By Elizabeth Szlek, LMHC
For The Rome Observer: October 12, 2010
This column was inspired by a quote from an article in The New Yorker, in a review of a book by Isabel Wilkerson. In describing how she decided to structure her book, she decided to avoid the “Chicago School sociology view” of literature, which was “always about the collective (if you just talk to enough people, take enough photographs, conduct enough surveys, you could, finally, record what it meant to be human”. This style, which developed in the nineteen-thirties, stands in opposition to the newer narrative journalism of the nineteen-sixties (if you could just find the right person to talk to, you could write the story of everyone). I say this: Both approaches are wrong, because the whole world resides in each of us, and there is no way to capture all of that reality either through crowds, or through the life of one person. We are all totally unique.
I have written before about my abhorrence of statistics in the field of mental health and/or psychology. Comparing two people or more for traits, or beliefs, or any other factor is silly, at best, and utterly damaging at worst. I know that at these election times, we are coerced into thinking along these lines continually, and for me, it is highly upsetting. I don’t know about you, but I have been getting lots of calls for polling information, and it always makes me very uneasy when I given a forced choice, and I don’t like either of the options. We get forced into “camps”, pro and con.
“Would you vote for Bob Brown, or Sally Black if you had to vote today?” runs a typical question. This time around, in particular, it seems no choice is good. I really don’t like anybody for any reason, or for many reasons!
I also don’t want to be lumped into a category of “angry voter” if I don’t like these choices. I’m not particularly angry, but I am saddened by the mess that our legislators have created at every level of government. What were they thinking?
Am I An Angry Voter?
On the local level we see story after story of towns’ reserve funds being used up, and then the inevitable “Oh-Oh!” moment when they discover their till is empty. In Albany, we find such chaos that to even contemplate change is impossible, and at the federal level, well, who knows what they are really up to there.
My question is: What kind of country are we trying to create? Is it a socialistic place where everyone has all needs met by our vast and every increasing bureaucracy? We know full well that this bureaucracy is not acting in the interests of the little guy, but that it is highly influenced, if not controlled, by corporate and business interest. The Eisenhower-named “military-industrial complex” is here. I would amend that title to “military-industrial-chemical complex”, to include those who tamper with our food, our water supply and our minds with an assortment of chemical products.
So, for me, who is opposed to socialism in all forms, the choice does not stand out as “vote Republican!”, because I have studied the history of the Republican Party, and it has, since the latter part of the nineteenth century, represented the interests of big business, and the vast complex of powerful entities named above. Just read about how the railroads almost took over the federal government at the height of their powers, and you will shrink from thinking that the GOP is looking out for little old you.
In past years I lived in a country under socialism, and I can tell you that it is not something you really want to consider. People and their individual lives are not all that important. The state is the thing, not the individual. An artist friend of mine considered long and hard, because he wanted to do a performance piece and this included painting a red star on the sole of his shoe and displaying it to the audience. At the end, he decided it was “too risky”, and he didn’t do it. That is life under socialism.
Here is America, there are many issues, such as health care, which seem to need fixing. I am not sure that the state taking over is the best thing for us. I had a root canal in a socialist country – without any Novocain, because there was none available. Ouch, is all I can say!
So, for someone who believes what the Bible says, that everyone is most content in their own little yard, sitting under their grapevine, it is hard for me to look to the Democrats, because they are pushing more and more socialistic ideas. And, at the end, they are in just as deep with the moneyed class who actually decide things. The Democrats throw a few bones to “the people” and seem to want to help the little guy, but what ends up happening is a socialistic push to corral us all into their programs, such as Head Start, the use of school-based clinics, the abyss of public education, more and more stupid entitlement programs to please those who make full use of them, such as the various bogus “disability” pensions for everything from alcoholism to bi-polar disorder.
What About Freedom?
Freedom for me is the freedom to go out and make my own life. It is not freedom to sit home and pretend to need to be taken care of by Big Brother. Just get out of my way and pretty much, leave me alone. I fear, more than anything, that we have given up too much freedom, and succumbed to socialism with a “kind” face, a socialism that forbids us to smoke, makes us wear seatbelts, forbids us to swim unless a lifeguard is watching, and thousands of other annoying rules. Hey, if we don’t want to wear helmets when biking, what business is it of the government? If I choose to drink milk that is not “assassinated” (according to the French) by pasteurization, why does the government care?
So, the choice, in November, lose even more personal freedom, promote the entitlement and dependency that leads to slavery, choose to support those who only have their own bottom line in view, or try to find a way to return to a path of freedom for the individual. I don’t know – it seems like a long shot, but it’s all we have right now. Good luck in choosing your options!
Elizabeth Szlek is the Director of The Door Counseling Center of Utica, NY. Questions and comments can be directed to her at (315) 768-8900 or at info@thedoorcounseling.com.
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