How This Blog Will Work

Hello Fellow Bloggers,

I want to put in more concrete detail how this blog/forum will function. As for outreach, I will be creating a mass e-mail to advertise the blogs (I have two) to my own friends, families, and colleagues. I will also use Facebook as a method for advertising the blog and bringing in new followers/members. I want to keep this as a grassroots discussion, meaning real people, real voters, real concerns. If you are interested in helping to create a diverse and informed community at each of our fingertips, then you too will pass this information and our blog's website on to people who you think may be interested or could add to our discussions.

I will serve as the administrator to this forum. I will post topics, background information, and starter questions, as well as my own thoughts on the subject. Although I love to be able to say what I think, I also want you to be very aware that what I post is my own participation in this blog as a member, not as it's administrator. I will try not to abstain, but also not to dominate. This forum, jut like our society, will be democratic. If you have a comment, concern, or criticism, I encourage you to use the space for comments. Even more so, if you have a topic you want to write a piece on, you can contact me via e-mail (dmcassetta@gmail.com) so that I can post your writing directly to the blog and give it the attention it deserves.

This is a safe and non-threatening environment to bring up questions, hash out our ideas, seek new information, and present our opinions. It is important that you feel comfortable participating, and I will be happy to do whatever is necessary to make that happen. This blog is about answering questions, providing research, and getting to know the real concerns of real voters - even if you don't vote! We have to create a respectful dialogue, and present criticism in a friendly and non-threatening way. This can be hard with politics, but if it doesn't get met, it may destroy the heart and soul of the process - the comfort zone that helps people feel safe and confident enough to communicate what they're really feeling. We all have gems of knowledge and unique perspectives to add, and the opinion of each one of us is something we carry with us to the polls, so it is important to be humble and honest, as well as open to modifying our way of thinking.

Author Janet Gonzalez-Mena speaks about the uncomfortable, banging-your-head-against-a-wall feeling we get when someone's way of thinking "bumps" into our own and it seems that no reconciliation will be possible. I find that I get this feeling most intensely just before a personal breakthrough and then - ahhhh - clarity sets in. Either I see what the other person is really seeing (but I previously misunderstood), or I see what they mistakingly think I am seeing. Please be aware that when you feel like this it is because the world as you see it is being exposed to the world as someone else sees it - and because you so dearly believe that yours is reality, you can't fathom how the other person can think any differently. They must be illogical... Stupid... Blind... Or ignorant... Right? Wrong. There are many discrepancies in this world. Many times when we get that uncontrollable feeling inside... Many times when our world-view "bumps" against another's. What is great about this is that we end up discovering most of us have the same goals in mind - it is just a matter of how to achieve them effectively.

I don't want it to seem that I think we will all eventually agree. There are times when our goals are simply at odds with one another, and no solution will change that. But this is why it is important to honestly share what we think, so we can evaluate our goals and make sure they are really worth keeping. This "bumping" process is essential for personal growth. It opens up the discussion of how your opinions differ, and although complete agreement may not happen, the process still offers new ideas to people that they wouldn't have otherwise seen. We all grow from conflict - we learn to re-stabalize, to adjust our thinking. We either further confirm what we previously thought, or we learn something new and adjust for the better.

It is time to view all other voters (and future voters) with equality. We all have a say, and all of our opinions will affect the state of our nation and the world. Honestly and dialogue will be the tools we use to understand each other, educate ourselves, inform our opinions and votes, and strive to from a more perfect union.

Once again thank you for your time and as always, happy blogging!

Danielle Cassetta

Fresh Breath of Freedom: The Beginning

Dear Readers and Fellow Freedom Lovers:

I am writing to you today to explain the purpose of this blog, which is basically my own private space to churn up ideas, flesh them out, and get some dialogue started on issues that I believe to be closely tied to our freedom and power, whether that be political, ideological, economic, environmental, geographic, educational, and so on. I will most likely focus on education (children's, parent's and community rights), environmental (which I find to be closely tied to economic, geographic, and cultural ideas and systems), and political freedoms, because these are the subjects of which I am most concerned with.

However, any issue of freedom should be viewed with a wide scope and a long lens, because very easily can a change in one realm in the present affect a change in other realms in the future. We must take into careful consideration the paths which we pursue, and realize that every action sets a precendent for further action. Here is an example: In a recent article by Paul Krugman in the NY Times which dealt with the importance of climate change on the political agenda, the statement was made that the government and legislation (law making) were the only ways to start the large-scale, immediate change necessary to prevent disaster on the planet. Let's just assume that this statement is true, for now... America has had to use government, legislation, and newly created political bodies to deal with emergency situations many times before - the depression and world War II are great examples. What I argue, is that when and if we set up these new governmental bodies to deal with specific emergency problems, we include a stipulation in their creation that once the emergency is dealt with, or whenever the private sector can adequately take over for the government, the body and legislation that was created should be abolished. If we don't include such stipulations, our taxes will go nowhere but up, the bulkiness (and slowness) of the bureaucracy (all those papers, people, and long waits you have to deal with anytime the government is involved) will continue to increase, and the power of the government will continue to take over rights and responsibilities that used to reside in the realm of The People. Ask any teacher or politician if they ever actually reduce the size of their budget. For instance, if a school is rewarded a certain amount of money yearly to run a specific program, and the program fails, you will most likely see a scramble of administrators trying to find out what they can buy in the meantime so that the money still gets used. This is because any money that they do not use in that school year gets taken away from them in future school years under the presumption that they don't need it; and this just leads to them spending the money on things they don't need so that the money is guaranteed to them next year, program or not. This is is common lace practice with any company or business that receives funding from an outside source. So the more and more we allocate new funds to new places, we have to keep in mind that we many never see this money again - ever! Even if we think that we are investing in a preventative measure that will reduce taxes in the future, we must be the check and balance for our public officials. If we are not watching - I assure you, waste will occur... and it's your money they're wasting. We must stay informed, and always look with a critical eye if we want to protect our interests.

This in itself is something that even the most informed of us have a hard time doing. Forget the fact that most of us work, have families, and are creating an over-scheduling crisis for ourselves and our kids, but we have allowed our government to grow in such size and complexity that I sincerely wish any of you luck who want to attempt to de-tangle it. What are it's monstrous parts? How does the thing work? Where does the money goes? Where the on/off button? And how did it come to take on a life of it's own - a regular Frankenstein and we, my friends, are the doctors...

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have our work cut out for us. It will be a long, hard, and really confusing journey to reign in our government, even if it is just enough to let the average person know what is going on. The health care debate is a good example. Does the average American really know what changes are being made and how it will affect them? I am a pretty educated person, I have a background in politics, economics, and social programs, and I read the news on a regular basis - but beyond the basics, I really don't know what is being debated, who is on what side, and how this will really affect me in the end. Some of us may be privy, and my intention is to become more and more aware of the details, but I fear most of our fellow citizens will be left behind not knowing what hit them from where... and to be honest, I don't blame them. Keeping up is exhausting, especially for those of us who hadn't worked out our frontal lobes as much when they were developing. Seriously, your brain gets hardened and it becomes much harder to think after the age of (about) 25 - so it's not our faults. But it's also not impossible...

My solution is to start this forum for discussion. I will reach out to other forums, ask you to spread news of this blog far and wide, and to get involved. Even if it is to contradict what I saw, provide new information, or simply ask a question. We are in this together America, and only if we come together, help each other out, and try our hardest to become a more informed electorate (group of voters) can we really hope to salvage what we have left of our power as The People. This country was made for us and by us and The People should be the most important voice in the debate - not just an afterthought or pawn in the game that is spoken to nicely around election time.

America Unite!