Against the Advice of Someone Wiser
When I was younger, not really sure when, a very wise man told me, “There are three things you never argue: Sex, Religion and Politics”.
He didn’t really explain why, he just let me think about it and over the years I have often thought of this advice.
I believe I have held to that for the most part.
I think sex is a very personal matter and what you believe in, you own, and that’s not something anyone should challenge. Same with Religion. It’s personal and it’s about Faith and who can actually argue if one person’s faith is right or wrong? Unfortunately, history has shown that not to be the case and there have been wars regarding faith fought since the beginning of time. That being said, I don’t believe arguing about religion gets you anywhere and the depth of faith can be a very scary thing so I would prefer to leave people to their own religious beliefs and when given the chance, learn more about those beliefs.
Politics, as we have seen, has become more divisive than ever. To stand on the sidelines and not have an opinion about the political discourse is not really an option any more. Everyone seems to want everyone else opinions and when they hear those opinions it either drives them closer or further apart.
It really doesn’t have to be this way.
Having a constructive conversation about one’s political opinion is no longer an option. You are either for or against a certain position and there is no middle ground. That middle ground for over 200 years has helped the political process work and while there are many flaws to that process, it still works better than any other process and has succeeded wherever it has been implemented. Democracy has worked because people with differing opinions listened to each other and worked out a viable solution that benefits the nation. For the time being, this is no longer present in our government.
Is it the will of the people? Is it a broken political system? Why did this happen? I honestly do not have the answers but I am not afraid to ask the questions and to understand what happened, it’s best to know why it happened.
Donald Trump got elected for several reasons. He struck at the core of what a large part of the population felt, they were not being heard in Washington and that politicians were inherently working in their own self interest and not for their constituents. Former President Trump made that group feel empowered like no time in history and he won. Another reason, and I believe that it is often overlooked, is that Hillary Clinton was one of the most unappealing candidates ever. Very few people actually liked her. Her own party hated her and the total disarray of the Democratic party was exposed. They couldn’t find anyone that spoke to the people and in turn, beat a bombastic, narcissist? No, so they lost the election.
The Democrats could never accept that Donald Trump got elected and fought his presidency at every turn. While their beliefs may have had some merit, they put those beliefs in front of the good of the country and helped accelerate the division.
Maybe I am wrong, but I feel that no matter who is President, we should all want him to succeed. His success, is the country’s success and why would anyone root against that. I did not vote for Obama, but I hoped he would have a successful four years and then be gone. He had eight years and I rooted for his success every year. It never really happened and that more or less opened the door for a candidate like Donald Trump.
Which gets us to the present. I wish Joe Biden all the success in the World even though I fear there is an undercurrent of something more dangerous than anything we have faced in the past. My fear with President Biden is that he does not have the backbone to stand up to that very vocal, but not yet very powerful, far left faction of his party. I hope I am wrong and I do believe we will be able to avoid some of the near socialist agenda that his party is formulating simply because they are Democrats and thats what they do. Big ideas fumbled by confusion.
Regarding this socialist agenda, the Democrats have learned absolutely zero as far as managing a functioning legislative body. They spent over a year trying to impeach President Trump and accomplished nothing during that time. No meaningful legislation was passed and it yielded nothing except more divisiveness. He is out of office golfing in Florida and they are back at it again. While this impeachment process won’t take nearly as long, they are still doing nothing as far as moving this country forward. Whatever agendas the liberals and the socialists have will not see much time in the spotlight. The 2022 elections will be here before you know it.