Now I’m the first to admit that I am grossly ignorant when it comes to most political matters. As a proud citizen of the greatest nation on earth, I know I’m pitifully uneducated about candidates’ views on most issues. With people’s cult-like devotion to their political parties and the wrath one faces if they happen to disagree, can you really blame me? Hey, we all have shortcomings. With that out of the way, let me tell you my opinions on stuff and why I think it’s critical that voters (including myself) pay extra special attention to who they’re voting for come November.
I may not know politics, but I know people. People are complex, with a variety of backgrounds and experiences that lend way to their overall outlook on life. So why is it that most people with a strong political party association expect their respective candidate to display either entirely liberal or just right of the tea party views in all aspects of life? Let me tell you why. Over the years, political parties have become more about a competition of out-legislating the other, rather than acting as platforms for various ideologies to thrive in order to better our nation. As a result, everyone freaks out if a candidate changes his/her mind because then they become interpreted as inconsistent. In reality however, he/she was most likely getting major pressure put on them by their own party to remain strictly republican or strictly democrat on ALL issues. Also, I changed my outfit like three times today just because I changed my mind – we’re people, it happens. Just like people, life is also complex and a single viewpoint or ideological platform won’t solve all of our nation’s problems. It’s time to be flexible.
Another thing I know is that no one person or one group is correct all the time. People make mistakes or else they wouldn’t be people, they’d be robots and I’m not about that IHuman life. I digress…
Would it be such a bad thing if a moderate candidate were to emerge and work with ideologies from both parties? Of course this wouldn’t happen any time soon because of lack of funding (that’s another thing, should financial privilege really have as much stock as it does in a presidential election?). The gap between the parties has become so large that it seems to me that more people are interested in staying loyal to their party than to seriously think about what’s best for their country. We’ve become so allegiant to our end of the political spectrum that we’ve stopped becoming interested in what the other end has to say. And when we do get curious, we tune into the skewed media-outlet that delivers biased information in a way that we deem correct. A bit bigheaded don’t you think?
We know what we know and we don’t like to change. Well, it’s time that we do.
As the election nears, we can expect even more mud-slinging, biased information, “inconsistencies” and undoubtedly, scandal. Despite this, I’d urge you all to do some research outside of media’s 24-hour loop of half-truths, and maybe even take a look at the opposition’s platform. You may find you actually agree with them, or you may become even more rooted in your own beliefs. Either way, let’s break out of our demographic stereotype and not only become educated on the issues, but actually vote.
Democracy only works if the people are educated, and in this technological age, that means becoming media literate as well. Understand that those who are financing campaigns have influence on what your candidate is promising, and understand that often times candidates are boxed in by their own political party. Luckily, candidates WILL respond to what the people want because without us, they’ll lose.
With that being said, don’t be afraid to change your mind and voice your opinion (through civilized discussion, no one wants to see finger-pointing rants on their FB feed). If we take the time to engage ourselves with the world around us, we just may be able to close the gap, and animosity, between the two parties that made our country what it is in the first place.
My New Year’s resolution is to pay closer political attention and not be quite as grossly ignorant. Will it be yours too? The greatest nation on earth deserves it.
