First off, I want to make clear what this is not. This is not a persuasive piece. This is not an advertisement for one candidate over the next. This is not a rant about how one candidate is far better than the other. And this is not some attack on the democratic party, nor a slam on the republican party.
I am writing this because I am sick of the corrupt political system and the media showing us only what they want us to see. I'm sick of people arguing over who will make the better president, or who is "less evil" than the other. And I'm most sick of people bashing each other, and attacking their intelligence, because they support one candidate over the other.
So let me say this:
Supporting Donald trump does not make you a racist or a misogynist. Supporting Hillary Clinton does not make you corrupt, or anti-American. A shocking realization, I know. The problem is, we associate someone's identity with who they are voting for in the election. What flawed thinking. Someone's worth is not defined by whose name they put a check mark next to on a piece of paper. People are worth so much more than that.
So, personally, I cannot wait for this election to be over. Because I can say, without a doubt, it brings out the worst in people. One person calling another an "idiot" simply because they are voting for Donald Trump. One person saying another is "brainwashed by the media" because they are voting for Hilary Clinton.
Here's a question: Why are people so "stupid" because they're voting for another human being? I don't understand how someone is called "ignorant" because they think one candidate's policies are better than the other. I can't seem to figure out why some people are "morons" because they side with the beliefs of one person over the other. It makes no sense to me that so much can be inferred about a person based on who they give their vote to.
When did we lose our tolerance for each other? When did respect become so exclusive? How did we get this way? More importantly, how can we fix it?
I honestly don't know the answer to any of those questions. I am not naive, nor arrogant, enough to believe that I alone have the answer. I'm not even sure if it is fixable. All I know is that I have control over how I react. So I will choose to always be sensitive towards other's opinions. I will always have compassion for every human being, regardless of their beliefs. Because this life is hard enough as it is. Our world has enough hatred in it already. We don't need another reason to knock each other down.
In order for even the slightest of changes to be made, I believe that we must recognize that we're all different. And that that's okay. In fact, it's kind of beautiful.
