As of late, I have felt this niggling in me, this sort of freakish call of duty like that of lifting a car off of a trapped child in a moment of sheer adrenalin-driven heroism. Simultaneously, I have felt a tugging at my lady bits, not in the sexual way you might assume from me, but in this way that I feel like pounding my chest and gnashing my teeth and gathering all the children and building a refuge so we can START OVER!

Look at the 2016 Presidential Campaigns, for example, a bipolar event driving a mind-numbing divide into the nation; Democrats and Republicans, rich and poor, Black and White (and Blue), Us and Them… How are we really going to get to the crux of any matter?  The idea that any president is going to “get done” every agenda within 4 years of presidency is absolutely absurd. The time President Barack Obama has spent in the White House is a clear example of how we need to change our way of thinking and our expectations, and that a term as President of the United States isn’t about carrying out a certain party’s agenda but about continuing the legacy of our country’s ability to be the great leader of the world; ever-evolving, a truly free country, free of judgement, free of prejudice.  But, starting over every 4-8 years before we’ve had a chance to see any hard results is counter-productive, and makes Americans seem reactive and flimsy in character.

Dem. Hillary Clinton, is clearly the more educated and well spoken of the two presidential candidates, but can’t seem to shake the semi bitter, semi self-righteous Ice Queen with a personal vendetta to fulfill. And quite simply, she just doesn’t reach me as a fellow woman.  And then, of course, there is the 3rd Grade buffoon, Rep. Donald Trump, who is constantly bullying the other kids on the playground, who is the loudest person in the room at all times but doesn’t actually have anything substantial to say, ever.

Hey, I love that we are such a random country just making this shit up as we go.  We are creative, we are driven, and we are cunning.  American soil, particularly, is cultivated with hard competition and spit in the wind. I rather like that we find challenge and humor in everything we do… but it’s gone too far. When an action is done for the sake of doing something, then we have lost our purpose and we need to repurpose.  Fighting just to keep fighting, building just to keep building, arguing for the sake of arguing…does not equal understanding, growth, or progress.  This is what robots were designed to do.  Are we just a bunch of idiot robots malfunctioning in this chaos?

I’m sorry to say, but The United States of America presents itself like a daytime talk show. I suspect any moment Maury Povich will make an appearance and announce that Hillary Clinton has been having an affair with Donald Trump this entire time. Why not, right? Would that even surprise anyone at this rate?  It’s like when you’re dating someone, and you let it get more serious than you really should even though you know deep down it’s a bad idea but you do it anyway, and all you can do is hope that you’ll eventually find some reason to like that person.  And the only reason we do this to ourselves, the only reason why we suffer the insufferable is because we don’t think we can do any better.  So, looking at our government, goons in every corner, every speech, every ad, every day a reminder of “Fear! Fear! and more Fear!  And plenty more of “Blame!!”  I start to think…”Americans suffer from low self-esteem.”  People with low self-esteem either overcompensate or hide.  I’d say we have excelled at both. American men are the kings of overcompensation and where the fuck are the women in all this madness?

The truth is, I’m not well versed in politics and all the agendas that are on the table, especially when it comes to foreign affairs.  I know, that’s awfully ignorant of me as we are in bed with so much money and political agenda overseas.  But there’s so much to fix, so much grim reality at home, that it’s all I can do but focus my love and care here.  As an American woman, as a mother, a working middle to lower class citizen, I am thinking from this platform, this place that I know…home.  I’m hearing little in these debates that has hit home for me.  I think we can do better, I think we can do better than what either presidential candidate stands for.  I don’t think we can feel it from the top at this point, I think we need to feel the strength from where we stand.

I believe that the only way to get anything done anymore is to organize from the ground up; build nonprofits, coalitions, any sort of group that represents our true American grit and values, and who will rally for them peacefully pushing agendas to achieve the needs of common Americans…meaning the rest of us.

My ideas are simple, therefore I don’t understand how they can’t be done.  As I said before, my focus is directly at home, but this can be relative in the big picture as well, if projected properly and can be seen for its true intent and potential.

One example, the homeless.  Many of our urban cities are plagued with an increasing homeless population.  Americans are torn every day between their empathy and disgust. Many of the homeless suffer from addiction, mental illness, disabilities, disease, some are criminals, some are none of these, simply people with nearly nothing.  We haven’t come up with very many successful ways of helping the homeless, and I mean really actually helping them.  I don’t mean displacing homeless people so that wealthier people don’t have to look at them, I mean helping them back into the communities as respectable citizens of this country.  There are two subjective feelings that have immeasurable curing and motivational powers, Joy and Pride.  No matter how many clinics you schlep together, no matter how many shelters you erect, none of it matters if the people who you made them for never feel joy or pride.  How do we help our homeless feel joy and pride?  What about giving them purpose?  I live in San Francisco, where there is a shit ton of money everywhere you look.  We are surrounded by some of the most successful corporations in the world…surely at least one of these corporations can create a giant, non-profit housing community that establishes free communal living for the homeless, whom in return work directly for the city’s street cleaning department, therefore earning proper health and retirement benefits while instilling job skills and opportunities for achievement and growth.  When you are productive and learning you inherently begin to feel joy; which increases one’s motivation, not only improving the quality of one’s life but also by increasing one’s chance of overcoming addiction.  There are win-win situations that may not make companies money but can be self-serving and self-generating, and is just the right thing to do; but not without the help of large companies with large tax write-off capabilities to help sponsor housing programs like this.

What about education?  I honestly don’t know what the right thing is as far as private or public, I just know what IS, isn’t working.  There are not enough families and educators making the decisions and voting on what makes up our public school systems.  I am not a school teacher, I’m not even a very good student, but I can tell you that by vicariously reliving grade school through my daughter’s education I am disdained.  The teachers are exhausted, underpaid, and highly under appreciated, and their resources are becoming more and more restrictive, diluted, and for some teachers, all but eliminated.  In the way of education, I feel we need to be reaching out to other countries that have had success, especially those that have turned their education around in recent years, such as Finland. Why are we so proud that we can’t let others be examples of their excellence?  Why can’t we take notes on values that others can teach us?  Why have we not taken extensive survey and asked our American families and educators directly what WE want and then do everything in our power to achieve it?  The more opportunities we offer all American children to achieve greatness the more probable we will stay the leaders of the free world. Every American child should have the same opportunity to be great no matter what their economic upbringing looks like.

In regards to my question, “where are the women?” While that question is rather accusing, as it implies that women have been absent, I think it’s valid in these recent times of political ego, violence, and fear among the people.  In the past 10, fuck it, 100 years, how many Americans have died at the hands of a woman?  How many women have performed acts of violence fueled by rage or hate ?  How many wars are women currently leading?  I don’t need to even provide you with any numbers to back me up, or statistics to prove how inherently more peaceful women are because there’s no need to.  Right?  It’s just not even close, women are not so violent.

But this isn’t to say that American men are rabid savages either, sword fighting and ball busting and resorting to old world ways.  I’m saying that American men are finally cracking at the pressure of being a leader in a world that is too big to handle…alone.  More women should be involved in policies and budgets that affect the common people.  When it comes to taking great risks, women should consciously be seated among the great minds weighing in for the people, and sure, heed caution when needed.  The mentality of protecting women and children is slightly dated.  In recent shootings, or acts of terrorism, I don’t think there was any real concern, specifically, in protecting women and children so why all the bravado?  It no longer feels like a chivalrous concern but a means to keep women out of important decision-making that effect families directly. I’m not really a feminist, I really do love men and empathize with their positioning in this time in life.  In some ways I feel a sense of purpose in easing our men, giving them safety through support and kindness.  Historically women have excelled in some of the most important roles that hold up the highest value of our country such as: teacher, doctor, inventor, lawyer, Mom.   Women can support and have greater impact within our country, taking on the nurturing of this great land once again.

So, again,  where are the American Women?