Monday, June 16, 2014

In the Beginning

For a first post, I'll keep this light.  An introduction to who we are and what we plan to do. 

There's two of us, the teacher and student if you will.  I'm the student.  We were born in the lobby of a grocery chain, with my brain overworked and my teachers' hopped up on cups of bad coffee.  We'd been talking for years - I went to him when the ballots came out, and he kept me updated on what was happening in the big bad world.  I was going to school off and on while working full time, so I didn't have the time to do my research.  He was pretending to be retired while continuing multiple projects (go ahead and ask - I'm sure he'd be delighted to share with you).  He was also trying to convince me that my business degree wasn't enough - he wanted a minor in political science out of me (we'll see - school is expensive!).

My quarter-life crisis has come and gone, and my education is partially done.  What better time to start a new venture! Especially since my partner in crime piled his plate to heaping, and I slowly schucked responsibilities (aka, graduated). 

The Hunger Games was out on DVD, Catching Fire was months away from the theater, and his caffeine-addled brain formed some thoughts.  What was happening on screen was going to happen to us. The middle class was getting weaker, our country was moving away from a democracy and quietly becoming an oligarchy. Things needed to change, and it had to come from the future.

My generation, generally dubbed "Generation Y" or more often because it's flashier "Millennials", is the largest generation since the baby boomers. And we're set to inherit a dead nation. So my "sensei" idea was simple - since kids are attached to their phones, computers, and TVs, go after them there. Relate to them, use examples they understand and see all the time. Thus the "Stop the Hunger Games" campaign began, and here it rests waiting for me to get my life in order.

So much is going on right now in our nation, that we need to focus on the important parts. No, it's not gun control, marriage equality, or abortion rights. We have the most useless congress, and it's time for us to show up to the polls and vote them out. We need a congress that works to improve this nation, not block every piece of legislation because they're having a temper tantrum. They need to stop focusing on what they care about, and start focusing on what Americans care about (and guess what - they're not the same things).

This project is our attempt to make little ripples in the ocean. We have a long ways to go and a lot to learn, but together we can enact change. We can grow and learn together, and maybe my generation won't be screwed with the bill for the funeral of America.

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