I started volunteering with Real Progressives nearly a year ago, in April of 2017. In that time, I have come to know dozens of wonderful people I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten to know. It has been an amazing experience so far and I look forward to doing more to build this organization and to work with even more great people.
In getting to know all these people I’ve also gotten to know their hardships and their heartaches. Many of us have become close, keeping each other informed of our day to day lives while figuring out when and where we can get the work done. Running a completely mobile organization of all volunteers is not an easy endeavor.
During the course of this year it occurred to me that we all have struggles. At first I just thought it was a coincidence. How odd, I thought, that each and every one of us has some kind of battle we’re fighting just to survive. I’ve been dealing with my own issues so much that I hadn’t taken the time to step back and analyze it on a deeper level until recently. Once I did, I realized why we all have such problems to deal with. It isn’t a coincidence at all.
The problem is that’s just how fucked up the system is. It isn’t that we all randomly happen to have these issues, it’s that we all are experiencing the horrible nature of the system we live under on a very personal level. It is because of this experience and our ability to understand that these problems are not only systemic but nationwide that we have come together to fight in the name of progress.
Life isn’t easy, we all know the ups and downs of it. It is hard. We all have our own demons to face and our own battles to fight. Human beings are prone to mistakes and missteps and life can be messy even when it is otherwise very simple. The problem is that the system exacerbates this.
When I say “the system,” I’m not talking about just one aspect of it. It isn’t just politics or economics, but everything that has an overarching control on our lives. Those in power like the system the way it is. They are wealthy and have the ability to keep others down.
In addition to the daily problems of human life, we all have to worry about things that we shouldn’t need to be worrying about! Food, shelter, bills, education, healthcare, etc. They are all things that could be easily fixed if the federal government did its job working to “promote the general welfare” of the people, as stated in the Preamble of the Constitution. Instead, those who have seized control of it work only for their own benefit.
Can you imagine how much better life would be without debts? Without worrying about how you’re going to feed your kids? Without worrying about how you’re going to get the medical assistance you need? The federal government has the power to do something about it!
I have no patience for those who seem to think pain and suffering are good things and that we shouldn’t be doing what we can to help ourselves and others. I have no patience for those who are perfectly okay with personal or religious charity work but draw some arbitrary line at having a government that is supposed to exist of the people, by the people, and, most importantly, FOR the people, actually do shit to help its people.
We have the power to change this. YOU have the power to change this. Do you want a simpler life? A life where building relationships with others and pursuing your passions is the order of the day every day instead of something you hope to get done later after you’ve dealt with all your hardships and heartaches?
It is possible! But you need to recognize the way things currently are is wrong.
There is something wrong about a world that destroys food while millions go hungry. There is something wrong about a country that has millions of empty homes but plenty of overcrowded homeless shelters. There is something wrong about a government that does all it can to make the rich happy while cutting funding to programs that feed the hungry and provide medical care to those who need it.
But the problem isn’t the government institution itself. No! The problem is the people we have put in power!
They need to go, and it is your job to do it! There’s the joke that if voting actually accomplished anything they wouldn’t let us do it. Well, why the hell do you think they are actively trying to prevent us from voting!? They purge voter rolls. They make people jump through hoops to register. They establish archaic rules for how their nominees are selected in order to ensure that THEIR candidate is the one we pick. They put roadblocks up every step of the way.
Why!? Because if even five percent of the population got fired up enough to push for better politicians we could not just change this country but change the world! We could completely upend the system and make it work for us with just 10 to 15 million people. That seems like a lot but considering how effectively the Tea Party upended the Republican party it is absolutely doable.
How do we do it? By working together. By building a coalition that spreads the word. By speaking to people who are in the same position as we are (that’s pretty much everybody), and explaining that we can absolutely fix this system and make it work for us.
If you aren’t confident enough in your knowledge, but you know you want to do something about it, volunteer for Real Progressives. You’ll be making a difference AND we are all happy to help answer any questions you may have.
This fight isn’t easy. It isn’t going to be over quickly, but it is worth it. We are all struggling in our own ways and it is the system that causes much of our suffering. Let’s do this, together.