Good mothers pay attention to politics.

[renie408]

So, I was on FB this afternoon and saw a long post by a friend who was lauding her mother for never paying attention to politics. She said how busy her mother had been when she was growing up packing lunches and overseeing school projects and running her own small business and that at the time, she didn't understand that her mother was just too busy to pay attention. But she does now, because she just found out today that the RNC was happening. A good many of her mommy friends jumped in an assured her that she was a good mom, blah blah blah. They all had some comment about how it was more important 'to be a good mom' than to pay attention to politics.

The straw that broke the camel's back for me was a woman who said, "Pooh on politics...yeah moms!"

My response which, oddly enough, was a thread killer:

"I am all about being a good mother. It's just that I think that paying attention to politics is actually PART of being a good mother. I think my kids don't want to be adults in a country where corporations are allowed to pump as much money into politics as they want and where the top 20% of earners own more than 90% of the wealth and where if my daughter is raped she will be forced to carry the child of her rapist to term or not be able to purchase some forms of birth control. Those are all things I think are important to my children being able to live the fullest and best lives possible.

Right now we are at a turning point in this country. OUR children, ALL OF OUR CHILDREN, are among a generation which is the first in American history which is likely to be guaranteed to NOT be able to earn more than their parents. When asked twenty years from now when my children are struggling to raise their children, "What were you doing while the country was melting down??", I do not want to answer, "Packing lunches."

So, pack lunches while listening to NPR. And whichever side you fall on, just be sure you didn't fall there accidentally. Ignoring politics doesn't make it go away. It just means that you get what you deserve in your politicians."

[Fresh_Start]

1. I heartily agree

don't complain that your school doesn't have new textbooks or too many children in the classroom so that is difficult for your child.
Do something about it.

[renie408]

2. Exactly. This glorification of ignorance is disturbing.

And trust me, I have packed my fair share of school lunches, worked on plenty of class projects, run my own extremely time intensive small business and, at this point, am homeschooling one of my kids.

AND I manage to know what the fuck is going on in the world. It really isn't that hard.

[southernyankeebelle]

3. That's what I tell people. When things go wrong and you didn't vote then look in the mirror because

you are part of the problem.

[renie408]

4. +1

[Avalux]

5. I have made it a priority to educate my daughters politically.

It's my duty as a mother to make sure my daughters are informed and understand what's at stake as citizens of this country, and as women.