11/4/2008

A Thought on the Election

Being in a different country has really put my thoughts in perspective regarding how I feel about my home country. By living here in Spain I have been able to see and experience the different ways in which a country can be governed and how it affects the people. The most important thing I have realized is that ALL countries have their problems to deal with and there are pros and cons to how America is governed as well as how Spain and other European countries are governed, which according to most democrats is sooo great. My thoughts have been sparked and put on high with the elections and by conversations I have had with my host sisters and other peoples here in Spain. Im hoping that by letting my thoughts out to the world through this blog it might ease my troubled heart as words of Obama constantly run through my head as he says “ladies and gentleman, we live in the greatest country in the history of the world, now join me in changing it!.”
First lets take a look at this socialist government that Obama and everyone else seems to think is so wonderful and so much better than America. I would argue that the reason why a civil war just ended in Spain, why the people have just finished fighting against the horrible military dictator Franco is because the Spanish people have no say in what their government does, they don’t have any say because so much power and the peoples money (taxes) have been given to the leaders of this country. Thank god things are chinging, although not a whole lot as the people are still struggling with the transition from dictatorship to democratic way of governing.
Today Spain is still living in a socialist society. Now I know from a distance it all looks really great. I mean the people here party all the time; just about every night, they have free/really cheap medical and education, and they all live on a whim because they all believe that luck is the only way to catch a break. This lifestyle sounds romantic huh? Until it becomes reality… And in reality the people here although they seem relatively happy, have no money, cant get a job, can barely afford a small apartment to live in, and all have gambling problems on top of it because luck IS the only way anyone here can get ahead! Don’t take me just saying so to believe it, lets look at my host family. Here in Spain the children live with their parents until they are married and able to leave the home. Most people don’t leave the house until their late 20’s or 30’s and some live with their parents their whole lives. We think that the American dollar is so low compared to the Euro and yet here I am, 21 years old living in America, I can rent my own apartment, drive a care, buy my own groceries, pay medical insurance, taxes and more!! Here that would be 100% absolutely impossible.
Here you are born into a social class, and although there isn’t a big gap between rich and poor no one expects to ever leave their social class, no matter how hard you work, its impossible to do so, so again they rely on luck, meeting the right person in the bar or at the café on the corner, who cares about work then right? This reminds me of when I was talking to Brittany on the phone about the lifestyle here, and she said, “doesn’t that mentality make the people kind of lazy? And in a way I think it does, why care about work or doing your work properly, why work hard at all, if its not going to get you anywhere? Now please don’t misunderstand me, I am not bashing the Spanish people or their way of life, I think that there are many good things that come of this lifestyle, and there are things that I envy. For example the family life, I think their lifestyle really harnesses family values that used to be important in America, and I love so much that their lifestyle isn’t all about work, as it leaves more time to enjoy other things. They say Americans live to work, and Spaniards work to live, but they only work to live because they know they are financialy stagnant…don’t you feel lucky that you actually have a choice?
I think this is where Democrats and people voting for Obama need to ask themselves, is the grass really all that much greener on the other side? There is all this talk about CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE! but is that really what you want? I feel that the one change that needs to be made is in the minds of the American people. Stop complaining about how bad our economy is and BUCK UP cut back on the Netflix, the starbucks, the cable TV, and the eating out! Lets stop being so spoiled, because in America even in this financial CRISIS!! We are still living 3X better than countries whose currency is “higher”. We need to be happy and thankful for the things we have and understand that America is still the land of the free, and the ONLY place where you can go from dirt nothing, and work your ass off to actually make something of yourself. I spent my whole weekend with a girl I met at the school here who is constantly saying how much she HATES America (I bet you can guess who she is voting for), and I have one thing to say to her. Get out! Be a drain on someone else’s economy, bash someone else’s president and see how that goes down in another country, take all your complaints and negativity in a place where you already have everything and see if the CHANGE makes you feel better! Lets not put it in our governments hands to make us happy, lets not give all our money to our government, so that we can all live like shit but yet have everything done for us. Lets take some pride in working for the things we have and then appreciate it once you have it. I don’t care whom you vote for in this election and I will respect whoever is elected president because respect is what is deserved to anyone who wants to take over the job of being president of a country where the people so easily turn their backs on what it means to be American. I just hope that Obama knows and values what it means to be an American...I guess we will find out.

McCain’08