I have a confession to make: I’m a political poster on facebook. Oh yes I can feel some of you out there rolling your eyes. After all most people come online to find recipes of nutella brownies (..yum by they way. I’ve tried them and they’re delish) …coo over your 3rd favorite friends’ baby picture.. maybe post about how much traffic sucked on your way to work and that you’ve had 3 cups of coffee today and are still tired. And what happens when you get on Facebook? You see those nasty politically charged, environmental articles, or opinionated memes that you may not agree with and it interrupts your feel good facebook moment. Especially if that political post isn’t in line with what you agree with. Suddenly you get a little red in the face and you’re thinking to yourself ‘how dare they post something like that? It goes against everything I’ve ever heard and come to agree with.. “I must rebel”. “I must get angry with her”. “I must argue back”. Or, in some cases, “I must unfriend her”.
I feel for you. It’s hard reading things that make you angry. I read them every day and it makes me angry. It goes against my core beliefs. I watch the news and think to myself “Man.. we’re all screwed” …but instead of looking for more brownies to pin on pinterest (..ok who am I kidding.. I’m always looking for more brownies to pin on pinterest) I choose to take a stand. …in a not-so-labor-intensive way. It takes me about 50 milliseconds to press ‘share’ when I see a meme I agree with. Which is awesome because with a toddler, as much as I’d love to organize a rally to fight against corporate greed or environmental issues, I so don’t have the time. And yes, right now taking care of him IS more important.
Maybe someday I’ll be able to march on Washington to bring awareness to the lack of GMO labeling on food.. but for now, that statistical meme with countries who don’t participate in such works.
Maybe in another life I’m an environmental lobbyist bent on total annihilation of big oil companies.. to take their corporate welfare tax breaks and give them to clean energy projects that will help with global warming so my son will have a clean place to live in the future. …but for now that meme about how much money Exxon Mobile saved on not having to pay taxes this year will work.
…Perhaps I can speak up for women’s rights.. for equal pay for equal work or tax breaks for mothers who stay at home.. or their right to birth control.. Maybe I can even sit in front of a congressional hearing and give a testimony like Sandra Fluke and be labeled a slut for doing so. But for now that graphic about how a vasectomy is covered by insurance and no one is arguing about that will have to be my ‘stand’.
You see there are many kinds of activists out there. They may be those who shout from the highest mountaintops with the biggest signs.. they may have the backing of major news networks. Or they could be at home with their child raising them the best they can in a world that doesn’t know if it’s coming or going. But rest assured, I have an opinion. I don’t follow what people tell me I’m supposed to believe because I’m a Christian. I see inconsistencies in conservative stances that were never part of that party’s stance in past decades and I’ll be darned if I can listen to anything on Fox News without wanting to kick the television in. When I see fellow believers in Christ shouting from the mountaintops about loving their fellow man but excluding immigrants or welfare recipients from that list I’m going to say something. I’m going to speak out. And yes, I’m going to post that political comic. Because it’s what I can do at this time to help “fight the system”. Do not label me. I am not a ‘Liberal”.. but I’m not a ‘conservative’ either. You will see me post a graphic about gun control being a farce in one second and then one about centuries of war being the reason for America’s current gun culture in another. Why? Because I don’t need someone else to give me an opinion.
…but I do need people to keep making political memes, comics, or graphics so that I can share them.
Five Minutes To Myself 