Love & Politics on Clemson Road

On January 21, 2017, I attended the Women’s March in Washington D.C. I carried a sign that said, “Because Love” on one side and “Because Hope” on the other.

 

I was there to heal. To understand what the fuck had just happened in the 2016 election when our broken system failed. It failed to deliver a slate of candidates who were (1) qualified, (2) inspiring, and (3) worthy of the great honor of being President.

I’m a Libertarian and I voted for Gary Johnson. Leading up to the election all I heard was that my vote would help elect Trump. Or Clinton. Not sure how that works that one vote for Gary Johnson counted three times: Against Clinton, Against Trump, and FOR the candidate I actually wanted.

But if I’m honest, even Johnson wasn’t the leader I was looking for.

So at the Women’s March I stood shoulder to shoulder with women who were worried about their reproductive rights, about the future of our country, and the lack of decency in politics and in the White House.

In the four years since then we have been on a wild ride. One that has further polarized and isolated us from each other and from what we think our government can and should do for us.

During the pandemic I was horrified at our country’s willing surrender of pretty much every civil right we have. Like supplicants, we looked to our government and begged it to save us. And if that wasn’t bad enough, our government failed. Like big time.

So what now? Where do we go from here?

That’s what this blog will attempt to reason out. Let’s think it through. Let’s talk it out. There are no easy answers and that’s okay. I don’t need easy and you shouldn’t want easy. Easy got us here: sadness, grief, anger, and frustration.

"Easy" – the idea that our politicians could and would fix it, that we “deserve” better, that we don’t have to do the work because they will – “Easy” got us where we are. And this place is at best unsustainable and at worst, a total failure of a citizenry to care for one another.

Something’s got to give.

Let us bring the LOVE. Bring the HOPE. Bring compassion, bring optimism, bring a willingness to roll up your sleeves and do the work. Bring your words and let’s work on this together.

Who’s in?

This is an open invitation to anyone who wants to write a blog on the topic of Love & Politics to contribute to this space. It’s safe here, I promise. You are welcome here. You don’t have to agree with me or anyone else. Just tell us a story. Make a case. Make an effort.

Leave a comment if you’d like to contribute or reach out to me kasie@clemsonroad.com and let's talk.

Excuse me, but you're on the wrong side of history.

At some point, you have to stop being polite.

The rejection rhetoric of our Women’s March on Washington is being led by women. Yep.

Let’s be perfectly clear: When a woman takes power, she isn’t taking it from other women.

My Black Lives Matter sisters and my No Muslim Registry sisters, my Immigrants Get the Job Done sisters and my Pussy Grabs Back sisters are not fighting over the same piece of the pie. 

They’re fighting because our piece isn’t big enough.

There are about 520,000 elected offices in this country. Less than 20% of those are held by women. Despite making up 50.4% of the population, we hold less than 20% of elected offices.

Why aren’t women better represented in government? Because they’re too busy working and caring for their families – including the husbands who are running for office.

Our Single Mother sisters and Job Plus Night School sisters, our Prison Inmate Sisters and Struggling With Addiction sisters, they’re all depending on us to even the odds.

Privilege is thinking something isn’t a problem because that something doesn’t affect you.

But worse than that, is thinking something that does affect you isn’t a problem because you don’t understand it.

Why does it matter that we are disproportionately represented in government? Because every day that government is deciding where to put turn lanes to improve traffic flow around schools, whether or not teachers should be allowed to carry firearms, and whether the clinic in your neighborhood will be allowed to talk to a teenaged girl about contraception.

Every day decisions are being made that affect our lives and there is no one who represents us making them.

Not all women have the same values and beliefs and so not all women who are elected into office will represent other women. Some female elected officials are so ardently patriarchal it’s fucking scary. But the odds are still better that a woman in government will express empathy for mothers and teens. It’s not a biological distinction, it’s a cultural one. Women are not only expected to be more compassionate and empathetic, they’re allowed to be understanding and patient.

When the rhetoric against the Women’s March comes from other women, I’m infuriated. You don’t have to agree with the Planned Parenthood platform, you can be afraid of Black Lives Matter, you can even worry that one of the Islamic organizers wants to establish Shari’a Law (except she doesn’t so stop with that bull shit). You even have the right to tell all of those women who are marching that they’re wrong. Disgusting, is the way one woman in my Facebook feed put it. But you're on the wrong side of history.

History shows us that when we consent to government that limits our freedoms, those limits increase, not decrease.

History shows us that when the oppressed speak out against their oppressors, when they have the courage to fight, when they stand up and say, “Not anymore,” they can enact change.

So change is coming, whether you’re marching for it or not, and when it does, you better hope the revolutionaries forget that you stood with the oppressors. You better hope we forget you helped those who try to shut us up by shaming us.

#work