, but that’s what the American Dream is all about.

United we stand and divided we fall. I don’t think we ever gave ourselves much of a chance with the donkey and the elephant. Neither has particularly good balance.

The folks at Spark were okay. It’s just that they hated the country, and you’re never going to be able to change something that you hate.

#baltimore