I’m not one much to wear my politics on my sleeve, so I’ll try to keep this as brief as I can. I currently have a major conflict of interest in the political brouhaha that is the primary process and will soon become the presidential election.
The problem?
One candidate has supportive ideas for my profession – granted, I think this person is going about it the wrong way (throwing more money at this particular issue is not going to fix it). But the thought is a good one, and this person is at least taking some stance in that department.
This candidate, however, is choosing to fund the new ideas for that department by taking money from the department by which my husband is indirectly employed. His job is as a contract engineer for another company, working on a government project. Taking money from that government department could result in him losing his job (being a young, new engineer doesn’t do much for a company’s wanting to keep you).
Him losing *his* job would put the cabosh on my going back to school for a masters, and would mean that my current (part time) job would not be enough to support us. So I’d likely have to take a full time job… in the field that said candidate is trying to throw money at, or in some kind of business venture – which would put me looking to a totally different candidate for support.
And there you have it. Why Anna is confused about politics. (not that confusion is anything unusual around here)
As someone who earns a living in a business largely dependent on leaving the tax laws the way they are — I understand your frustration.
But in your case — both of you are i professions where, in the long run, work will not be so hard to find. And really, it’s best to think about politics in terms of what will work well for the country. If things are going well, you will be able to find jobs, even if you have to retrain a bit here and there to keep up as your field evolves.
Besides, what a candidate says he’s for, and what he does in office aren’t always the same. Our current president, for example, was quite opposed to “nation building” until he got elected and saw a chance to “fix” things in Iraq.
I don’t envy your position at all. My current profession is dependant on the state of juvenile justice–so I am not going to be threatened by any political debate on a national level (with one major exception). Its the local politics that got me in the same bind. Vote for the guy who raises taxes to pay for your salary or vote for the guy that wants to cut county employees (thereby possiby putting your own job on the line).
I voted for the moron who raised taxes. There was *no* 3rd party candidate.
I personally love how our current system has a way of making us ruin ourselves to save ourselves.