Transcript
Megan from Renton, WA: I, unfortunately, just succumb to the idea that my vote doesn't really matter and which is, which is very sad because I know that it does. I know that I need to get my voice heard, but I really — I don't know, something out there is preventing me from voting.
Sydney from Seattle, WA: I grew up as a very poor kid; I lived in Europe and coming to this country, I dreamt about being able to vote.
Gerrit from Seattle, WA: I'm 18 years old. I just registered to vote recently. I think it will feel good. I'm kind of nervous about it.
Raul from Kennewick, WA: Immigration is close and dear to my heart. My father's an immigrant. He got caught six times. He's come back over seven times. Any time you have politics that gets involved with family, it's going to be hurting people. One out of two people by the year 2040 are going to be Hispanic and so we need to get everyone involved.
Olga from Napavine, WA: If my father had not been allowed into the United States because of his illegal status, then, then he would not have met my mother. I would never have been born.
Andre from Seattle, WA: Well, I don't want people coming in and taking my jobs because now there's all these people who get really good educations in other countries, but I also think it's one of the things that this country was founded on, so if you are going to go with the immigration thing, I say you have to go with the immigration thing.
Adam from Seattle, WA: If I am wrongly detained by some fluke, then I'm okay with that, I'd much rather have to spend a few days or a few hours in detainment than something getting looked over.
Andre from Seattle, WA: I guess the thing that impacts me the most right now is what's happening to civil liberties in this country. It's tough going around knowing that you kind of have to watch yourself. All they have to do is make a minor mistake with some fingerprints and you're in jail and gag orders are slapped on, so you can't even talk about why you are there. That's pretty scary.
Elke from Seattle, WA: Long term care, you know, I know perfectly well I will be not be covered for that. Should I be alone and should I need care, should I have to go into assisted living situation, I simply wouldn't have the money. I would have to be, I guess, covered by welfare if it still exists.
Aaron from Seattle, WA: I haven't been to a doctor in about 11 years, because I don't have health insurance and I can't afford to, you know, pay for it. This administration's desire to wage a war that's costing billions and billions of dollars, not to mention human lives, and we can spend that money on universal health care, on education, on any number of things.
Karen from Bellevue, WA: Oh, my ribbon? I bought it several years ago but I wore it sporadically, not a lot. I bought it right after 9-1-1 and I wore it sporadically there and my son left to go to Iraq and I saw him the last time and I put my ribbon on the left side and that's, like, over my heart. So, that's where I've been wearing it the whole time that he has been gone. When he comes home, it's our agreement, he is going to take the ribbon off of my collar and we are going to replace it on the right collar and I'll wear it while the rest of the troops are over there, until they come home.
Harry from Mount Vernon, WA: We now have war at our doorstep. Up until now, most of the conflicts have been separated by the oceans to the east and the west, but now, finally, it's in our front door and we must win this war. We will prevail.
Oscar from Bellevue, WA: I have a son, 23, who is a sergeant in the marines. If we export democracy, perhaps the ultimate way to do that is to wait until we are asked. No one likes anything forced upon them, whether it's government or anything else.
Karen from Bellevue, WA: Democracy in the US would be worth dying for. I'm not really sure and I haven't really given it a lot of thought on how I feel about my son dying for someone else's democracy that probably or may never happen.
Special thanks to all the viewers who shared their points of view. Thanks for watching, and stay tuned for future Talking Back programs.
Produced by Mad as Birds. Producers: Peggy Case and Michael Gross. Editor: Michael Gross. Director of Photography: Joseph Hudson. Music by Thomas McGurk.
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