Politics? Yes, please.

I was raised in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, Coal Country. Unions were king there, and both my grandfather (United Mine Workers) and my Dad (West Greene Education Association) were presidents of their respective unions.

I, as a precocious 13-year-old, sat in a freezingly cold, unoccupied former business answering the telephone during the 1980 teacher’s strike. “WGEA strike headquarters, Lori speaking.”

I was such a DORK.

Anyway, my grandfather had zero time for republicans, telling me more than once that the only good republican was…say it with me…yep. A dead republican.

Everyone I knew was a democrat. We were democrat people. Union people. Blue-collar people. Farmers. Miners. Teachers.

But I never really paid all that much attention to politics, not really. I was white, straight-presenting, and the daughter of a family that was well-respected in the community. I had an amazing amount of privilege and part of that privilege was that I didn’t NEED to involve myself in politics.

Till 1987, when I attended my first march. I it was a pro-choice rally. Helen Reddy sang “I am WOMAN” and I carried a “Mobilize to Save Women’s Lives” sign.

I would go on to march for other things, mostly gay rights. I held hands with strangers circling the Capitol Building and changed “We’re here! We’re queer! Get over it!” And, having lost a beloved cousin to AIDS, I visited the quilt when it was in town, walking among the panels with reverence.

Somewhere along this journey, it became obvious to me that my father carried his Democrat card in name only. He supported some LOCAL dems, sure, but I am pretty sure that he never voted for a democrat in a national election, ever. And, throughout my teen years, and into my early twenties, he kept telling me that idealism was for young people, and I would grow more conservative with age. That when it was MY money on the line, I wouldn’t want the dems spending it on programs that I didn’t agree with, programs that didn’t benefit me directly.

And that is exactly…what did not happen.

I have gotten more and more liberal with each passing day, with each breath, really. At this moment, I self-identify as a Democratic Socialist, although I am not a registered member of that party. Here in MD, since 63% of voters voted democratic in the last election, the real power is in the primaries, which I want to be able to vote in, so…yeah. I’m still a democrat. On paper.

I used to tell people that I was socially liberal and fiscally conservative, since that seemed like a safe, middle-of-the-road thing to say, and it avoided fights that I didn’t want to get into. But then I read an article about Modern Monetary Theory that blew my mind, and now, I’m fiscally liberal as well.

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/25/1164553/-Modern-Monetary-Theory-vs-the-Fiscal-Cliff#

Turns out that the deficit is too small, and balancing your home budget is eons away from balancing an economy. Who knew?

I got a completely useless response from WordPress about Bloganuary:

We’ve received your request and have got an answer for you!

You’re asking about the status of Bloganuary and mentioning that you can’t find any information about it. Is that correct? Bloganuary is a month-long blogging challenge that typically takes place in January. If there are no updates or announcements available, it’s possible that details for this year haven’t been released yet. I recommend keeping an eye on the official WordPress.com blog or community forums for any announcements regarding Bloganuary.

I hope that helps!

Not really, no. Effing AI. Now I am going to have to call them and try to talk to a human if I want an answer.

Just need to decide how much I care at this point.