Election Day

It's hard to believe that today is Election Day.  All throughout this day, I found myself thinking, "I want to remember it."  Our country stands on the brink of change, and today, we will decide as a nation what we are going to do about it.

I began thinking today about the last election.  I was a freshman at SMU.  I had gone to my sorority's chapter and went back to my room to do homework.  I was anxious about the election, yet I felt too much anxiety in not knowing, so I decided to focus on homework.  A few hours later, I remember hearing cheers coming throughout my dorm, and I remembered the election.  I quickly opened my browser to discover that Barack Obama was going to be our nation's new president.  I, being raised in my staunch Republican household, felt defeated. I was nervous for our nation.

It's funny how things have changed, yet definitely stayed the same.

Today, I have found myself keeping myself occupied with all sorts of things.  I went to class today, prayed at the flagpole, ate lunch in the refectory, went to class, went to work, went to small group, and I am now sitting at Cafe Brazil trying to pre-occupy myself with all of my papers and Greek vocab.  I am still super anxious for our country, and that has remained the same, but for different reasons.

It's funny, but I am almost afraid to write it on this blog that none of my friends even know I have nor read.  I want to both shout it, and yet I feel like I should whisper it.

I think the President of our country should be a compassionate person, someone who cares for the well-being of the people of the United States.  I also believe in freedom.  Yet, as I have gotten older, I am coming to realize freedom always comes with a cost.  I think about those I know who live in poverty.  The children who I have worked with and for for the past 4 summers.  Their circumstance came about because of terrible circumstances, not because of laziness.  And poverty can be really hard to get out of.  I have really been convicted of this lately.  Republicans say that they have a freedom to spend their hard-earned money the way that they want to, and they shouldn't be forced to give their money to those who are "lazy" and living in poverty.  In part, I agree with this.  Yet, it leaves me asking the question: "Are we just going to sit back and live in this structure that is not only ok with, but also perpetuates  millions of people living in poverty?"  Can we really sit there and say because of freedom, we are ok with this?  

I think that these structures need to change.  I think that we can equally have freedom that supports freedom.  Sure, I think that we can come up with an idea better than just handing out welfare checks, but are we really going to sit back and do nothing as a country when part of our population is suffering? Many people think that the poor are lazy, and sure, some are, but to say that that defines all those living in poverty is a gross generalization.

I don't agree with all that Barack Obama wants to do in terms of policy, but I appreciate that he is clearly a caring and compassionate person.  Mitt Romney is a businessman that is very concerned with future of our country, which I also appreciate.  Yet, at the end of the day, I feel like Obama cares more about the people of our country, while Romney cares more about the future of our country versus the people within it.  

But the fact remains, we have no country without the people.