"I think my message to the politicians who have within their power the ability to make change is, 'Do you really, really not care about the future of your great-grandchildren? Because if we let the world continue to be destroyed the way we are now, what's the world going to be like for your great-grandchildren?'"- Jane Goodall
The context in which Jane Goodall was more than likely referring to was environmental issues, but I believe this could be applied to much more in today's political world. Throughout my lifetime, America has gone through great beneficial changes technologically, scientifically, medically and so forth, but politically and somewhat culturally we have struggled to maintain the trend. With the most current presidential election quickly approaching, all I see is a seemingly impossible choice between two completely undeserving candidates. This will be the first election I get to participate in and as a young person, I am petrified for what my future holds. I can't help but wonder, what got us to this point? What decisions has my generation made to get us here? What did or didn't my parents and grandparents do?
In one corner, we have a candidate screaming at the cameras that we need to "Make America great again!" Again? Racism, inequality, violence, terrorism, land snatching, internment camps, slavery, wage gap, wealth disparity, scandal and lies - this is the 'greatness' our America was built on. Now I'm not saying that I hate America or that there aren't wonderful things about it, and our past does have some very beautiful moments. If you have ever seen the below clip from "The Newsroom," you know that America has some catching up to do, and we sure as hell aren't going to get there with a candidate who consistently uses his platform, which should be used to benefit himself, to berate his opponents based on gender, race, attractiveness, family, or the size of their *ahem*.
In the other corner we have a candidate who, whether you believe it, forgive it, or deny it, has a strong history of lying. She rides on the coattails of feminist leaders of the past and uses this platform to gain voters even though she doesn't quite fall in the same line. In many of her political decisions she chose to maintain relationships with foreign countries rather than protect the good of the American people. Is she better than her opponent? I don't know, but the H is most definitely silent in Benghazi. As much as I would love to consider a third opponent, unfortunately he comes from a fairy dream world where I won't have a minimum of $20,000 of student loans when I graduate. Let's all pause a moment in Thanksgiving for his brave attempts.
The point I'm trying to make here is that yes, we are making great things happen in America on a daily basis. But I truly don't believe we have ever stopped to count the costs, present or future. We don't think about the consequences - we think about what is the quickest way we can meet our goals for now. In this crazy election year, take a moment when you are in that voting booth (where you definitely should be) and consider what each candidate can offer your future families, because Lord knows they don't have much to offer us now.
