A Political Journey
I should probably get around to actually writing about some of my thoughts on the protests here in Wisconsin...and now across the country. I've been posting a ton on Twitter and Facebook (perhaps much to the chagrin of some of my friends), but there's only so much one can say in those spaces, so I'm going to flesh out my thoughts a bit here.
So, first of all, as I mentioned a few posts ago, I never considered myself a very political person, and when I did, I considered myself conservative. I was raised in a conservative Christian household, so I felt the Republicans best fit my views and didn't question that. I liked the sound of small government. I thought I agreed with the politics of the right.
In the past year or so, I've become a more informed citizen. I think my first step was listening to WPR and NPR. I had first discovered NPR when I started downloading "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" and "This American Life" podcasts, but then I found my local WPR station, and I was hooked. They discussed things I was interested in, like literature and the arts and even animals. But they also discussed the news in ways that were actually compelling to me. I started to realize how much better it is to be informed about what's going on in the world. And I started to question why exactly I saw politics the way I did.
Flash forward to the events of the past few weeks. I never thought I'd be one to protest. I never really saw the point in it, to be honest. But since Andy is a teacher, and not only he but our future family could be affected by Gov Walker's proposed bill, I was really on edge about what was going on in Madison. But still not enough to really do much about it. Not right away. I needed a push. And then, driving home from school last Thursday, I heard the news that our Democratic Senators had fled the state. That was the tipping point for me. I finally realized what a HUGE deal this was. I realized that I *needed* to be involved in this. When I got home, I told Andy that I wanted to go to Madison and be part of this. At first he was hesitant, as he's not really the protesting type, either. But as we listened to more of the news, and talked about it, I was able to convince him that we should really join in this fight and be there at the Capitol.
So on Friday afternoon, once Andy got home from school, we set off for Madison for our first protest ever. We were excited, but unsure of what it would be like. From the lovely folks over at madisonwi I learned there was a bus running between East Towne Mall and the Capitol, so we opted to take the bus instead of dealing with traffic downtown. And as we boarded the bus, Andy heard someone call his name - it was one of the English teachers from his school, along with her husband. Already we realized we were in good company. And once we got to the Capitol we became separated from them pretty quickly, but it didn't matter. We were part of something amazing, all of us there to show that we felt that what is going on in our state is unbelievably wrong, and we can't stand for that. I've never experienced anything like that before, and it was definitely incredible.
We spent time in the Capitol, cheering and chanting and just taking it all in, and then walked around outside and discovered Rev. Jesse Jackson was speaking and caught most of his speech. I took photos and video, and although we didn't stay too late into the night, Andy and I agreed without even questioning it that we needed to go back on Saturday. On our way out that morning, we stopped for supplies to make signs - something else I never thought I'd do - which we made right in the entry way of the Shopko in Beaver Dam - a very conservative city. (But hey, it was easier than making the signs in my car!) We took the bus again to the Capitol, and we couldn't believe the size of the crowd there. The news has been spinning it to make it sound like the crowd was a result of Tea Party counter-protesters, but other than a few very small pockets of them (including the three who confronted Andy), it was almost ALL people against Walker's bill. I've heard estimates up to 100,000. It was insane. But not in a crazy way. There have not been any riots or violence. It's been incredibly peaceful, even with those huge crowds. That's just how we roll here in Wisconsin.
The weather prevented us from going back Sunday or Monday, but since then I've already been to the Capitol once on my own, on Tuesday morning/early afternoon, as I don't have classes till 2:20 on T/TR, and we're planning on going back tomorrow evening, Friday, and Saturday at the very least. But speaking of Tuesday, that is also something I never saw myself doing - joining in a protest completely solo. But I felt compelled to be there. I needed to be there for my husband and his coworkers and everyone who will be hurt by this bill. And looking back, I'd have expected myself to be really anxious about putting myself into a situation like that, and yet it was one of the most natural things I've ever done. I was even interviewed by a news station - which I wasn't anxious about at the time, but now I'm worried I said something stupid, and I haven't been able to find it online. But Andy said a bunch of his students did, and they seemed excited about it.
I now know what it's like to actually fight for a cause. Saturday evening we went up to Green Bay, and while we were telling Andy's parents about the protests, his mom said, "You know it's not going to actually do anything, right?" I didn't confront her about it then, because she's my mother-in-law and I just wasn't in the mood for a fight right then (we were in the car on our way to go out to dinner with them), but really...How can this NOT do something? People all over the WORLD are paying attention to what's going on in our humble little state. People like me are actually getting involved in their government and making their voices heard. Legislators are taking drastic measures to fight for their citizens when the majority is trying to ignore them completely. Even if Walker manages to get his way and this bill passes, people are not going to forget this. This is not just a bunch of people blindly following some political leader. This is citizens taking it upon themselves to organize rallies and concerts and knit-ins - just all kinds of things. This has been going on for 10 days and people are still filling the Capitol - and people across the nation are joining us. As one of the chants ringing out from Madison proclaims, "This is what democracy looks like." So no one can tell me that this isn't doing something.
So, first of all, as I mentioned a few posts ago, I never considered myself a very political person, and when I did, I considered myself conservative. I was raised in a conservative Christian household, so I felt the Republicans best fit my views and didn't question that. I liked the sound of small government. I thought I agreed with the politics of the right.
In the past year or so, I've become a more informed citizen. I think my first step was listening to WPR and NPR. I had first discovered NPR when I started downloading "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" and "This American Life" podcasts, but then I found my local WPR station, and I was hooked. They discussed things I was interested in, like literature and the arts and even animals. But they also discussed the news in ways that were actually compelling to me. I started to realize how much better it is to be informed about what's going on in the world. And I started to question why exactly I saw politics the way I did.
Flash forward to the events of the past few weeks. I never thought I'd be one to protest. I never really saw the point in it, to be honest. But since Andy is a teacher, and not only he but our future family could be affected by Gov Walker's proposed bill, I was really on edge about what was going on in Madison. But still not enough to really do much about it. Not right away. I needed a push. And then, driving home from school last Thursday, I heard the news that our Democratic Senators had fled the state. That was the tipping point for me. I finally realized what a HUGE deal this was. I realized that I *needed* to be involved in this. When I got home, I told Andy that I wanted to go to Madison and be part of this. At first he was hesitant, as he's not really the protesting type, either. But as we listened to more of the news, and talked about it, I was able to convince him that we should really join in this fight and be there at the Capitol.
So on Friday afternoon, once Andy got home from school, we set off for Madison for our first protest ever. We were excited, but unsure of what it would be like. From the lovely folks over at madisonwi I learned there was a bus running between East Towne Mall and the Capitol, so we opted to take the bus instead of dealing with traffic downtown. And as we boarded the bus, Andy heard someone call his name - it was one of the English teachers from his school, along with her husband. Already we realized we were in good company. And once we got to the Capitol we became separated from them pretty quickly, but it didn't matter. We were part of something amazing, all of us there to show that we felt that what is going on in our state is unbelievably wrong, and we can't stand for that. I've never experienced anything like that before, and it was definitely incredible.
We spent time in the Capitol, cheering and chanting and just taking it all in, and then walked around outside and discovered Rev. Jesse Jackson was speaking and caught most of his speech. I took photos and video, and although we didn't stay too late into the night, Andy and I agreed without even questioning it that we needed to go back on Saturday. On our way out that morning, we stopped for supplies to make signs - something else I never thought I'd do - which we made right in the entry way of the Shopko in Beaver Dam - a very conservative city. (But hey, it was easier than making the signs in my car!) We took the bus again to the Capitol, and we couldn't believe the size of the crowd there. The news has been spinning it to make it sound like the crowd was a result of Tea Party counter-protesters, but other than a few very small pockets of them (including the three who confronted Andy), it was almost ALL people against Walker's bill. I've heard estimates up to 100,000. It was insane. But not in a crazy way. There have not been any riots or violence. It's been incredibly peaceful, even with those huge crowds. That's just how we roll here in Wisconsin.
The weather prevented us from going back Sunday or Monday, but since then I've already been to the Capitol once on my own, on Tuesday morning/early afternoon, as I don't have classes till 2:20 on T/TR, and we're planning on going back tomorrow evening, Friday, and Saturday at the very least. But speaking of Tuesday, that is also something I never saw myself doing - joining in a protest completely solo. But I felt compelled to be there. I needed to be there for my husband and his coworkers and everyone who will be hurt by this bill. And looking back, I'd have expected myself to be really anxious about putting myself into a situation like that, and yet it was one of the most natural things I've ever done. I was even interviewed by a news station - which I wasn't anxious about at the time, but now I'm worried I said something stupid, and I haven't been able to find it online. But Andy said a bunch of his students did, and they seemed excited about it.
I now know what it's like to actually fight for a cause. Saturday evening we went up to Green Bay, and while we were telling Andy's parents about the protests, his mom said, "You know it's not going to actually do anything, right?" I didn't confront her about it then, because she's my mother-in-law and I just wasn't in the mood for a fight right then (we were in the car on our way to go out to dinner with them), but really...How can this NOT do something? People all over the WORLD are paying attention to what's going on in our humble little state. People like me are actually getting involved in their government and making their voices heard. Legislators are taking drastic measures to fight for their citizens when the majority is trying to ignore them completely. Even if Walker manages to get his way and this bill passes, people are not going to forget this. This is not just a bunch of people blindly following some political leader. This is citizens taking it upon themselves to organize rallies and concerts and knit-ins - just all kinds of things. This has been going on for 10 days and people are still filling the Capitol - and people across the nation are joining us. As one of the chants ringing out from Madison proclaims, "This is what democracy looks like." So no one can tell me that this isn't doing something.