Vote For The Ugly Candidate

I am thinking of trying a new strategy in my voting this upcoming election. Vote for the ugly one! Just think, if a candidate isn't much to look at then perhaps the media won't want him or her on the front page. Therefore they won't make a bigger deal of the candidate than they really are. They won't handpick snippets of speeches that will make them look good in the eyes of the public. Their rivals won't be downplayed as nutjobs or hacks. If we pick the ugly candidate we will get who we think we are getting. If we can bring this strategy to the forefront, American politics could be transformed. There are some great examples of the ugly guy being great. Abraham Lincoln and John Adams to name a couple. So pick the ugly guy! It could make all the difference.

A Lone Island Cannot Stand

Envision a young family with a covered wagon, a milk cow, ten chickens and provisions loaded in the wagon, toiling toward a new home in frontier America. Once they arrive at their destination, if timber is available, a cabin will be hewn from the native trees. If no timber grows there, they will build from adobe, rock, whatever is available to them.

Next land will be cleared, a backbreaking endeavor, soil will be tilled with hoe or plow, seeds will be planted and rain will be awaited to water their crop. If the weather cooperates and pests can be kept at bay, there will be a harvest that will hopefully see the family through the winter. The chickens will be set on eggs in hopes that the flock will grow, providing essential protein for the family. The cow will provide milk and with any luck a calf to sell for cash or to grow the herd.

This was life in frontier America. If all parts of the equation worked the family would eke through the winter, starve through the summer, then harvest again in the fall. Theirs was a life of true self-sufficiency and if disaster struck in the form of sickness, drought or man-made mistakes, death could follow and often did.

I find it interesting that we talk often of self-sufficiency these days in our world of convenience. We go to gun shows to stock up on ammunition. We go to camps and classes to learn to be self sufficient. But in the back of our minds it is all unreal because we know that if our milk cow dies or dries up, well, Safeway is just down the road. Chickens and their eggs are cheaper to buy in town than they are to raise yourself. If I can't take care of myself I know there is a safety net to catch me.

While I believe it is good to learn these skills, (I raise chickens, garden, hunt, trap and fish, spending more money on the produce than I would at the local grocery) I believe that a more essential characteristic our world needs is that of community interdependence.

Community interdependence is essentially networking and doing business with people in our community. Through community interaction we can combine our skills and knowledge with that of those around us, which exponentially increases our combined knowledge. We increase the economy in our local area because the monies we pay for products or services from our neighbors, stays in the neighborhood. We create our own safety net by making friends who will look out for each other.

This plan works well only if the members of the community contribute their best efforts to living independently. A contradiction I know, but to have a thriving community, its members must be strong. Strength comes from hard work and self improvement. Today it seems like we are all looking out for ourselves. All our efforts go to making our own lives more comfortable. What if we all worked our hardest, took care of our own needs and wants, then looked around for someone to help. We wouldn't need "big brother" to take half our money to "care for the poor". We could take care of our own, eliminating the need for forced contributions.

This all seems like pie in the sky but there are civilizations that have done this, the City of Enoch, many native cultures, some religious cultures such as the Amish. The key to success in this endeavor is the total commitment and free choice of all members of the society. The reason communism didn't work is because it was forced on its members. The reason our national welfare system doesn't function well is because it is forced upon us. If we are forced the incentive to do well is taken from us and we will not perform to our best level.

We need to start now to begin building community, I see it as a vital ingredient in saving our crumbling nation and world. We can no longer be an "island unto ourselves" and expect to remain a free and independent people. As in Thomas Paine's time, "these are the times that try mens' souls", we can no longer afford to be "summer soldiers" in our fight for freedom. The fight must begin in our own homes and communities, only then can freedom grow outward.