Negotiating America's Future

 This post also appears on The Wisdom of Spike blog found at "thewisdomofspike.blogspot.com.  I did it because I believe the message to be ultra-important.  Our elected officials have an obligation to us, but we have an obligation to them, as well.  It is to tell them what we think about the issues of government.  We demand leadership at the consent of the governed, but we have a moral imperative to guide the leadership.

I am a sixty-three year old woman, a partially-disabled registered nurse.  In my life I have cared and provided for my husband, my grandmother, my mother and my father.  They are all dead now.

Less than three years ago I had a career and work that allowed me to pay for my home and living expenses, invest in a 401K, have life and health insurance coverage and a decent car.  It also allowed me to support my family comfortably and plan for the future.  Then the bottom fell out.  I had an accident that caused partial disability which meant I could not keep my great job; my mother developed lung cancer which took two years to kill her; AND the economy completely tanked.

I am only partially employed; my house has been foreclosed and although I am on my fourth attempt to get Wells Fargo to put me in their loan modification program, a sale date has been set for my home; and my younger sister who has severe kidney disease and a back injury, has been forced to come and live with me.  The job I have now pays me less than five hundred dollars a week, but it does give me health insurance.  Come October, I will be covered by Medicare and my company will pay for a supplement.  My sister is on Medicaid Share of Cost and her daughter, my wonderful twenty-five year old niece, has no health coverage of any kind.

All of my adult life I have worked a full-time job and anywhere from one to three part-time jobs.  I have paid taxes and into the social security system.  I have donated  both time and money to charitable works.  I have never complained about having to pay my taxes……..not ever.  Even though money is very tight for us now, I will never abnegate my responsibility.

My political point of view when I was young was very liberal.  As I have aged, I have become more conservative.  Nowadays, I would put myself in the middle of the road and claim a “moderate” position.  Although I have been a registered Democrat for forty-two years, I have always voted my conscience rather than a “party position”.  When the Democrats pulled the stunts they did at the last presidential convention, they lost me.  So, I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican.  Rather, I am an American.  I want America to survive and prosper.  I want the land of opportunity back.  I want all of our citizens to have access to decent employment, effective and efficient health care, and the opportunity to make their dreams come true.

What I cannot understand……..what appalls and disturbs me…..even frightens me….. is this bizarre “reverse Robin Hood” concept where people think it is okay to take from the elderly, poor and disabled, to relieve the tax burden of the ultra-rich and big business.  What planet did that come from?  Because no rational human being would think it is morally okay to do that.

The economic problems we have are not the simple issues of a housewife over-spending her budget.  There are occasions when the math is not obvious.  These are complex equations with global impact and only appropriately educated specialists should deal with them.  With all due respect, unless any of you have a doctorate in economics,  a whole lot of experience and NO political party affiliation, you need to leave this problem-solving to others.

We have serious problems in America, but those problems need to be addressed by rational, intelligent, sensible people.  This cannot be about political parties and it so obviously is.  We have all listened with incredulity to the lies from both sides.  It becomes increasingly apparent that you  think the American public is incredibly naïeve and stupid.  There is an old Madison Avenue principle:   It you say it long enough, often enough, and to enough people, it will be accepted as the truth.  That concept may have worked once, but  the internet  exists and through it anyone can access  an incredible and nearly infinite data base.
The public has the ability to self-educate in a way and to a degree it never had before..  Those of you who think you have hit political pay-dirt and expect to leverage your respective parties into permanent positions of power, need to re-think this.

Please…..listen to me carefully………..Do your jobs.  Use good judgment.  Stop trying to win elections with policy.  Seek out and speak the truth.  Exercise reason and temper your decisions with compassion and understanding.  Stop this madness before you destroy America  with your hubris.

Sharma S. Eldridge RN, Writer, and Senior Citizen
4801 Jefferson Street
Hollywood, FL  33021

Death and the Care Manager

There have been two client deaths in three weeks.  Both of them were nicknamed Ellie.  Both were women of elevated backgrounds, intelligent, astute, affluent, mentally acute even in their advanced age.  Ellie B. was gay and had a life-partner equal to her in every way.  Ellie C. was widowed with a son and a daughter.  Their life-styles were different, but they were both women of charm and a sort of homespun elegance.  They had both seen a great deal of change in the world in their eighty-plus years.  They lived long and well and when death came for each of them, he came quietly and with dignity.  They felt no fear or pain.  I hope they find their personal concepts of heaven to be everything they ever dreamed of.  Requiem in Pacem, Ellie B. and Ellie C.
Save me a good place.

Happy New Year to us all

Who knew we would ever make it to 2011?  As someone born in 1948. it was never an absolute certainty to me.  Fiddlesticks!  At seventeen I never thought I would survive long enough to be thirty.  It was a sign of the times.....nuclear arsenals, bomb shelters, fast cars, corrupt politicians, scandals, massive frauds, rampant pornography, abuse, neglect, raging poverty..........actually, very little has changed.  But, the fact is that something has changed.......ME.  At sixty-two I have had a change in attitude.  Where once I said that I was only one person so there was nothing I could do, now I say....and truly believe.....that all change begins with one person......that first person who refuses to abandon something that desperately needs changing because of its flawed, yet inherent value.  Well, here I am, World.  As long as I am here, I will work at changing what needs changing.  "God bless us, every one...."

Darfur et al

While searching for performances of religious music, I came across a web-site which called for action against the atrocities in Darfur.  I had a conversation with a friend, whose response to my pain and indignation was that this kind of thing was "inevitable" and "eternal".  It made me sadder and my inherent cynicism popped up and I said, "Yeah, and if they had any resources that anybody cared about, the world would jump in with both feet screaming and shouting about the injustice and the genocide."  Oh, Cynicism, thy name is History.

The Memorial Mass

Father James Quinn was at our parish for seventeen years during the early days.  Then, as is traditional in the church, he was moved about and upward.  He quietly served wherever he was sent.  His integrity and morality remained unquestionable throughout his long career.  He never gave anyone cause to worry.....not the church, not the parish members, nor children, nor any of the thousands he brought the sacraments to, the comfort of God, and the common sense advise and counsel that were his hallmark.  He died as quietly as he lived and if what we believe is true, he sleeps in God awaiting the return of Christ.  As God might say, "Well done, O good and faithful servant."  As for me, requiem in pacem, Father Jimmy.  You earned it.

Understanding Events Through the Media

When I was a student nurse, one of the first things I was taught was that "all behavior has meaning and can be understood."  It took me a really long time to get that.  My other favorite was that nobody does anything without a reason, that there is always some motivating factor. The caveat in both cases is that we have to have all of the facts.  What I find endlessly amusing is that very often, we are clueless.  It is the same way with trying to determine motivations and facts about events from the media.  The media has no business attempting to editorialize about such things anywhere but on the editorial page.  What I see is every wannabe journalist....no, not journalist....reporter on the planet, trying to tell you why things happened.  Excuse me but I believe that being a reporter is about "reporting", not opining.

Making a Sacrifice on the Altar of Public Opinion

Edmund Burke was a member of the British Parliament.  He is quoted as saying that a representative owes the people not only his industry, but his judgment, and he betrays those he represents if he sacrifices that industry and judgment to their opinion.  Back in those days, only the rich had access to education and usually only men had access to true academics.  With the advent of the internet and almost universal access, we have leveled the playing field.  Today, with a little careful research and verification of source reliability, everybody can know almost everything.  And we, the constituency, can communicate our educated recommendations to our leaders.
The point here is that we elect our leaders to office for the purpose of exercising their judgment for our benefit and we trust them to know what needs to be done and how to do it.  If they cave to pressure from us, failing to do what they truly believe is right.....if they are too busy KEEPING their jobs to DO their jobs, they are not leaders, they are merely politicians.