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The Freedom of Choice (warning: rant)

As we approach the presidential election and the candidates debate the issues from foreign policy to the economy, many Americans will also discuss, debate, ponder and hopefully make the best decision come election day. I am no different, which is why I'm writing this post today. To rant about one issue that’s been ongoing for many years and the language around it.

Of course the main issues that I’m most concerned with are health care, energy, environment, immigration, education, technology and the health of our economy. These issues are most immediate and critical to slowing the downward slope that this country is on, but that doesn’t mean the social issues, such as abortion and gay marriage, aren’t important because they are.

There are certain issues that are closely tied with one's political party and one of those issues is abortion. Of course, there are some republicans who are pro-choice, not many but they do exist, and on the other side of the fence I'm sure there could be democrats and independents who are not pro-choice. I personally haven't met any, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there.

With all the talk about McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who on the surface appears to be a woman with a strong work ethic and a lot of conviction for her work and family, it has definitely made me take notice of her, as it has with most Americans. Despite her strength of character and McCain's highly, and possibly risky, strategic move to pick her as his running mate, I find it highly unlikely that democratic women will vote for the McCain/Palin ticket simply because she's a woman.

I would hope that most women care about the issues and whether the candidate is qualified and can get the job done, and not the gender or sex of the candidate or the color of their skin. Sadly, there are many ignorant people in this country where that does play into it, but as a whole, I do hope that women are intelligent enough to stick to the issues and needs of this country and not give any weight to Palin being a woman.

So with all the Palin talk saturating the airways and Internet, one of many issues that she stands together with McCain on is abortion and overturning Roe v. Wade and leaving it to the individual states to decide.

Today I found myself, as I have so many times before, pondering the issue of abortion and the language that surrounds it. If it's an issue you care about then I imagine you are either pro-choice or pro-life. Frankly, I think that republicans have hijacked the term "pro-life" because when it comes down to it, EVERYONE is pro-life. The opposite of pro-life is pro-death. The only pro-death I know is the death penalty.

And isn't it strange how most people who are "pro-life" are also in favor of the death penalty. Now that in of itself is a contradiction. But this isn't about the death penalty it's about the term "pro-life."

Besides the people who believe in selective pro-death (the death penalty), nobody in their right mind is pro-death, which is why I feel the term "pro-life" doesn't work for the abortion issue. We are all pro-life. And we are all anti-abortion.

The real issue at hand, is choice. There isn't a single woman who is pro-abortion because nobody wants to kill a fetus. Nobody is for abortion or wants an abortion and all of us would like to see the number of abortions significantly reduced (and making them illegal is not the answer to reducing them).

However, many of us, both men and women, believe in having the freedom to choose. The freedom of choice is the issue. So if abortion is an issue you are concerned about then in reality you are either pro-choice or anti-choice (in regards to abortion).

I love language and words, which is why when I was reading today about Palin's social conservative views and position on abortion, the term “pro-life” jumped out at me. It bothers me every time I hear it, see it and read it. I don't like that republicans have hijacked the term because we are all pro-life, and some of us are also pro-choice and believe in the freedom to choose.

The Fall of the American Empire

Friday night, I saw a Tweet from my friend (and client) Aaron Fulkerson of MindTouch and he had tweeted "The only thing more shocking than us being at war for this long is that everyone seems to be ok with it."

So I tweeted back saying that it shocks me too and that most Americans are zombies living their lives aimlessly. Then he tweeted back that we are too and asked the question "What are we doing?"

He's right. What are we doing? Most of us are doing nothing because we are comfortable and too selfish and self-absorbed to even care enough to take our precious time and actually give it to a campaign, cause or organization that is trying to make a change.

Sure we exercise our freedom of speech to denounce the war, and other things we want changed, but are any of us really doing anything to effectively change this country for the better and stop the destruction, violence and killing in Iraq or the degradation of America.

As a whole, we aren't, which is exactly why this country is in trouble. We are on the decline and even though we see it, talk about it and write about it, beyond that most of us aren't doing a damn thing to stop the bleeding.

I believe the single most important factor in stopping the bleed is education, but not just any education. We are failing as country and are failing our children by not steering them towards obtaining degrees in engineering, computer science and other technical degrees.

Instead, Millennials or GenY is a generation of kids and young adults who have been raised by helicopter parents who doted over these GenYers and we've raised a generation of "all about me" kids who are apathetic and uninterested in serving their communities or going into careers that can save this country.

And before you hall off and call me an alarmist, extremist or point out that’s a blanket statement, let me say that I’m not talking about every single GenYer. There are some amazing ones who are brilliant and innovative and are doing incredible work to improve our economy and make this world and our communities a better place. But they are few and far between.

Intel Chairman Craig Barrett, who I'm a huge fan of, is acutely aware of the degradation of America and has been very vocal about it over the years. Barrett was recently quoted in a letter from the House Republican Study Committee to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer that requests for the decoupling of two issues, illegal immigration and legal immigration for more temporary H-1B visa for highly skilled workers. In the letter, Barrett is quoted saying "With Congress gridlocked on immigration, it's clear that the next Silicon Valley will not be in the United States." I agree with Barrett and am very alarmed by it.

Our own lack of highly skilled workers combined with not granting enough H-1B visas to fill the vacant job openings is only going to add to our already growing number of problems this country is facing. Drastic change is what we need and I'll be very interested to see what each candidate says during the upcoming conventions and debates. I’ll also be interested to see the percentage of GenYers who come out to vote on November 4. If you're not registered to vote yet, check here to see your state's deadline to register.

Watch this 42-second video titled Citizen's Cry, a PSA made possible by Palm Inc. And check out our Bub.blicio.us post on it.

I will hold out hope that GenYers will get out and vote because they have the power to be heard by their vote and make a change in this country. Despite my continually pressed-for-time life, I've made a point to carve out the time to educate myself on the issues and candidates for every election. Yes, I probably could carve out more time to canvass and work phone banks for the candidates I support, but I fit it in where I can to do my small part and hopefully make a difference.

I do it because I do care about our future, despite my gloom and doom outlook. The one thing I love most about canvassing is having the opportunity to go door to door and meet the people and hear about the issues that they care about and discuss with them how we can make a change for the better. It's not only inspiring, it's gives me hope when I talk to people who do care and are trying to change this country for the better and stop the bleeding.

But I'm still sadden at how many people do not vote or only vote in presidential election years because in our own ugly history there was a time that women and minorities did not have the right to vote. I vote not only for the future of this country, but to honor the women and minorities who came before me and fought, and some died in that fight, so I can have the right to vote.

Not only do we need to encourage GenYers to vote, we need to get them to see the importance of obtaining an education, and hopefully one that will lead to a technical career or as an educator, because I believe it is critical to our future.

Regardless of which presidential candidate you are supporting, the good news is that they both support and are in favor of increasing the number of H-1B visas. Because Americans lack the expertise needed and we don't grant enough H-1B visas, we are basically letting talent slip through our fingers and letting other countries benefit.

Our own kids may not want to get technical degrees, but as Barrett points out, there are thousands of foreign-born professionals who are educated in America and have the talent and skills to fill the thousands of open positions, many of which are in Silicon Valley, but instead we are forcing these highly skilled professionals and recent graduates to leave this country due to the lack of H-1B visas being issued.

Mike Arrington of TechCrunch wrote a post back in April of this year about the H-1B visa program and included in his post the letter from the House Republican Study Committee. If you care about this issue, definitely read his post because it's important, and despite our differences, it's one issue that both republicans and democrats can agree on.

If you want to do more than vote and challenge yourself to address the global needs in education, economic development, the environment and healthcare, then I encourage you to check out Intel's INSPIRE•EMPOWER Challenge.

Funny how one tweet late on a Friday night has made me re-examine how much I'm personally doing to stop the war or change the degradation of America. And sadly, I realize that I'm doing very little and I definitely could be doing more. We all could be doing more and we had better start doing more or this nation will fall, and it will fall in our lifetime.

Watch Dear Mr. President written and performed by Pink and featuring the Indigo Girls.