I've been a Chicago Cubs fan my whole life. I know a thing or two about supporting a team even when they suck. I mean, it's all about loyalty, right? You've supported that team your whole life, your parents supported that team. Win or lose, good or bad, they're your team and you will support them with everything you've got.
We cannot treat political parties the same way.
As much as die-hard sports fans might hate to admit it, at the end of the day, sports don't really matter. The team that you support has no critical impact on the lives and well-being of other people.
Political parties are a whole other thing. They matter. They run our country, they decide on laws, and they impact the lives of each and every citizen. They are not a fun, harmless rivalry. We cannot continue to support a political party simply out of loyalty. We cannot refuse to see a party's flaws, and decide to blindly support them despite their bad qualities, simply because that is the way we have been raised.
Unfortunately, our attitude toward our politics is now hard to distinguish from a tailgate before the Bears-Packers game. Democrats and Republicans face off against one another in childish fashions, with rude bumper stickers, insulting tweets, petty arguments on talk shows, and an illogical sense of pride in a crumbling system.
Neither party is great. Both are corrupt and imperfect and neither has the solution to all our problems. Both have good intentions, but quite frankly, neither have stellar results. This is not a sports team that we should support unquestionably regardless of their success. This is our government. And as citizens of this country, we need to get off our high horses and recognize the flaws in each party. To think that either party is perfect is ignorant, and to recognize their mistakes but continue to support them absolutely is destructive.
We all want the same thing, don't we? We all want our country to be the best it can be, and while we may have different opinions about what that looks like or how to get there, it is in no way effective or productive to bully those with other views or refuse to consider other opinions as valid because of some birth-given loyalty to one party. These obnoxious and alienating bumper stickers do nothing but drive us further apart, when what we're all trying to do is unite the country. United we stand, divided we fall, right? And man are we falling.
The amount of people who despite their distaste towards Donald Trump, are choosing to cast their vote for him because they feel a loyalty towards the Republican party is absolutely ridiculous. And the Democrats are not exempt from this. The amount who are supporting Hillary Clinton while having complete distrust in her is frightening.
Why are we letting our egos get in the way of our intelligence and our sense of logic?
How did we get ourselves in the position of having to vote for the lesser of two evils?
Politics should not be about loyalty. It should be about doing the right thing. Yes, our politicians are corrupt. Many of them care more about money and affiliation than what's best for the people. But if we, the people, treat politics the same way; if we let trivial arguments and baseless loyalties decide our vote, then there will be no end to this.
We need to work together, or, at the very least, stop treating each other like rivals. We need to stop calling ourselves "Republicans" or "Democrats" and start calling ourselves citizens: citizens who want the right thing to be done, regardless of who does it.
Folks, Team America isn't doing too hot, and we need some teamwork.
