I'm in my second year of college majoring in secondary education and history and I'd like to think that I've learned a lot in my overall 15 years of education. With all those years of education, I don't understand politics and I want nothing to do with them. The 2016 election has shown just how much politics destroys the humanity in people. Politics has become a race to the White House by any means necessary. Candidates will lie and deface their opponents to get there. Are these really the people we want to run our country?
Let's take a quick look at some of the big-name candidates.
Donald Trump
Trump's argument of making America great again is valid, but he is approaching his idea all wrong. America has its issues, it used to be the leading power in the world and now has fallen far behind. Trump's ideas of getting rid of universal healthcare and building a wall won't make America great again. He makes statements like,
"Get tough and smart U.S., or we won't have a country anymore!"
"When will our leaders get tough and smart? We are being led to slaughter!"
"The incompetence of our current administration is beyond comprehension."
These statements show Trump's willingness to attack anyone necessary to get him in office. He insults everyone that he can and gives America a bad name. Yet he's winning in most states and is the most popular Republican candidate. If you haven't seen the meme comparing Trump to Hitler, here it is.
Trump is one of the biggest racists. Attacking minorities is not the basis for a good president. When minorities make up most of the country and whites are starting to become the minority, you shouldn't insult those that will one day run the country. They are people same as the rest of us and they deserve respect. Trump won't be able to make America great again with his narrow-minded ideas and horrible attitude.
Hillary Clinton
"Too many women in too many countries speak the same language, of silence."
"When people tell me a woman can never be president I say: 'We'll never know unless we try.'"
I thought maybe it was because she's a woman, but then the scandal broke out. I don't fully understand what happened, but this is what I got from it. Apparently, she was misusing her email by having her work emails on a personal account. Because of this, she's under investigation about the emails after releasing them to the State Department. Obviously, what she did was wrong but it isn't the end of the world. The only thing I got out of this was that someone under investigation shouldn't be president.
Bernie Sanders
I can see the appeal of having an older president, but Sanders is probably burnt out and ready to stop. Being the leader of a whole country takes a toll on a person. Just look at these presidents at the beginning and end of their terms.
Harry S. Truman
George W. Bush
I don't think someone as old as Sanders would be able to handle the rigors of being president, especially with the state of our country. We need someone who will be able to handle all that this country has to throw at them. In my opinion, I don't think Sanders can handle that.
Throughout history politics has changed drastically. When George Washington left office two of his most important points were not to divide into political parties and not to get involved in foreign affairs. After learning this, I've found that Washington's ideas were important even today. Politics can't go anywhere if the Democrats and Republicans are too busy arguing to get anything done. Also, if we keep getting involved in foreign affairs and don't pay attention to the state of our own country, the country will eventually fail.
Modern presidential candidates don't understand the history behind politics and why we have certain policies that we do. These are the people we've chosen to run our country. We need to make America great again because politics has ruined it. This is why I don't want anything to do with politics.
