Think Globally, Act Locally - Take Care of Business in Your Hometown

Former Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell Convicted of Bribery

I went to a Protestant seminary that is considered liberal. That means that liberals AND conservatives could go there. If it was a conservative seminary, then it would mean ONLY conservatives could go there. My understanding/experience of religious conservatives is that they are intolerant of ideas and concepts they do not agree with.
Religious liberals maintain they are tolerant of ideas and concepts they do not agree with, but they make it clear that they believe their ideas are superior to yours if you disagree with them.
Since my main interest is in the exchange of ideas it matters not to me if people agree with me, but whether they are capable of having an open and intelligent dialogue. I don't have everything figured out, and I strongly distrust anyone who claims they have ANYTHING figured out.
In this spirit, when some of my liberals friends in class one day got all vexed over Third World Debt, I pointed out that being manipulated to spend time, emotion, energy caring about something thousands of miles away benefited the systems that allowed the conditions they were upset about to exist in the first place.
The biggest impact a person can make is locally, in their own hometown. I am more concerned about the former mayor where I live being convicted of bribery (see photo above) than I am Casey Anthony.
I would suggest that if a banker lives in your hometown has contributed to the environment that has created massive debt in the third world, that you picket his house. If the local politicians that go to your church are found to be corrupt, make them stand before the congregation and explain their behavior.
Better yet, vote them and their cronies out of office. That's what happened here in Secaucus. All of the former mayor's cronies on council have been defeated. The various town officials that have embezzled town funds are being indicted and removed from their positions.
In a reaction to the way the high school principal and school supt. treated a high school student who questioned school policies, the town voted down the school budget by a wide margin. Secaucus is one of the few localities in the state that had regularly voted for its school budget, even if it meant tax increases.
Corruption in New Jersey is rampant, but in a movement that transcends partisan politics, voters are working to clear out the miscreants. If they are successful, it will be because they have spent time and energy working on the local level rather than worrying about the latest distractions on FOX News, CNN and other national media outlets.