Something different...

Some days teaching can be frustrating and even frightening, as I see a level of apathy among young people that I believe has increased even since I was in high school ten years ago. Sometimes, though, I am impressed by the mature musings of my students. We live in an era when more and more young people are choosing to reject political labels and parties and register as independents. When I ask them who will fix the problems of the future, they do not instantly reply, "the government," as I expect those that came before them might have. Many of my students do not trust that government is here to help, and I can't say that I blame them. If we choose not to rely on our government, however, we need to take "For the People, By the People" to heart, and get involved in politics ourselves. This may mean getting off of our rear ends and actually working to achieve local political goals. We need to start grassroots movements for change that are concrete, and not just political rhetoric. I like this shirt because it rejects the helpless attitude of many Americans and puts the responsibility for change squarely where it belongs, on the shoulders of the people. I appreciate its optimistic view in a pessimistic time.

Check it out at: http://www.bant-shirts.com/people-t-shirt.htm

Relaunch of Plainclothes Politics

With the birth of Insanitees, my new t-shirt side project, I want to redirect the purpose and focus of Plainclothes Politics. In the post-Bush era I'm hoping we will finally move beyond the increasingly boring anti-Bush and Obama-worshipping tees (as amusing as they were.) I want to review t-shirts I find related to political issues and current events.
Because I am a politics nerd at heart, I will also link to current events that I find interesting, and maybe even add some political cartoons I have been drawing lately. Basically, if you want to get your politics geek on, this will hopefully be the place!