Thought for the Month September 2004 by Yvonne Frost, Church and School of Wicca

Ideas from Gavin and Yvonne

Get Out and Vote

        In reading, last weekend, some candidate's columns in our local newspaper, we wondered if our candidates thought we were stupid or if they were too lazy to write a reasonable column treating the voters like intelligent beings. The candidate we like wrote all about tax cuts -- it read like a well- written stump speech, until one gets to the end of the column and sees that there is no way that a balanced state budget can be produced unless taxes are raised somewhere. The burden of proof usually lies with the non-voting public, frequently known as the chronically disenfranchised voters who are usually poor and/or undereducated. The other candidate for governor, not wishing to be outdone, wrote about tax cuts for small business and how, as an outsider, he could make the government work harder to provide tax cuts for small businesses worried about the rising costs of health care, etc., etc. Even if you are not watching these elections closely, you have heard all these sound bites before.

Well, gee, Gavin and Yvonne, what does that have to do with Wicca?

       We thought you would never ask! Remember Florida? Whether your man won or not, were you there? In spirit, if not in person? Did you vote in your home state (or country? Remember, voting travels all over the world -- if the French don't like being in Iraq, then they can vote too!)? Did you vote by absentee ballot? Did you go by your county voting official (In West Virginia, it's in our local courthouse.) to see if you could vote early and avoid the lines at the polls?

Are you a disenfranchised Wiccan?
NO LONGER -- get off your bum and vote!

Your vote may cancel out your buddy's vote, but not having a voice is far worse than the five minutes it takes to register, affirm your vote (no one in our family swears on a Bible to vote), and then show up at your local polling station (within walking distance of our home).

       If your local, favorite candidate insults your intelligence by writing a column like the above-mentioned, call the party headquarters and ask for the relevant position papers regarding this issue. If the position papers are just as bad, call back. If you aren't provided with the answers you are looking for, look to the other party(ies) for answers. If they aren't what you like, go back to your candidate, but sometimes, the other side of the fence does have coherent, relevant things to say. Look for a candidate who isn't just going to cut taxes, which is unrealistic since the government needs money to function, but how the burden of taxation is distributed. Do the wealthiest few pay 1% while the middle class pays 10%? Is fair? Should everyone pay 10%?

       Taxation is an issue in West Virginia because we pay the third highest tax burden in the nation while ranking something like 49th in income. So, if an average income in West Virginia is $32,000 per year, nearly $4,000 of that goes into taxes. There is one break here -- if you make less than $10,000 per year, you do not pay state income tax. This is a benefit, however, in our daughter's household, they make less than $10,000 per year to support no less than six people, frequently more as they are the home the children go to to visit from the neighborhood. When the spare children need clothes, somehow, they seem to come from our daughter's home as often as not. There are many families out there, rich or poor, struggling with the same issues. Most of them make more than our daughter and her husband, but in today's economy, our family's situation is becoming the norm instead of unusual.

       What is your campaign issue? Lack of jobs? Fair wages, like my daughter's? Health care isn't much of an issue when you are struggling to eat and provide for a gang of kids? What does your candidate have to say about that? Do you feel concern about the legitimacy of your local polling place? Get trained (usually free) to become an election worker. It only takes a couple of days a year. (Most people, in the workplace, earn five days off a year and if they do not have benefits, can ask for election days off ahead of time.) Wouldn't it be fun to see someone all dressed in black taking your name to double check the roles of registered voters? Many of our local preachers get involved, so why aren't Wiccans or pagans or Odinists or OTO members lining up to get the voters voting?

       What is your local "get out the vote" project like? Shall we get out the broom to sweep the entrenched politicians out? We have our brooms in one hand and our voter registration cards in the other -- go get them tigers!!! There is plenty of political talk out there, but how many people are actually putting their words into action. We have all served our time on jury duty and we all vote in our family. We can't imagine not voting. Can you? If you can, then it is time to rethink that picture. Please, please, please vote and let your voice be heard as one of the American Electorate.
As usual, we invite your comments.  We are not trying to offend anyone or scorn his or her tradition, so please be constructive.  Our hope is that we all may arrive at a shared understanding of what we are doing.  If you know a better way and the reasons behind it, please share that better way with the community at large.

Blessed be, Gavin and Yvonne and Bronwyn Frost

Previous Thoughts:

September 2006 -- Death as a Graduation
September 2004 -- Get Out and Vote
June 2003 -- True Friends and Non-Wiccans
September 11, 2001
May 2000 -- Time out for Calendrics
December 2000 -- Watchtowers, Spirits, Elementals, Guardians, or You Name It?
January 1999 -- Ethical Use of Psychic Power
August 1999 -- Festivals and Harmony

Gavin and Yvonne's Biographies
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