Walk The Walk

"The alternative to cynicism is to become more involved in politics.

Help create a progressive force in this nation that grows into a movement 

that can’t be stopped."

--Robert Reich

I am not the best person to write this post. The truth is I have not been much of a political activist thus far in my life. I have marched in a couple of pro-choice and marriage equality marches, worked the occasional table for these issues, donated a few bucks here and there, and been part of a few other random political actions over the years. But I have not really dug my hands into the dirt of any of the issues I care about and really worked hard. In my young adulthood, I'm ashamed to say, I didn't even always vote. 

Tuesday's election restored some of my faith in my fellow Americans. By and large, we are good people. But the nastiness leading up to the election really started to get to me. And I'm not talking about the nastiness of the politicians and the Media. I'm talking about the nastiness that my friends and I propagated, largely through social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. At first I laughed at the mean-spirited jokes and memes that appeared with alarming regularity in my Facebook news feed. I even shared some. But then I stopped finding them funny. It occurred to me that the politicians didn't need to pay for attack ads anymore because we were willingly and freely doing it for them. We all claim to be disgusted by the negativity and mean spirited nature of political campaigns, but there we were, participating in the negativity gleefully. As Pogo so famously said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

So what does this have to do with my political activism (or lack there of)? Well, I started to wonder how many of my friends were like me. How many of us were joking and complaining but not doing much else? Some of my friends have been working hard for years. Sarah and Wayne did their part this election by logging hours of phone banking. Chuck is genetically programmed for political activism. Natalie has worked tirelessly for the homeless for years. And Katie recently took her passion for environmental issues to a new level by participating in a training with Al Gore. Now she is out there giving public presentations about global warming.

But what about the rest of us? What about me? What should I do? I've started following Robert Reich on Facebook. For the few who might not know who he is, Robert Reich is a Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. He's smart and down to earth, realistic and optimistic. And he doesn't just inform. He says, here's what YOU can do. So the first thing I did was join Common Cause www.commoncause.org, a non-partisan, non-profit advocacy group that Robert Reich currently chairs. Common Cause is a good place to start for people like me who want to do something, but aren't sure what.

That's only a first step though. Writing this is another. What I would really like is a mentor and a team. I need help focusing my limited time and energy, and I know I am more motivated and inspired when working with others. Some of the issues I am most passionate about include marriage equality, gun control, education, homelessness, reproductive rights, environmental protection and, well, lots more. I want to invite those of you who are out there working for change to share your good works with the rest of us. Right here. Leave a comment on this post telling us what you're doing and how we can help. I promise to read all of them and see where I might best use my time and talents. How about the rest of you? As Robert Reich says, "It won’t happen if you wallow in the comfort of your cynicism. But it will happen if you and others like you get fired up."