Ande with two sons.
My name is Ande Bliss ( not really)
I am a fiscal conservative. I am a Jew by birth. I live in the Live free or Die state and I am married for the second time. I have three families. Birth, first union and second.
I believe in Choice.
That does not mean that we can choose to hurt others, or deny others. I am talking about choice in my OWN life. Here is why I believe so strongly in this:
I learned a long time ago to take care of myself. Whatever I did or did not do had consequences. These were not decisions about going to war or finding some new protein to feed the mass. I have absolutely no say what goes on DC. Politicians do whatever it takes to get them elected. I have but one vote but I have a loud voice.
It is up to me to do what needs doing in my “yard:” Plant, produce and not be a burden on the rest of you. I will share, I will teach, I will do my part to make my neighborhood a safe place and I promise to be vigilant, not nosy.
Some History:
I had four miscarriages and my one live birth. Deedee died at age 30.
I never thought twice about the abortion issue when my “fetus” detached in the womb. The second. Please do not send me pictures of a fetus. When I lost my pregnancies, back then, I did not think about the fetus as a living person. Now I do. Science has helped me do that. The anti-abortion movement helped me see that…albeit in a gross and in your face manner. I believe now that a fetus is a living human being. But I still believe in choice. A woman, her mate, her doctor and her faith are all involved. I choose life. For me…you choose for yourself and live with your choice. I do not judge you. I don’t even know you.
Let us stop killing each other. (You have got to be kidding!) If we were robots, maybe. With respect to war” We spend more money in this world killing than we do…. curing and nurturing. Go back to your history books…. who is humble and who is mighty. We cannot provide the world’s hungry with manna. We must teach them how to sow.
My dear friend Jon W. hammers away at social issues. I listen to him. I debate him. He is a liberal and I am somewhere in the middle trying to give myself a name. And so, from time I put on my gloves (handed down from my mom) and go to it with him. “ Jon, I say….we must think and we must educate. Let us debate. Let us do this without rancor."
And he says OK.
And we do. Both of us want peace and prosperity. Both of us want free speech. We respect each other.
And now I will share with you my personal mantra. My credo. It is how I live. It is my prayer.
(In a pub, in a cabin, on a beach, with family or by myself)
PLEASE GOD, HELP ME
TO COPE WITH THE
DEMANDS AND EXPECTATIONS
IN MY DAILY LIFE.
PLEASE HELP ME TO DEAL
WITH MY LOSS
PLEASE LET ME FIND SOME PERSONAL TIME
WITHOUT STRESS, RECRIMINATIONS
AND SHOULDS
PLEASE LET MY FAMILY UNDERSTAND
THAT I OWN MY IDEAS AND THAT
MY LIFE IS AS VALUABLE AS THEIRS.
PLEASE LET ME CONTINUE TO BELIEVE
THAT I HAVE VALUE
OTHER THAN
MY ROLE AS WIFE, DAUGHTER, MOTHER AND FRIEND.
HELP ME TO REALIZE MY POTENTIAL AS A WRITER AND POET
AND GIVE ME THE STRENGTH I NEED TO MAINTAIN
FOCUS AND CONTROL.
LET ME ACHIEVE GRACE.
(Believe me this is not emotional schmaltz.) I have lived on the edge and lost the best of me, for a while. And then I lost the best of me…. my daughter, forever. I do not wish to deny a single person the best life they can achieve and whatever science or the social order can bring forward, I applaud. But I will always believe in the right of choice. Do not take that away from me. From us. I live with coulds and not shoulds.)
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Marianne Spellman
Angie Miller
Marty'sHusband
James M. Emmerling
wendyo
Ellen Hawley Roddick
Salon.com
Comments
It's interesting...I have come to believe, here, that we have developed an interesting, productive partnership.
With deepest respect.
Jon
r.
That would have been my last thought.
Thanks for writing this, Ande.
Thanks for being you, Jon.
If only the rest of the world would adopt the same credo! We would then need no politicians, armies or killing; we COULD live together.
Me thinks; if we rid ourselves of the politicians, it would all fall into place quite naturally.
Very sorry about your daughter. The wound stops bleeding, but it never truly heals, does it.
BenSen: I didn't mean to mix my fiscal conservatism with my personal "social" agenda. I was introducing myself politically. Not done before. I believe in a balanced budget. However, that said the other issues are social... and since I was speaking about my conversations with Jon...I wanted to make that clear that I do not believe in a Nanny State which takes care of all of us. We must be self sufficient. I believe in personal responsibility....to the best of our ability. Same goes with social behavior and consequence thereof. I also believe in charity and giving a hand when there is need. So many do. And many do not.
Power and Greed in government. The inculcation of dogma within religious sects,disregarding all others. And finally the human need to be right. It is so hard for us to admit the we made a mistake. And own up to our own failures. For so many that makes them feel bad or depressed. We can make mistakes and still be good people.
I understood that you were at first describing your persuasions. I have spoken to more and more Liberals who are leaning toward a more fiscal conservative stance. Most would be considered middle class. Maybe you are on to something there too...a new political party better suited to addressing our current state of affairs in this country.
Where you and Jon maybe unusual, but in a good way, is that you are open to dialogue, to testing your position on issues, to listening to another's views. Respecting others and allowing them to make their own choices is essential in a democratic society.
It is important, I believe, to seperate ones individual situation and psychology when evaluating programs and policies that effect a body politic. It's called "projection" and it's really only by understanding the difference that one's contribution can be assessed as "fair," and not meerly ideologically motivated.
An enormous problem currently being faced is that many who eschew, for instance, Mr. Obama's health care plan are those who have the most to gain from it. They have been convinced for reasons that have nothing to do with their own best interests to be against it.
They're called "reactionaries" in political jargon and you don't sound like a reactionary. There was one on OS yesterday who called Obama the "watermellon" president.
Jon will forgive me. He always does. ( Right Jon?)
I am having coffee now, and I usually share it with JW.
We will forget how to sew ourselves as long as we allow corporations like Monsanto to monopolize the agricultural “business.”
God helps those who help themselves. All God can do is offer them a chance to do so. Right now as I see it the human race has been offered no such chance. So as I also see it God is due to intervene any second now.
I hope you aren't misinterpreting me. I just can't get a picture of what you're talking about, forgive me, but I have to be honest. I didn't say I thought you were a reactionary and didn't mean to indicate it.
When you say: "I do not care for vast public programs where cost overrides defeat purpose" I don't know what you're talking about, aid to education, food stamps for the poor, community college funding for those trying to get a leg up, Medicare for the elderly, Medicaid for children, or social security, which is not an entitlement program in my humble estimation since I've paid into it all my life.
I mention Obama's health care reform because it's in the news, and controversial. I think it's a crime 60 per cent of the wealth in this country is controlled by 1 per cent of the population, don't you?