My Brief Thoughts On The Issues Facing Us. Please Read!!

I think that one of our failures as a society is to keep our leaders in check. This applies to Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, etc.

I would say that here are some of our failures:

1) A lack of a properly informed population.

2) A tendency to back a candidate instead of to decide how we feel about issues.

3) A drop in personal responsibility to be informed.

4) A missing independent comparison of policies and issues.

5) An unwillingness to display displeasure in things we disagree with.

6) An apathetic approach to the world around us.

7) An isolationist approach to others.

8) A perception that what is right for us must be right for others.

9) A tendency to prefer to highlight another's failures rather than what the solutions would be.

10) Above all, a failure to hold the representatives who we support to a higher degree of scrutiny than for those who we do not support.

Potential solutions:

1) An informed public: I feel that we are a richer society when we make it a point to be exposed to a variety of ideas. We learn more from those we disagree with than from those who we agree with. If we are not challenged, we do not grow as individuals, as communities, or as a nation. Thus, I would promote the idea that we should make friends with those who have opinions contrary to our own and make it a point to sit down and talk. I think we'll find that the benefits far outweigh the costs. We will become aware of things we had never considered, we will be forced to confront our own fallacies and inadequacies, we will be made to look at issues and policies in a way that reflects not only how it affects us personally, but how it affects all groups of people, and if nothing else, we will be able to have a lively, intellectually-stimulating conversation full of passion. I want you to do just this within this next week.

2) I have noticed (for as long as I have been politically aware) that we tend to back a person and defend the candidate and not focus on the ideas and policies of this candidate. It should always be the ISSUE(S) and NOT THE CANDIDATE that we are voting for. Like it or not, no one candidate will EVER have exactly your same viewpoint. Further, a candidate who you are not supporting will have some policies which are more in line with your views of the world and how it should be. We are affected by (and must live with the decisions set by) the policies that are enacted by our elected officials, not the rhetoric. It doesn't matter how a party may "spin" an issue, it matters most to know how we will be affected by said issues.

3) We tend to get our views about the world from rather biased sources. A) News: The news that we tend to read or watch is what is written by individuals who are not us. We are subjected to whichever issues (and opinions about the issues) that the news organization chooses. B) We tend to allow our understanding about the world around us be shaped more by those who we agree with than by those we may not agree with. We derive our views based off of our friends, family, coworkers, religious organizations, etc. Being only exposed to a set of views skewed most towards our own tends to prevent us from being fully informed. Thus, when claims are made by anyone or any organization, ask for the sources, the proof, etc. Small claims need small proof. Large claims need large proof.

4) What has allowed for the polarizing of our country is a lack of independent comparisons. Each election, certain groups such as CNN and others put out a comparison of how the candidates stand on a variety of issues. What's difficult is to get an unbiased, direct comparison of policies/views so we can see which candidate is most aligned with our views. The best that we're often able to receive is a comparison on a variety of issues based upon the written press statements provided by each candidate's campaign. I would like to see more concise, accurate, and independent comparisons of each candidate's positions on a variety of issues.

5) We often say that freedom is not free and yet we forget that fighting for freedom must be stronger at home than it is abroad. When we disagree with the policies of our elected officials, it's not only our privilege, it's our responsibility to hold them accountable. We are fortunate to live in a country where protests, marches, and freedoms to publically disagree with our government are allowed. It is just as much your responsibility to fight for your rights and for the rights of others as it is anyone else's. We must remember that our greatest weapons to fight for our freedoms are not bombs and bullets, but rather our pens, our feet, and our voices.

6) Apathy. It should never be ok for us to feel that since we're not being affected by a bad policy, that the policy should not be challenged. Martin Luther King Jr., while sitting in a jail for his actions to help further human rights, wrote that the greater barrier to the freedom of all human beings was not from those who disagreed with him or who fought to deny other people rights, but from the masses of apathetic people who decided to do nothing and allow for injustices to remain unchallenged. It is important that you fight not only for your rights but for the rights of those who you disagree with as well.

7) Isolationism. We have a tendency to prefer stability and comfort over being faced with tough challenges. We prefer to keep candidates in power whose policies may be unjust or detrimental to others so long as it allows us to remain in the lifestyles and environments that we prefer. We tend to view problems as being something that someone somewhere else should handle and not us. We feel that since something isn't happening here, we shouldn't have to deal with it. We look at ourselves more from a nationalistic (I'm American) view than from an understanding that like all those around the world, we are one population, the human race. Whether we discuss genocide in Darfur, injustices in North Korea, human rights abuses in the Middle East, poverty in Central America, AIDS in Africa, and so forth, it should never be ok for us to turn our backs on tyranny, on starvation, on mutilation, on disease, and on tragedies which are not directly in our backyards.

8) We have a variety of polarizing issues in each election before our country and yet I think that we as a society tend to forget that it's most important to vote in a manner that supports the rights of those who we disagree with. We feel that others should be like us, think like us, live like us, and be forced to conform to our ideals. Yet, we do not take the moment to consider the effects. What would life be like if we were given no choice but to be forced to live, think, and conform to the ways of those we disagree with? Thus, we must always fight for the rights of others, especially for those who we completely 100% disagree with.

9) Anyone can whine and complain. Anyone can blame a person or group for their failures and inadequacies, and yet, it is much harder to supply solutions. It is more important to be for something than against something. This must start with us as individuals. It is important to be introspective and to look at our lives on a regular basis. If we are faced with problems, what can WE do as INDIVIDUALS to make a positive step towards solving the problem? It must be our responsibility to cause positive changes for ourselves and for others. Start small if necessary. The next time that you find yourself complaining about a situation, before you open your mouth to describe your displeasures, do what is needed to confront and tackle the problem. Make the difference. The change for a better life must start with you.

10) As I had mentioned previously, small claims need small proof and large claims need large proof. It is more important to hold our own views, opinions, candidates, and ideals accountable than those of which we disagree. We are more apt to dissect the faults and shortcomings of people, things, or ideas that we disagree with, and less inclined to see where our views, groups, and candidates may fall short. We prefer to back people or ideas and support them against all scrutiny, no matter how valid such challenges may be. Spin, rhetoric, and propaganda can't make an untruth be true. It is more important to hold our own views accountable, than those we disagree with, since we take the leap of holding them to be self truths. Be more vigilant to challenge who or what you support.

One last word, strive always to act and vote in a manner which is meant to make life better. Vote not from fear, but out of love, compassion, and hope.