I love Facebook. I love it because I am a homeschooling mother, alone with my kids, all day, every day. I am also a military spouse, which means due to deployments, TDY's, and night flight schedules, I frequently don't even get a break in the evening, when most husbands come home and give some much deserved support and shared emotional strength to their loving wives. I love my AF Pilot, but he and I both know life is easier when he's home. When he's not, I'm lonely in more ways than one. It can, at times, be stifling.
Enter Facebook. It is my outlet into the outside world. At the click of a mouse, I am connected to hundreds of adult friends. These are friends who if I mention I'm having a bad day, ask about it. My friends who live all over the country, some all over the world, but still laugh at my silly jokes, "like" my never ending pictures of my kids, and share their own similar life experiences with me. It is an escape with people I love, and a reminder that I am not alone in what I think, do, feel, and believe.
So for that wonderful reason, I love Facebook. But sometimes, I hate it. I hate the ability Facebook gives for individuals to spread ignorance. One, well meaning friend, posts something popular yet false, and grossly uninformed, and all of his friends see it. They are his friends, and trust him, so they share what he said too. And thus the ignorance passes on, like a quick acting poison. Instead of verifying what was said, we have become lazy, and trust the source simply because it was passed on by someone we like. It was given to us by a friend.
I cannot stop or alter this evil. The ignorance is far too contagious, and ultimately supported by that all too real adversary, who relishes in misinformation and the spreading of lies. But just because I cannot stop it, does not mean I can't fight it. To my tiny group of 18 followers, and anyone else who randomly decides to read my entry today, let it be known, that I've had enough.
There are too many ridiculous, vomit worthy lies for me to fight at once. Today I'll just approach the general topic and variations of one. It has become grossly popular to bash on the United States Congressmen, in every possible form. If one is to believe the popular postings on Facebook, (which obviously I advise you never do) then our Congress is made up of slimy, twisted, evil men whose only purpose is to swindle, cheat, and increase their own well being.
You are a fool if this is what you think. Let's take a moment to consider this logically. Remember elementary school social studies, when we learned about our government? While our freedoms and rights are not what they once were, and are diminishing at a scary rate every year, we still are governed by the people, for the people. We still choose our own leaders. There are 535 voting members of Congress. They are not appointed by some elite, secret committee. We, the people of the United States of America, chose them. If we are dissatisfied with them, we can, and do, choose someone else to take their places. To generalize that they are all evil tyrants, is ridiculous on so many levels. While there is room for deception and cheating in the voting process, this cannot possibly be how they are all elected. We must logically assume, that most of them were genuinely, honestly put in office by the people.
Where do these leaders come from? What did they do before they were working in Washington DC? If you were an outsider, trying to learn about our country from Facebook, you'd think these men are lifelong politicians, who graduated from college and then got jobs as evil senators, who have been working hard to destroy our country ever since! False. An obvious but often overlooked truth:
Congressmen had lives before congress.
Have you considered how one of these men is elected? How does that happen? Typically it starts small. A man (or woman) becomes known in his community through his own merit and success. He is successful in his chosen career, and makes a name for himself. Perhaps he is a respected businessman or lawyer, who has made his mark in his hometown or city. Then comes the development of a following made of loyal people who admire his work, and agree with his opinions. They believe he is a good leader. Eventually, they help him organize a campaign, travel with him, and promote his cause. If enough people believe in him and agree, he is elected. It's not done in secret, behind closed doors. For whatever reason, good or bad, enough people have followed this person, and believed in him. They want him to represent them. They chose him.
Let's continue to add logic to our understanding. Considering that to be elected means being successful enough to develop a following, means you are most likely someone with great means. To put it bluntly, most congressmen were rich! These men have done well for themselves. Very well. Those less successful, cannot afford to halt their careers in order to pursue candidacy. For most of our congressmen, the salary they receive is an enormous cut in what they were making in the private sector. While the salary of a congressman may seem a large sum to a factory worker or a teacher, it is quite small in comparison to a CEO, or partner in a law firm. That is where we discover another unpopular but logically sound truth. These great men we chose, sacrifice for their positions. Perhaps it could be argued that some want to be elected for the prestige or the glory, but it is a pathetic falsehood that they are there out of monetary greed. Unless they are doing it through illegal means (which I can argue is just as possible without a prestigious government position) these men are not making any kind of fortune from their government jobs. In most cases they are making less than what they were before.
Now let's talk about other motivations to participate in our congress. I mentioned prestige and glory. Self importance cannot be ruled out, I'm sure for many that's a factor. But it's not enough to create a following. To be a leader strong enough to be elected, you have to have ideas. You have ideas about how to make a difference, and make life better for those you represent. They may be terrible ideas, but still, these men have them, and believe in them passionately enough to convince others, and to sacrifice their previous successes in their lives before congress, in order to pursue those ideas, and bring them into action. These men also know their ideas are likely to be bashed, hated, misunderstood, and compromised. Yet still they try. They try hard. Facebook would also have you believe these men are lazy. They are not. When they are not debating on the senate or house floor, they are working tirelessly with their personal staffs, researching, studying laws, visiting with constituents, meeting with committees, giving speeches, and promoting their ideas in every possible form. They are not at home, laughing with their rich buddies about how they're living off the backs of the poor! If you're convinced I'm wrong, and that this is, in fact, exactly what your local elected officials are doing, then please, elect someone else. That's how our governing system works.
These are not men to hate. They are successful, established leaders with ideas they are willing to sacrifice for. It's easy to blame all our problems on people we don't give a face to, don't read about, or don't even bother to choose. Any idiot can pass on lies about what congressmen do, how they got there, and how they're terrible for it. Don't be that idiot. Please, just stop it. Be informed. Be involved. Make a difference in your own small ways, that don't involve spreading misinformation on the internet. Volunteer in your community, get to know your local leaders, the members of your school board, your town mayor, your state senate. Learn about the people making a difference, good or bad.
Is there corruption in our government? Of course there is. But it doesn't exist despite us. It's there because we elected, supported, and followed corrupt people. However just as our country is riddled with bad people, it also has much good. The same is said of our leaders. Our government reflects exactly what we chose, and who we are. It is not all bad. There are good, smart people in congress. They are there because good, smart people voted for them. I am so grateful for what they do, for their ideas, and for what they sacrifice.
Despite their radical differences in platform and opinion, there is something all congressmen have in common. Every one of them are trying to make a difference. They all are fighting for what they believe. None of them are doing it for the money. All of them believe they are doing what is best for their country. They are not something to hate, unless you hate yourself. Because they mirror us. They represent us, the ones who chose them.
So enough, Facebook!!!! If you're not willing to research your own answers, or to be an informed and involved citizen who votes, then please, keep your critical comments of our governing system and elected officials to yourself. You are not qualified to make them, because you have already proven by your lack of action, that truly, deep down, you don't really care.
