Sorry for the delay... two days of opening left me a little more tuckered out than I expected... and Friday I got a little sidetracked. As I was debating with Red about how this piece over at her place would come together, we got into one of our engaging, many-layered debates about politics and personal views.
As I told her, I love the discussions, because Red, true to her hair, is feisty, determined and not one to back down. And she makes me think, makes me work to get my points across, and doesn't accept the easy answer.
So that gave me an idea for something I should say here: about my possibly excessive reliance on the pronoun "we."
It's true - I have a pronoun reference problem. Always have. Look at that first word in the paragraph - what's that "it" all about, anyway? I just finished writing a book chapter with my mom (HA!), and the editorial notes of the copy editor are chock full of asking to what my vague pronouns refer. Just like my 10th grade English teacher (I learned a lot from Mr. Martin... just not that).
I kid, to some degree... but I'd like to also defend the idea of "we" and "us." I use the first person plural because I think its a key part of American civics. That "we" are a nation, together, united, collective. That, at base, is the kind of notion I have of being a Democrat - that old Frank Capra-esque idea of "we the people" and the people who stand up for the common man (and woman).
So when I say "we" all have to change "our" debt culture, I don't mean to imply that we are, collectively, or individually, bad people. It's just that, at a time of economic distress, I think the key to our salvation is what we do to help one another, to help those of us who are least able to help themselves. That's my view on healthcare, too, as I said over at Red's: it's what healthcare reform could do for the poor, really, that has me most excised and angry, and the fact that we might fail. Collectively. Together.
I do thnk we're all in this together... and I believe in us.... and US (as in United States). I think the biggest setback of 25 years of conservative dominance is that we enshrined a kind of selfishness and self interest over concern for others (indeed, I think conservatives as well have realized that the self interest angle went too far, when they talk about a nation supporting its troops, its firemen, its police). So yeah, I use "we"... a lot. I think we need it... don't you?
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