My passion is writing. I've written on most every topic, in every genre I've ever thought of. Essays, plays, novels, comic books, TV scripts, blog posts...you name it, I've tried it. Some have worked wonderfully, others are less appealing to the eye than a New Jersey beach at low tide. But sooner or later, the first draft is done. And it's mine, and I accomplished something. The first step. And now comes the dreaded step two: revision.
Revision is the hardest part for me. Looking at my creation and saying to myself "what can be better?" Once I start looking at my work (generally two weeks later), one of two reactions come to me right off the bat. Number one is to keep everything generally the way it is. Why should I change anything? I worked hard at this, poured everything into it, it's my beautiful baby of joy, despair and wonderment, dammit! And two, I start looking for the garbage disposal or a match. Something that will at least sound or feel good as I tear this thing to pieces because, dear god, what was I thinking? Needless to say, both of these reactions are wrong on many levels.
We all go through first drafts in life, and only a small portion of them have to do with writing. Practicing a sport or an instrument is a form of revision. Doing your daily job is revision. And government, of course it is a revision. If you've been paying attention at all the past couple of weeks, you'll have seen we just went through a government shutdown, costing the government over 24 billion dollars, i.e. more than me, my friends, and most of the country are ever going to see in our combined lifetimes. Yay America...
What does the government shutdown have to do with me writing something that most likely won't be seen by anyone other than me and my mother's cats? It is this idea that revising ourselves, and our government, usually falls into the same mistakes that I make in revising my own writings. America usually falls into the two categories of keeping what is comfortable, or wiping everything away like a whiteboard. And neither response seems to be working.
Option one is bad for numerous reasons. We have senators and congressmen (and congresswomen) who have stayed in office since the dawn of time. They know the role of politics, they have all their fund-raising in place, they know how everything goes. And for some reason they seem to be doing nothing. Why should they? Doing something could get you noticed, and possibly replaced. Keeping people around because they're familiar dooms us all to keeping things stagnant, unchanging, stale.
Option two, which has been happening with far more frequency, is doubly alarming. Wipe away everything, replace everyone, get some new blood in there! Yes, get a fresh look, and suddenly we have junior congressman with no idea how to get things done other than scream at a camera about the injustice of the world. New blood, and oftentimes well-meaning new blood, that is completely ignorant to the world of politics, will blindly lead us down the path of destruction.
Honestly, which is the better of these two paths of revision? Total destruction, or blind acceptance of stagnation? Of course the answer is neither. We need men and women of intelligence, just as I need an intelligent process of addition and removal of these words on the page. Careful examination of each and every individual in congress helps us realize whether these men and women are deserving of these roles that we value so highly. Look at your congressman's record, all you have to do is google it and his or her votes will become open to you. Have they voted where you stand on abortion, on gun rights, on immigration, on education? Did they keep the promises they made during the campaign? Are they more than just a voice in the darkness, demanding followers? If you come to the conclusion they are, by all means vote for them. Please vote for them, and ensure that such a presence remains in government. But if not, then you must look elsewhere, to other options. It is all too easy to say nothing changes in government. Change it, revise it, with intelligence.
Stay Strange, Folks
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