I'm just going to start out by saying that I am in no way shape or form an expert on politics, in fact, I know pretty much nothing about the specifics, but I know enough to know that politics and your views don't define who you are. The only thing that should define you are your actions. Even with actions, you aren't in someone's head to know their justifications. But, being that this was an election year and politics are sort of thrown at everyone to sway your opinion on things, I thought it'd be cool to look at politics not from a candidate perspective, but from an action perspective.

I'm currently taking a Global Issues class at school, and we're learning about Human Rights. Two people we have read about in this unit are Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. These men are both very important to the Civil-Rights movement, and while they both advocate for what we now see as "Black Lives Matter," they go about it in very different ways. MLK suggests we go about fighting for what we know is right peacefully, but Malcolm X believes that violence shouldn't be shut out completely because as human beings, we are all entitled to fighting, and since peace doesn't always work at first, why not try ACTUALLY fighting for what you think is right. In my class, we're exploring how these men are both huge stepping stones towards equality, even though they go about everything so differently. They both had a huge population of followers, they both were killed, they both still leave a huge legacy. So, what's the difference? Their actions.

To me, you can't just be one political party. There are things that most humans believe to be true on all sides, so if someone is mainly Democrat or mainly Republican, that doesn't define who they are. There are very few people who are all the way left wing or all the way right wing, and even if they are, who cares? As long as my rights aren't compromised by your actions, I don't care what your views are. That is not to say that I'm not uncomfortable by some of the posts on social media because they're threatening. But if someone is simply putting their opinions on Facebook, something I've learned is that you're wasting time trying to change other people's views, rather than strengthening your own.

Now that I am eligible to vote, I've tried to take more of an interest in politics, but I just can't get behind being SO for one side rather than the other. For example, I HATE scary things, but one of my favorite authors of all time is Stephen King. Another example- I love comedy movies, but I don't understand Adam Sandler's choices as a director, it's just not my thing. I know this is on a much smaller scale, but how am I supposed to choose a political party when there are things I agree with for both of them?

I cannot say enough that this election and this epidemic we're in where we are trying to prove someone wrong because they don't agree with our views and politics is so very detrimental to our already kind of crazy society. You all know how the saying goes, actions speak louder than words, and it's seriously so true. Do you want to be like MLK or do you want to be like Malcolm X? Do you want to punish others for their opinions with actions that are unnecessary? Or do you want to have your own opinions, and let other people have theirs as well. I have always said, as long as someone's not in my face telling me I'm wrong, I don't care if they have the same opinions as me. And I can only hope that this starts to pick up, for the good of our sanities as human beings.

I was nervous to write this article, that I'd be ridiculed for being "soft", or for trying to be a peace maker, but I really just thought that this message needed to get out to a world that's obsessed with whether you're one political party or the other. As corny as it is, let's be the change. Let's do the things that will change the way our future generations look at politics.