Dear ( ),
Having grown up in Missouri, the only child of two secondary school teachers, an enthusiastic member of a Baptist church, a participant in every election since my 18th birthday, having been educated in the public school system on through my higher education, and now having obtained a post-graduate degree abroad, I look back on my political upbringing and find myself lost.
Though I admit that I started school here in Belgium a month after the tragedies in New York and Washington, and cannot honestly say that those events would not have stirred me emotionally and politically if I had continued to live in the states, I venture to guess that I would, even then, have find myself lost in the politics of America.
When I say lost, I use/create a term to describe bewilderment, dissatisfaction, awe, and insignificance. As I do not want to lump together only negatives, I also include hope, belief, want, democracy and representation.
As my junior and high school civics classes were taught by the resident coaching expert dressed in coaching shorts and a t-shirt emblazoned with our school colors and mascot, I daresay the things I should have learned, I didn't. And knowing a wide range of other people my age and younger, neither did they. We learned that voting is a privilege, yes, but also that the mystical word politics did/does not require participation--the beauty of representation.
But let's get back to the now. I'm 27 years old, living in Belgium, and at times I am so excited about Belgian politics, that if I could only master the language, I can see myself wanting to get involved, join a party, campaign, speak-out--make what feels possible here, a difference.
I have the curse/blessing of being an eternal optimist, of feeling that all things are possible. Of believing the cliché American/Midwestern dream that dreamers can become doers, that satisfaction comes with hard work, and that failure sometimes makes you stronger and that you can dust yourself off and get up and still make something of yourself. However, I also believe that the underprivileged deserve nudges, that education shouldn't be expensive, that a founding religious idea shouldn't trap a current nation, that gasoline should 3 dollars a gallon, that the environment should be a priority, that healthcare should be available to everyone and the list goes on and on. This is what gets me, the eternal optimist, down.
What I'm asking from you in this letter, is information on how I can get caught up on politics. Obviously, I want to get involved somehow. We, as a state, or portion thereof, have voted you to represent us, and by default you have been chosen to represent me. I don’t want to be politically lost anymore. I'm willing to put forth effort, read books, etc. I'm willing to dig deeper than the political update I'd hear on National Public Radio (please continue funding), CNN, or my local newspaper or nightly 6 o'clock news. I have to dig, as I've still got my youth, but I have to make up for lost time.
Please send any reading suggestions, websites, news outlets you would recommend.
I greatly appreciate your time and effort,
Andrea Wilkinson