I am a product of the Alabama Public School System. From elementary school through university. I am from South and it has shaped and crafted my outlook on life and others, good and bad.
When I graduated and moved to Atlanta, it was a real contrast to the rural farm community I left, but I believed that if I worked hard, continued to invest in myself and by merit and performance I could ascend to the top of the corporate ranks. I soon began to realize that the people who held the positions to which I aspired were achieving this by exploitation of people like me and were not invested in an environment to reward hard work and industriousness. Instead, sycophants and nepotism were favored so that positions of power and wealth would remain secured. If that sounds like sour grapes, so be it, but it fundamentally changed me.
And this gets to my core political thrust. A government system that does not provide for its people is illegitimate. Not only do we have political leadership that has been corrupted by corporate money but an economic system that disproportionately rewards the few. The 20th century model no longer applies as we are facing disruptive threats from AI and economic globalization. We need leadership that is motivated and capable of dealing with the challenges that are here and present.
I reside in DC now, not by choice, but by circumstance. The interesting thing is that while I can see the capitol dome from my desk, it may as well be a thousand miles away as I am not part of any group with access to political power. I am and remain an everyman. From this station I voice my opinions from the position of lived experience. I share my reasoning and emotions online as I believe them to be true, fair and in the interest of a better society.