After spending my summer trudging through small towns in Iowa as part of a canvass GOTV (get out the vote) campaign, I came to some revelations about my own ideals about my country.

There is no such thing as a Republican in the true sense — which are those who favor small government and economic individuality — only several different flavors of that party. Whether I like to admit it or not, Libertarians seem to represent Reaganomics better than President Bush and his Cabinet.

The Democrats are in a similar situation, but they have been able to get behind one idea for this election cycle: anybody but Bush. Otherwise, it looks like the Greens and their ideology have a better grasp of social liberalism and party unity than the Dems.

In general, both parties seem to be ignoring the very fundamentals that concern people most: education, the economy, foreign policy and family members who are dying in war. Instead, they are complaining about a war that happened 30 years ago and the actions that Kerry may or may not have done.

There is more discussion about a Bronze Star than discussions on the 43 million people who lack health insurance, the lack of good jobs for the working class and the rising cost of college education. In general, they are forgetting what it is that really matters to the average Joe-shmo who is busting his ass at a Wal-Mart and who is unable to unionize.

I love my country very much. I also have a lot of criticisms about the way it is being run and the way that the people who live here manage their time.

I love the Bill of Rights, but I hate the Patriot Act’s destruction of privacy and its ability to invade my life.

I love the melting pot of this nation, but I hate how race lines divide the country into black and white and red states and blue states.

The foundation of our country was built upon freedom and equality, and for that I am appreciative. However, I still have problems with the fact that women still get only $.73 to every man’s dollar, that black men who are a minority in this country still make up a majority of prison inmates and that homosexuals are still discriminated against because of whom they choose to love.

I still believe in the American dream — that hard work and perseverance will help people succeed— but there are still the alarming facts that 29 percent of Americans with children under the age of 12 do not have enough money to make ends meet while tax breaks go to help the wealthiest 2 percent.

The worst part may not be the politicians, but the sheer laziness of the American people.

They may or not be able to tell you who is even running in the presidential election this year (I have met them, they do exist), but they can tell you the Thursday night lineup on NBC.

We have an obesity epidemic that is killing people almost as fast as smoking, and yet we’re supposed to believe it’s all due to genetics and not McDonald’s.

Right.

I am not about to jump ship and head to Canada for its flawed, but free, health care system and liberal drug laws.

Instead, I plan on sticking around here to see what could happen if politicians stopped bickering about petty problems and people got off their asses and made an attempt to take control over their own destiny.