Domestic Psychology

When is politics NOT funny?

// September 12th, 2008 // parenting, politics

Aww, Cathy isn’t laughing at the silly season. She is getting downright terse and intolerant instead of shrugging and shaking her head. In the past, I could ignore and avoid. This year, I just can’t. When MY son is going to vote on the next president and his head is filled with sexist and racist jokes while his e-mail is filled with photo shopped pictures and ramblings about everything EXCEPT issues, it is not funny. I won’t ask my child how he voted and I won’t expect him to tell me. I DO expect him to take that vote seriously. I want him to respect the responsibility that every American has to vote. I don’t want him to be a self-centered cynic who just writes off politics as pointless and unworthy of his efforts. I want him to believe that this is a good country with good people who are trying to make it better. I want him to understand that if parts of the system are broken, it is our fault and our duty to fix them. I want him to understand that after the votes are cast, we have to be united as a team to do the best we can with what we have. It is not a battle of good versus evil. It is just basically good human beings with ideas that are both right and wrong. That is a lot to expect of an 18-year-old. It is also very little to expect. It just isn’t funny any more.