This is Your Time

An Open Letter to My Children and Their Friends,

It’s election season again and we here in Wisconsin have a lot at stake. We are already seeing the first attack ads by groups outside our state funded by wealthy individuals who have never been to Wisconsin. I am writing to you because I need you to understand how important it is for you to be informed and to VOTE in the next election. I need you to know there are those who are very happy if you don’t vote. In fact they DEPEND on young people to stay home on Election Day. Don’t believe it? Just go to Project Vote online or any of a dozen other sites talking about voting.  There are some elected officials who are working to make it more difficult for young people to vote. They can’t convince you to support their agendas, so they will depend on your indifference. This election is too important for you to stay home.

You have a right to be dissatisfied. Like millions of others your age, you did what your parents and your community asked of you. You studied hard in school, got involved in extra-curricular activities, and did part time jobs. You believed us when we told you that education is the most important part of a satisfying life and an irreplaceable part of a free society. As the children of two public school teachers, you couldn’t expect anything different, but we weren’t alone. Almost every politician in America has talked about how important education is. We thought we knew the challenges you would face going to college. We had faced them ourselves. Then we watched in amazement at how quickly the cost of college went up, how quickly the Great Recession devalued our college nest egg, and how quickly your loans grew. America didn’t mean for you to be stuck with the bills, but you are. There are some who will say you or your family didn’t work hard enough. Or maybe you didn’t need to go to college. Do we really need all those teachers and social workers? Those art history and music majors? Maybe you could just get a certificate online? Ask those politicians where their children will go to school? Then go VOTE for the candidates who want to help young people get out of college debt and make college more affordable.

There are others who will say we are “broke”. We just can’t afford to provide quality education for everyone. We can’t afford to offer living wages to those who do the work in our society. (I’m sure it will comfort you to know Bill Gates returned to the top of the money list last year. His personal wealth?  $76 BILLION - with a B - Billion dollars.)  These are the same folks who argue that we can’t afford collective bargaining and unions because when working people have power, they just ask for TOO much. We can’t afford good wages and good benefits.  (Ford Motor Company profits for 2013 - $8.6 Billion.)  If you listen carefully, you will hear a reprise of the trickle down music that failed so miserably in the last decade. The stock market broke records last year. As a young person, you should be mad as hell that some politicians want to pit you against other average people who are trying to make their way. The young family that is trying to put food on the table by working two part-time jobs or the senior citizen who can’t get around without help is NOT the cause of our economic woes. Go back and read about America in the mid 1950’s. We KNOW what must be done to raise the middle class. We just need politicians who are not controlled by money. (Top three political group spenders: Crossroads GPS, Americans for Prosperity, and US Chamber of Commerce. I’ll let you figure out which of these groups is advocating for you. Bahaha!)  If you want a society that lives up to the American Dream, YOU need to fight for it every day. Go out and VOTE for the candidates who truly understand your concerns.

 I never imagined that here in Wisconsin, a state where people DIED for the right to collectively bargain for decent wages and a safe place to work, elected officials would vote to veto collective bargaining rights for public employees. I never dreamed - in a state that championed the power of ordinary people over the power of the corporations - elected officials would cut millions of dollars from public education and give huge tax breaks to corporations. I never believed Wisconsin elected officials would try to pass laws to make it harder for you to vote. To put up obstacles and shorten voting hours, simply to discourage some voters. Don’t let them wear you down. Go to the polls and let your voice be heard.  Demand that it be heard. Better yet, think about being a candidate yourself. Working for the PUBLIC good is a noble calling.

When young people go out to vote, good things happen. We have problems to solve and dreams to make real. You have it in your power to influence the course of our state and our nation. There are those who will claim they want to share the bounty that is America, but they don’t mean it or they don’t understand it. You must use your youth and energy to wrestle the American Dream from those who want to buy it and keep it for themselves. That’s the way it’s always been. This is YOUR time.  Some people are hoping you aren’t up to the challenge. Are you ready to prove them wrong?

 

Love you,

Dad