I’ve been asked about what got us interested in politics.  After all, we’re in an area with few people (votes) and are pretty much ignored by the state’s elected officials.  We’ve concluded that as long as we’re sucking air, we still have inalienable rights.  Every story has a background, and so I’ll try to explain… maybe not so briefly, as to how we “got so political.”

I’ve always been interested in politics.  I was raised by Republicans, very conservative” Goldwater Republicans.”  As I grew into adulthood, I came to realize that  strong independence and accepting responsibility for one’s actions were not necessarily natural characteristics, but rather learned behavior.   Raised with the idea that hard work, honesty, patriotism and compassion for others were things you just do was the norm  ‘back then.’   It was a way to honor God, honor our country and our parents; it was a way to prosper, and if not prosper, you learned from it— picked yourself up, dusted yourself off, and go again.

It seems that today those beliefs are totally foreign concepts to many and this has been difficult  to accept.   As we began our family, began home education and  moved to the country without tv and limited radio, we read books…school books, history books, and most importantly, the Bible.   We raised our children on real history, too, not the revised kind.   The kids read and understood the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, and they learned to appreciate our American roots.  (They also learned there is right and wrong.  No victims here!  If you did something that was not to be tolerated, you accepted the responsibility and the punishment.  Yes, Mom even learned her lesson—once.  Saying a bad word was punishable by soap in the mouth.  I took it—I took it like a lesson to be learned.  And I might add, the soap wasn’t nearly so bad as the fear of having a child of mine repeat something I’d said in polite (or even impolite) company.)  But I digress…

As our children got older, more savvy to government, the way it is vs. the way it should be, and as we came to have a computer in our home as well as satellite tv, the sponges we raised became keenly aware that something is definately wrong with this picture.  This picture of eminent domain abuses, avoidance of personal responsibility by way of becoming a victim and playing the blame game…this picture of the taking the fruits of our own hard labor and handing it over to someone that won”t work.  Interest in politics grew…opinions  matured.  Internet searches began in earnest when they heard a man talking about freedom, the Constitution, sound money…Ron Paul spoke about an America the kids were raised to believe in.

Home education is big on field trips, so our oldest, a graduate,  set up a “field trip” for the family.  It was our first ever precinct meeting.  Now,  we’ve been involved in politics on several levels, walked blocks with literature, helped with the Republican booth at the county fair, written some letters to the editor…things like that…but as the kids are about grown, school is about over, it’s time for a change…political involvement has been bumped up a few levels.

There is so much happening so fast that it’s difficult to stay informed.  But we will continue to seek what is right, continue to learn, and quite possibly we’ll have to at some point or another, pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and go at it again.  2009 should be a very interesting year!