I'm Thankful

As I have said before on this blog, my initial intent with "Then It Hit Me" was simply to provide a forum for my thoughts, something I would possibly commit myself to from time to time. When I began this blog, I knew I liked what I was hearing from Mike Huckabee, and I knew there was the potential for my interest to lead me to become more than just interested in his message, but eventually to become an active supporter. The level of my "activity" escalated quickly, to the point that people who know me well and interact with me regularly now routinely ask me, "Hey, what's the news on Huckabee, Will?" or "Hey, has Huckabee gained any more support yet?". So, while I find this growing trend somewhat interesting in my personal life now, at least in regards to the fact that so many people know roughtly where I align on many major issues, it is in my professional life that I have learned the most from reflecting about what this all means.

As I have started a student teaching experience this fall, it is from the students I am so privileged to work with that I have learned there really is some reward in the activity I have been able to do this fall while participating in the grass roots workings of American politics. I have been working with 8th grade students in World Geography courses over the past month or so, during which most of our study has focused on Africa. As students have discussed everything from the horrors of Rwanda and Darfur to the epidemics of AIDs and immense poverty, it once again has "hit me" that I am so very fortunate to live as I do, having incredibly few real issues or concerns when compared to people in other parts of the world.

So, as another Thanksgiving approaches, and I reflect on what I am learning alongside the students I teach and work with, I realize that I am fortunate to even be able to talk about the merits of a candidate like Mike Huckabee. For many kids in places around the world, talking about the merits of those who are in power is proscribed, if not criminal. When people talk about corruption among political leaders in the US, it is often for taking the wrong campaign contributions or even taking a few extra days off of work. Rarely do we even begin to think about corrupt regimes and leaders who go as far as to sanction mutilation and genocide, horrors and fears that kids in other parts of the world wake to daily.

People talk about being upset that Governor Huckabee may have allowed the children of illegal immigrants to obtain scholarships and go to school in this country. Imagine how upset many of those same people would be if Governor Huckabee reached even further across the lines and offered aid to kids and families living in unimaginable poverty in places all over Africa, places where the concept of a scholarship is so utopian at this point its beyond preposterous. I use this example because I believe it is absurd for people to call themselves humanitarians and say they care about helping create change for people in one instance, and then in the next instance turning a blind eye to other people exhibiting need of help, hope, and the opportunity to make their lives better.

People tell me all the time that the Republican party has to be "taken back" by younger adherents like myself. To them, and to anyone else who believes the same, my answer is this: The Republican Party does not need to be "taken back" anywhere, it needs to be "taken forward", but even taking the Republican Party forward pales in comparison to the importance of taking America forward.

The way the party and this country begins to move forward is with new ideas that meet the needs the world faces. We certainly need more humanitarians, regardless of which religion, race, ethnicity, ideology, etc. we are of. Mostly, however, and fitting because it is Thanksgiving, we need people to realize just how fortunate we really are so much of the time. We need to be thankful that we are able to live as we do and not face some of the real horrors the rest of the world lives with every day. Further, we need to eventually move beyond being thankful for how good we have it in America. Eventually, we must become thankful for the opportunity we have to offer help and healing to the rest of the world and not cease to be thankful for that opportunity until we have exhausted it (if such a thing is possible), allowing for social justice to take hold in places where it is today merely an afterthought.