I just completed a 24-day road trip with my wife and 3 young kids (all under the age of 10). Now I can get back to work so I can rest! I have to say that it was pretty good when I worked in Europe and had 5-8 weeks of vacation time every year – standard from day 1 of work. My colleagues do a better job of unplugging and taking off entire months, usually July or August. When I returned to the US I felt lucky to get 3 weeks, and I saved up time over the past 6 years to use for this trip.
The Mason-Dixon Line was well signed as we crossed into Hancock, MD. I cannot honestly understand how the confederate flag can be acceptably displayed. To me, it represents how easy it is for social differences to explode when enough people (1) believe that their government is against them and (2) are prepared to over-throw it violently. The Boston Tea Party is symbolic of the Revolutionary War and was about British control, taxation without representation, etc. But the modern-day Tea Party has more similarity with the issues and emotions that started the Civil War, including “Northern aggression” and racism. Those were my thoughts as we spent time in Colonial Williamsburg. I started asking people what they thought were the most important issues right now. Of course, the most frequent response was “jobs”, to which I followed-up “What’s most important for sustained job growth?” This was not by any means a good sampling method, I was just looking for anecdotes and trends. Here is what I noted, though: progressives tended to respond with practical ideas and conservatives with ideology. “Affordable health care;” “Keeping teachers and police officers employed;” “Job training for skills needed in green energy industries.” Very challenging, but still these are specific and measurable things. Contrast that with “More state’s rights;” “Less government in our lives;” and my favorite: “Keep the government out from between me and my doctor so I can decide how to spend my money.” I guess insurance companies are better advocates for…well…themselves. I guess women’s reproductive decisions don’t count in this argument, either.
On our road trip (from MO to PA to VA to SC to FL and back) I saw many disturbing billboards, several with reference to “billboardsagainstobama.com”. When you go to this website it has the new name “Billboards for America”. More positive sounding, I guess. “Take back America in November!” The one that really got me was “God is not a socialist”. How f-ing backward-ass can statements get?? Shouldn’t these types of believers think that their god is a dictator?
I hear France often referred to negatively as socialistic. Our first child was born in France, and I have to say the medical system is excellent. Many rights and benefits are given to women and children in Europe in general. When we arrived in South Carolina to visit with a friend some years after her nasty divorce, we learned that some places in the world are much less friendly to women and children. I do not want to get too specific, out of respect for confidentiality, but the short story is that a millionaire moved his wife and kids from New York state to South Carolina because he could successfully prevent her from getting any money and have more say over the kids’ education etc. Where does this state rank in family values? I forget. Education? Look it up.
I also want to be careful not to generalize “The South” or “religious people.” My wife grew up Christian in Texas and Florida and I have come to respect “Southern Hospitality” as a true regional cultural thing that is good. I do want to generalize conservatives, though. There is some “let them eat their cake” attitude among them all. Some kind of “God will sort it out if we get it wrong” belief. Some sort of “man’s place and a woman’s place” order of things. It is as if we should not have faith in our institutions–that would be sacrilege.