You Know What Would Be Cool?
I am sitting in my hotel room watching coverage of the Presidential debate and I mean “coverage” in the most literal sense possible. The news channels literally talk over the speeches they are giving their opinion about. So, naturally, without being able to hear the speech that I was interested in hearing I began to think about our political system and the Democracy we live in. I let my thoughts wander and noticed I kept asking myself, “You know what would be cool?” followed by a statement about the current situation we live in and how it could be better. So, I thought why not share these thoughts and see what others think.
Now, before I do this let me get something out of the way. While I know and understand my own political beliefs and stances, this is by no means my attempt to change anyone’s mind, persuade them or tell them they are wrong so if you are offended by what I have to say, that is not my attention. Here we go.
You know what would be cool? If we, as a nation, focused more on the opportunity afforded to us. How insanely incredible is it that we live in a nation that allows us to have a vote. Sure, you may feel like yours doesn’t count. Sure, you may feel like our system is corrupt. Sure, you may not be old enough to vote. But you know what? I would rather live in this country where we can make decisions, live how we please and have the rights we do than live in, oh I don’t know COMMUNIST CHINA!
You know what would be cool? If we treated each other like best friends, always. Someone that I look up to greatly once told me to always treat someone you’ve just met like you’ve known them for 5 years. I am so incredibly sick of hearing about another shooting, terrorist attack or violent protest. WHAT ARE WE ACCOMPLISHING KILLING EACH OTHER? Instead, we politicize these issues when we should be researching, learning about and preventing them. Our government wasn’t created to boost a resume on the back of a dead 16 year old. Our policy system wasn’t designed to advance careers when our Police get killed. Again, I don’t care what side of the issue you fall on, meet me and the rest of us in the middle and realize that the world gets a whole lot better when we treat each other like friends.
You know what would be cool? If we started thinking for ourselves. As I watched this news coverage, I couldn’t help but cringe think of the 9 year old kid who is sitting in a living room listening to his Dad say “This candidate is such an idiot.” I react to that because the reality of the situation is that father probably has no reason for thinking that other than the party that person identifies with or the headlines they may have read in passing. And now that little boy/girl is going to fall into that same way of thinking because they are a victim of their parents ignorance. That’s not the 9 year old’s fault, but when you are 16, 17, 18 or older you have the ability, no, the responsibility to take a step back and ask “do I really believe this or am I just saying these things because its what I was taught or it helps my image?” Nothing drives me more crazy than seeing 18 year old kids saying “I support Trump because he is a Republican and I am a Republican because I like country music and I am supposed to.” Or “I am a hipster, my brother is gay and I want my college to be free so #FeelTheBern.” OUR OPINIONS SHOULD NOT BE SHAPED BASED ON AN IMAGE WE WANT TO FULFILL.
You know what would be cool? If I could actually hear this damn speech and not the screechy news reporter over.
You know what is cool? I have the internet and access to that speech somewhere, so as soon as this is published I’m going to go watch it and form my own opinion. Join me in doing that, and then let’s chat about your thoughts on this post!
Thoughts? I’d love to hear them. Please leave them below or reach out to me via other outlets (also below!)
