Let’s apply common sense civics and citizenship to global, national, and state issues affecting your life. These subjects have been rolling around in my brain because they affect my life, country, and my world.
A State Issue Affecting Your Life
We’ve talked about gerrymandering, the controversial but legal practice of redrawing elec-toral districts to gain an advantage for a particular party, person, or group.
I live in a state where my district was carved into an incredibly bizarre shape. This has happened to some of you as well. I used to be represented by people who lived within 45 minutes of my location. Now, the potential winner of the race lives three hours away. I don’t live anywhere near a person who can testify to this person’s credibility. What can I do? Here are some ideas:
*Look up a candidate’s vOting history. See if their walk and talk match up.
*Discover social media profiles that may give helpful information.
*Ask around. Find a trusted person “in the loop” to give you credible info.
*Contact the official campaign office to obtain more information.
*Ask a volunteer for the candidate to tell you why they support this person.
In short, you can learn a lot with minimal effort. Remember when someone tells (or shows) you who they are, believe them. Don’t stare at your ballot and check off nice-sounding names. It’s Common Sense Civics and Citizenship to know who you are selecting to represent your interests.
A National Issue Affecting Your Life
We are approaching tough economic times. I heard one p0litician say, “You should not be forced to choose between heat and eat.” A red light went off in my brain. How did we get in this predicament? Could this person be avoiding responsibility for something they, as an incumbent, may have helped to cause? Are they subtly suggesting that they can “save” me? It’s Common Sense Civics and Citizenship to hold national office holders accountable for their entire term in office before giving them our support.
A Global Issue Affecting Your Life
Undoubtedly, it is easy to ignore what’s happening globally. We have enough troubles of our own. The world has become smaller, with countries lining up and taking sides.
As an illustration, there has been a lot of talk about nuclear war. There is global bickering about “whodunnit.” Plenty of blame to go around. There are the usual suspects, of course. It’s Common Sense Civics and Citizenship not to hunker down in fear. A more profitable use of time and energy is to learn about the issue from various sources. Compare and contrast the information you take in. Then ask yourself, what is the next right thing to do? You may be surprised at what you find out, who to trust, and what the next right thing is that you can do.
In short, the world keeps on turning. We have more control than we think over the issues affecting our country and our world. The key is to think and search for the truth.
This is Common Sense Civics and Citizenship.🇺🇸
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