Politics and Choice

The United States is now in the process of deciding who will be its next president. This is a political process that comes down to a choice: the choice of how each of us as individuals will vote on November 4. The choice is not meant to be simplistic; it can never be about one issue. The decision we make at the ballot box has implications far beyond who will sit in Oval Office. The outcome will affect not only this present generation but generations still to come, not just in our nation but throughout the world. It will determine the direction this nation will take on energy, environment, the economy (both local, national, and global), education, health care, social security, national security and a plethora of other important issues.

To choose a candidate on the basis of one issue, no matter how strong ones feelings on that issue is, in my opinion, irresponsible. For many years a powerful faction within the Republican Party has been a dominate force in defining morality based on their particular religious persuasion. They demonize any candidate that does not adhere to their world view. There is no difference between this ideological bent and that of any other religious or political system that denies the opinions and or beliefs of others. This form of extremism does not make for a healthy pluralistic democracy that our republic prides itself on.

The word politics comes from the Greek Politeia which is derived from the Greek word Polis or city state. Politics is about the rights of the citizens (citizenship) of a nation. This nation is a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people. This means that not everyone will get what they want all the time. However, it does mean is that everyone will have the right to express their opinion, especially, at the ballot box. However, the electoral process is not meant to restrict the basic rights and freedoms of others as found in our constitution and its interpreted laws.

For the past eight years, many of our basic rights have been eroded by the present administration in the name of national security. Should the present administration be cloned into the next, we will undoubtedly see more of the same. The religious fundamentalism that has governed much of this administrations decision making will continue eroding the choices we have as citizens. None could be more obvious than a woman’s right to reproductive services being eliminated.

Those on the religious right have made the abortion issue the key in determining whether or not they will support an otherwise qualified candidate. It has recently been pointed out that in the last 35 years (since Roe versus Wade) 48.5 million abortions have been preformed. This is approximately 3,803/day. At the same time we have pharmacists refusing to sell legal birth control pills to women in need. These same individuals want the "morning after pill" banned, and sex education limited to abstinence or "just say no" as a mandated federal policy. The US policy on international aide to poor nations, in need of both birth control and HIV Aids information, is to refuse to give out information on use of condoms, instead abstinence is preached. In the three years prior to 2004 the Bush administration withheld $34 million in congressionally approved funds to 140 nations through the UN Population Fund. The UNPF estimates that this resulted in one million unwanted pregnancies, 800,000 abortions, 4,700 maternal deaths, and 77,000 infant and child deaths. This from a right to life president.

The resources of our world can not sustain the population growth at its present rate. As of 30 August 2008 the world population was over 6.839 billion and growing at approximately one person / sec. The US population for the same day was over 305 million, and growing at a rate of one person every ten seconds. In a world where 15 million children starve to death every year, that is one every 3.6 seconds, 1,028 per hour or approximately 25,000 per day, abstinence alone is not the answer. In a world where 1.2 million children are trafficked to work in sweat shops and the sex trade for an annual $15 billion profit to those who abuse them, abstinence is not the answer.

There are other issues of life and death other than abortion, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan for one. In 2003 the war was costing the American tax payer 4.4 billion dollars per month, in 2006 it had grown to 8 billion per month and by 2008 12 billion per month. Latest estimates place the total cost of the war around 4 trillion dollars. But the true cost can never be calculated. The loss of life of US military personnel is just a part of the cost (the government has put a value of $6.5 million on each American soldier and contractors life, this comes to approximately $18 billion). This doesn’t take into account the documented Iraq and Afghanistan civilian deaths, between 82,987 and 90,521, many of whom are children. Nor does it take into account the billions of dollars that are being spent and will be spent in the future taking care of the physically and mentally wounded from these wars. War is not the answer to our international problems.

A simplistic one issue, black and white view of the world doesn’t equate in the real world of daily suffering and death. For example, the World Health Organization estimates that between 300-500 million new cases of malaria will occur every year. Of those, 1 million will die. Many of these are children. It is estimated that in an average year 195,000 people in the US will die in a hospital due to medical error. The statistic on death and suffering could go on and on, and they do, and they will, no matter who sits in the White House.

The question facing us as a nation and as individuals is which candidate will do the most to end this suffering and death. John McCain is willing to continue the war indefinitely. With the continued waste of wealth and resources on war, there is no money to spend on health care, education, infrastructure (roads, water and sewer systems, etc) and the environment. The failure to address these issue have long term consequences that will in the end cripple our nation, and will add to the suffering of untold millions yet to be born. Is the abortion issue important? Of course, but it must be kept in perspective. What rational person would want to bring their child into a world where environmental degradation and where economic and educational opportunities are limited or not available? John McCain’s vision for America is more of the same as experienced under the Bush administration. Barack Obama’s vision is one of hope. Not a pie in the sky hope, but a realistic vision that will require change in the way Washington does business. A vision for future generations of all Americans, not just the privileged wealthy few, nor the corporations of the rich and powerful. Barack Obama is the kind of president America needs and deserves.