Here is an unattended life guard station from the beach in Galveston, Texas. I took this picture last week.

This is the Tea Party/Republican view of our society. They feel we should all be left alone to fight the rip currents of life.

Under the Tea Party/ Republican Party, we'd have privatized social security that rises and falls at the whims of the markets. Is this what you want when it is time to retire? What happens when you want to retire after a lifetime of working and the market is down?

We'd go back to health care where you can be kicked off coverage because you get sick.  The new Health Care Reform bill prevents this from happening anymore.

We'd have schools and parks starved for resources even more so than now.

We'd have financial institutions deregulated and food safety regulations stripped. Do you want another financial collapse and more food recalls?

Do you think for a moment that the private sector will do the right thing without being watched over? Do you think for a moment that your hard work will matter when you get sick or when it is time to retire?

The current hard times are in good degree the responsibility of Wall Street greed, George W. Bush, and of individual citizens who bought more than they could afford.

The election coming up is about competing ideas as much as it is about individual candidates.  It is, of course, also about the legitimate frustration people are feeling in tough times.

We've got to decide how we are going to live. It may be satisfying to vent anger. But when all is said and done, how will that expression of anger serve you when you need the help you've earned through your work and your care of your family?

If we don't look out for each other, and don't have a government able to help those caught in an unexpected tide, then our economic storms and hard times may for many of us never let up.