I've grown up in and have always lived in the poorer communities of our nation. I've always held a job and taken care of my family and community to the best of my ability: neighborhood crime watch, meals for neighbors who have none, block parties to gather and support each other, donations to community women's shelters, shoveling snow or yardwork for elderly or handicapped in the community. As far as the Nation goes . . . I've paid more then my far share of taxes.

Absolutely. I have a responsibility to work in order to keep the wheels of commerce in motion, pay my taxes to fund the government and participate in the political process. And in return, when I reach the age of 65 and am in my declining years and I have put in my time doing all of those things, I expect to have my country return the favor by providing for my needs as my health fails and I become less and less able to fulfill these obligations.

If I came into possession of a massive quantity of money tomorrow I wouldn't donate a drop to Planned Parenthood, even though I want them to succeed, or any other big name, national cause. I'd start at home. I'd make sure the local Boys and Girls club had enough money, I'd make sure the library wasn't an embarrassment, the schools weren't falling over, etc etc.

So that's a long way of saying yes. I think sustained national improvement starts on the local level.

I think we should be good citizens and obey the laws of the land we live in. The alternative is anarchy. If we don’t like either the local or national politicians we should do our best to elect better ones. We also, as citizens of the world, should be concerned about what is happening in other countries too. We are all interconnected as human beings on this earth and should try our best to look after each other and make sure we are not destroying the planet. We are only temporary custodians here on earth and we must never forget that.

No, I can’t say I have much feeling of responsibility to any political abstraction such as nation or state, though I do, as you suggest, wish to do the right thing. My feelings of responsibility are toward human kind and other living creatures. I don’t much care what town or country they’re from.

Thinking, on the other hand, is a somewhat different matter. At this point in time I still think it’s a good thing to try to carry my share of the civic load, but I confess that responsibility doesn’t bear upon my feelings as much as my sense of responsibility directly to my fellow humans does.

The abstraction that I relate to at the feeling level is more generally “culture” than specifically “politics”. I’m glad there are people who are better at that than I am. It’s yet another thing I feel I have little talent for. I try to stay informed. I vote. That’s about it.

Yes ...I’m a damn caregiver ..I can’t help it

yes of course. that is why i encourage people to register and vote, and share information about what obstacles they might encounter and how to conquer them, and where to register and vote, and of course i vote myself, and purvey information about what the candidates are doing and what problems need to be solves, so that people may make informed choices. i am unable to get out and knock doors; if i could do that, i certainly would. i have been known to contact government officials to let them know how i feel about an issue or two, and once in a while attend a political meeting.

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