Good Republican Sheep

My parents are your typical good Republican sheep. My mother has said she votes by looking for the "R" next to someone's name. My father still maintains he voted for Prop 8 because he didn't want them teaching about Gays in schools. My mother has previously stated the same reason for her vote for Prop 8. (Remember that Prop 8 had nothing in it pertaining to education, and that the FAIR Education Act was signed into law in July of this year.) They supported the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the richest people, not realizing that these tax cuts gave them no benefit at all. My parents have always supported whatever measure or ideas brought up by mainstream Republicans.

When I mentioned the recent news about the Republicans not supporting the extension of the payroll tax cuts that would benefit the working people, I shouldn't have been surprised by their blind support of that position. My father spouted off that while the effect was the raising of taxes, it was really just letting something expire and that everything needs to be paid for. (Never mind the fact that tax cuts for the wealthiest never have to be paid for...) And then it occurred to me: these payroll tax cuts don't matter to them! My father makes around $120k a year. But this is a Social Security tax break, and as Think Progress points out, "the [Social Security] tax only applies to the first $106,800 of a worker’s wages." So my parents will receive the maximum amount of benefits, but it won't be the full 2% of their income that it could be.

Though now that I'm writing about it and seeing the numbers, I don't see why $2,136 wouldn't be important to them. My parents are drowning in credit card debt, and that money could go to paying that off. Once again, maybe they're just being good Republican sheep.

On the other side of things, my fiancee makes less than the $106,800 that the Social Security maxes out at, so we'd get the full 2% benefit, though not a full $2,136. We have no credit card debt. We have been trying to buy a house, so all the money we can save will go towards our new home.

I often wonder where I came from. With a family so blindly conservative, how did they raise such a critical thinker? Even my sister is intelligent, driving towards more free thinking. (We will see how far she drifts from them as she leaves home. Leaving their house really helped me grow.) Somehow I've changed them in a few ways, educating my mother every so often about the crazy things Republicans have done, showing them that even us gays deserve our rights. My father now supports marriage equality. I'll keep hoping for them to make educated votes. It bothers me so much when they vote against their own interests. I think it bothers them that I didn't grow up to be another good Republican sheep.

Good Morning. This is God.

I saw a "Good Morning, this is God" poster on Etsy a while back and felt that it needed altering. Here's my version.

Good Morning. This is God. There are some things that need to be made clear.
I have 7 billion children. I cannot give my devoted attention to each and every one of you each and every day.
Please do your part to make our world a better place.
Instead of asking me to provide shelter for the homeless, please volunteer at a homeless shelter.
Instead of asking me to provide food for the hungry, please donate to a food bank.
Instead of asking me to heal the sick, please donate to medical centers.
Instead of asking me to spread love throughout the world, please perform random acts of kindness.
Instead of asking me to heal the environment, please reduce your own waste and plant a tree.
Instead of asking me to help those who are hurting, please volunteer at a call center.
Instead of asking me to have that cute crush call you, please call them yourself.
While I am flattered by your opinion of me, I wish you would do many of these things yourself.
I have made you with the power to change this world, and I would appreciate it if you use more of that power for good.
It is easier for me to focus on the larger problems if you do your part to assist with the smaller problems that you can solve or prevent. Then, hopefully, we can all work together to make the world a better place for all of my children.