Notes on politics (and why I’m with her)
I don’t really like talking about politics. It can get messy and confrontational and emotional, and it can make it hard to stay optimistic or feel like it’s possible to make a difference. It’s especially crazy and divisive times in this election year, and I find the polar split the most depressing part of all: the vast majority of us are far more moderate than the media would have us believe or the extremes that parties are forced to pander to.
I grew up in a “California conservative” family: my parents are Republicans, but without the religious bent. I registered as a Republican on my 18th birthday, I’ve voted Democrat in every presidential election, and I identify more closely to a Libertarian (a belief system more consistent than the two major parties, in my opinion: less government control on the economy, less government control on social issues). I’m part of the generation who grew up being told that I could do anything, that even though I was a girl I could have a career, I could dream of being president. And here we are, with a woman nominee for president–and men (and women!) who are still saying that she can’t do it because of her sex.
I’m a bit of a single issue voter: I believe so incredibly strongly that women should have access to health care and the right to choose. If you don’t believe in abortion, don’t have one. And if your religious beliefs don’t support abortion or birth control, don’t have one and don’t get on the pill and don’t have sex out of wedlock and don’t bother people who don’t believe the same thing. This is a nation (supposedly) of religious freedom and opportunity. I find it intolerable that in this day and age, we still don’t give our youth proper sex education, access to contraceptives or the ability to cease a pregnancy.
We make it harder for young women to have an abortion than to buy a gun, and yet, no woman having a abortion has killed a room full of people in seconds. In my opinion, evangelical Christians who bomb abortion clinics or picket in order to instill fear are domestic terrorists, full stop. (If I have a second issue that I vote on, it’s gun control.) And if your main motivation is economic, a young unprepared mother on welfare (and a father who has opted out) is a hell of a lot more expensive for the state than an abortion.
Reproductive health care is huge, but so are women’s issues as a whole in this country. We lag behind the rest of the Western world when it comes to maternity leave, affordable childbirth and child care, parity in paychecks. It is 2016. It is depressing. And yet, countries who have more women involved in politics tend to have better work-life balance for and general attitudes toward women (HUGE SURPRISE THERE).
Neither candidate is perfect–every politician, no matter the experience or the office, has flaws and ulterior motives. But going into this year’s intense election season, I’m proud to say that I’m with her. And I hope you are too.
Here are a few things that I found especially worthwhile: why men want to marry Melanias and raise Ivankas, Last Week Tonight: Abortion Laws, All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation, Madam President.
I financially support Planned Parenthood and Emily’s List. I find the monthly gift options to be an incredibly easy way to make a difference. The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence is another very deserving nonprofit with a mission I believe in.
Please, register to vote. And if you’re traveling, don’t forget to request an absentee ballot and send it in ahead of the deadline.
