Thursday, January 1, 2015

Best and Worse of Years in One

   It's been decades since I've seen my country in this much social turmoil.
   Like a lot of others, I had those high hopes for change several years ago, but those hopes have long since been dashed. This man of such Nobel peace that I thought he had the potential of bringing all our nation together abandoned the ideology of forward thinking that, in my opinion, brought him to office. He let valuable time pass without addressing himself to the upcoming youth of our country. Had he been as aggressive in that area as I had hoped at the time, I like to imagine he may well have inspired many of todays young men in such a timely fashion that a particular child of yesterday did not grow to the age he did, only to be shot down in the streets of Ferguson, MO in the manner he did this past year.
   Despite that, my own state appears to have made some great strides towards the respect we would think all peoples garnered. My once choice for Governor is instead the Lt. Governor, with a position to make a difference in all our lives. Our new Governor has made some key appointments in departments that have an enormous effect on the quality of life of so many Alaskans, like Health and Social Services and Corrections. Last year also saw a new Director appointed to the Alcohol Beverage Control agency that seems not to be a mere figurehead. She apparently understands that documentation is not enforcement. Documentation does not save lives, enforcement does. Between that agency and the aforementioned two departments alone, what an impact these appointments have on our society. For starters, perhaps we can stop treating "those people" worse than we treat "those animals" in our society.