Hope Beneath Our Feet_ Restoring Our Place in the Natural World - Martin Keogh [56]
The World Is Falling Apart! What Should I Do?
SUSAN BARTLETT
I have the honor of being a state senator in the small but distinctive state of Vermont. I am the chair of the senate appropriations committee, so my job is to lead a committee in making difficult decisions, sometimes seemingly overwhelming decisions. I find that these skills apply very well to the rest of my life and the world that we all live in today.
There is no doubt that our world is facing severe environmental stress, many folks believe that it is an environmental catastrophe and we are doomed. The polar ice is melting, there is too much rain in some places and other places are turning into deserts. The cost of oil is out of sight and filling up your car is a horrible experience. Food is more and more expensive, college will never be affordable for my kids and who can afford health care, don’t bother me with this environmental stuff, who cares?
Our lives are so busy it all just seems too much to cope with. So many of us just keep right on doing the same stuff we have always done; or as I like to say, “We’ve cut the board three times and it’s still too short!” That’s where I say, the world is falling apart and what should I do?
As I see it any individual has two choices; stick your head in the sand or look around and see what reasonable things you can do to help make a difference. If you chose to stick your head in the sand, well you are leaving other parts of your body quite vulnerable, so I recommend against sticking your head in the sand.
My solution to the world falling apart was to run for public office. I was fed up with politicians who didn’t represent my priorities and the priorities of my friends. The current senator was retiring and everyone knew who the next senator would be, another guy who didn’t represent my values. It wasn’t sitting very well with me. I believed that voters deserve a choice and I was tired of not having a choice.
One night as my husband and I were in bed reading, I turned to him and said, “I have an idea, I want to run for the state senate.” Bill, who is a very calm, organized, thoughtful man, and is used to my hair-brained ideas, put his book down, looked at me for a moment, and said, “That’s the best idea you’ve had in a long time.” Thus was launched my political career.
We had no idea how to run a campaign and there was no assistance from the state party. There was a handbook that had been written to help candidates run for house seats. Bill and I took the book, followed the directions, and shocked the entire state when I won. I ran on ideas that were important to me and I felt were important to my region of the state. I spoke from my heart. I wasn’t afraid to say I didn’t have all the answers, but that I could promise that I would always listen to folks, be respectful and then do what I thought was best for all of us.
Today Americans have little respect for politicians. Whether you like it or not, politicians represent our society. If you dismiss politics as not important or too complicated or a nasty business, just remember it’s your responsibility to place folks in office who represent what you feel is important for your life and your world. No one can represent your values better than you can. Go ahead, take a risk, get directly involved in politics.
If you don’t like public policy, you can change it. That means on your local school boards (how about local foods and good foods in your schools?), local planning commissions (how about green zones and protecting wetlands?), local government (where are those bike paths?), or state office (we want clean water and clean air and diversified sources of power.) You have the ability to change public policy.
I know, it’s a scary thought, getting involved in politics. What do you know? What do you mean “get up