Left Out of the Prom

Many schools have both a Junior Prom and a Senior Prom.  My school did not.  Why?

It's because the decision as to whether or not to have a Junior Prom was left in the hands of the Seniors.  Each year, it was up to them to decide, as a class, whether or not the Juniors would be able to hold a prom.  And the Seniors, each and every year, would decide the same thing.  No.  No, there will be no Junior Prom.  Why?

Because they did not deserve it yet.  They had not been in school as long, they had not worked as hard, they had simply not paid their dues yet.  Besides, when those Seniors were Juniors, they did not get to enjoy a prom.  Why should the current Juniors get to enjoy a prom when they did not?

The whole idea that some people are not worthy enough, that they have not put in the time and effort to justify what  they get, that you are entitled where they are not, permeates our political landscape.  It the "others" privileges that put us at risk and restrain our resources, not the ones we get.  Those privileges are our reward because we earned them, we worked hard for them, and the "other" did not.

Many of us strive to elect politicians whom we believe we will believe will cut or withhold resources from those we deem not worthy.  Over recent decades, Georgia has careened wildly from a state with one party rule by Democrats to one party rule by Republicans, with very little transition time in-between.  This limits the ability of compromise, of two sides working together to bring about stronger, more inclusive legislation.  This creates laws that strives to leave more people out of the prom.

District gerrymandering and other factors have created monolithic voting areas, where there is very little opposition or discussion, indeed, where it can become dangerous even to utter an opposing point of view.  Sometimes people vote reflectively, without a lot of thought, without a lot of consideration to what their own interests may be.

I'm sure that there are number of public school personnel, lunch room workers and bus drivers, many of whom voted for the party currently in complete control of Georgia, who are surprised to find that they may have there health insurance cut off.  That these dedicated workers are going to be defined as part time workers and thereby excluded from something no one in modern society can do without - adequate health insurance.  Their hours are such, particularly with the bus drivers, that it is very difficult to find other work, particularly full time work that provides health insurance.  And instead of being more inclusive, instead of striving to expand who can get health insurance, they are going to throw more people out into an environment where the state has decided not to expand Medicaid, and is fighting the Affordable Care Act tooth and nail. More and more people are being left out of the prom.

When you vote for people who say they hate government and want to reduce it's size, and that's your philosophy, that's fine.  But when you look at where to cut, don't start with the "other".  Start with yourself, and think about what you are willing to cut that benefits you.  Because, trust me, they won't hesitate to do just that.

When the prom doors close, do not be surprised if you are standing on the outside, locked out, left out of the prom.  Surprise!