Question for flist!

[guingel]

Helloooo, friends list! (Or anyone else who stumbles across this entry!) I have a question for you.

What issues are important to you? There are so many things that need changing, cos, you know, that's what humans do when they interact - get screwy. ;) But what are the MOST important things to you?

I'm partly thinking about, like, what causes would you donate money to or protest about, but more precisely and practically, what sort of legislation would you like your government to pass?

For me right now, in the U.S., the things that come to mind are:

-Health care (haha ::sigh::) and particularly child mental health care

-The environment, preventing global warming

-Pro-choice legislation

-Better public schools

. . .But I know there are loads more. Gay rights of course, reform in the military and our international policies, food and farming reform (if I knew more about that, it might be in my list above), campaign finance reform (ha!), stem cell research, loads of others that I can't think of. Please share yours! Maybe your country has different issues of import?

And on a more international level, international adoption reform, improvement in the state of women's rights across the globe. . . I also have many concerns about violence, starvation, and certain government regimes. Haha, there's so many things. I guess there are some things that seem systematic - that I want to "change" - and other things that I want to "fix" or "end". Slightly different feeling, different way of thinking about it. Some problems primarily require money, others require new ways of thinking.

And on a more social changes rather than legislative changes level, I'd like some changes to our rape culture, more complex and non-sexualized portrayals of women in the media, more women and POC behind the cameras in the media, and overall a greater ability for people to empathize with and care about those not in their demographic group. That's just a start! ;)


I ask because I always come across different issues and I'm like "OH MY GOD THAT'S SUCH A BIG DEAL" but then I forget and the next thing I see is a big deal. So I guess I want to be able to see what other people are thinking. (And yeah, all my suggestions are probably from one side of the political spectrum, but. . . that's what being a progressive is about, right? Wanting change, rather than the status quo? Also wanting the government to have more spending power. >.>) [edit: Have realized that when I say "come across different issues" i mean "come across different guests on the Daily Show and the Colbert Report who have written books about solving the issue that they think is SUPER IMPORTANT - and they all are. But how do people process these different needs? Actually a quick look at this list has me adding "fiscal regulations" to my list of potential concerns.]

So, I know you're not a particularly political bunch, but is there one or two (or more - as many as you want!) things that really concern you, that really get your goat and that you'd really like to see change? That you want your government to get on top of?

Comments

[zia-narratora.livejournal.com]

Actually, campaign finance reform is #1 on my list because with it, several of the others (such as health care and the environment) would be non-issues, as lawmakers would be making decisions based on their constituents' wishes and not what would make them more money.

After that, for me:

--Health Care
--Gay rights
--Environment

I put these above pro-choice legislation and education because I feel like those are things that need more fixing on the state level. Some states do better than others, and part of the problem with NCLB was trying to mandate the same thing for every state, and catering to the lowest common denominator. While I think there are some Federal guidelines that need affirming in both cases, I would like to see these things worked out by individual states because I think that would be the ideal scenario. Do I think they all will? No, but I'd like to give them the chance with minimal federal interference. Obviously that doesn't go for some of the more recent Federal legislation on abortion which needs to be fixed, or NCLB, which also needs to be fixed, but I feel like part of the problem is that in both cases the federal government made restrictive mandates on things generally left to states to regulate, and the federal government shouldn't be restricting more than any given state in these cases-- it should be setting the boundary for what may not be restricted. But that's a completely different issue and more my personal opinion on how the federal government should work when telling states how to make laws that are regulated by individual states-- they should be about affirming individual rights across the states, not taking away individual rights across the states. (Or in the case of schools, affirming a guideline for what is expected in the best interest of children, not telling schools what they must and must not do to get there).

And gender & race in the media is one of my big sticky issues too.

[guingel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree that having people who are elected because their campaign message and policies appealed to people rather than because they were able to flood their constituents with literature and ads would hopefully help the other issues significantly - reducing the impact of lobbyists and (::sigh:: again) corporations on lawmakers. I probably have it as a lower priority because I'm not particularly optimistic about it. . . Or maybe because I live it and therefore don't need to put it on my "issues to care about particularly" list.

Hmm, I guess I wasn't really thinking about state level vs federal level. Actually, I rarely think about states rights at all. And yet, for some people that's probably their big issue. XD I like your thoughts about affirming individual rights across the states, though!


You know, I guess what was kind of in my head when I made this entry was guests on the Daily Show and Colbert Report. They have all those authors, right? And each of them has written a book about some subject that they feel madly passionately about, that they desperately want fixed. And they all seem urgent to me! I need to make a list of them somehow. XD