Politics

I haven’t blogged in a while, so let’s get back to it in a way that’ll make someone angry: let’s talk politics!

I haven’t been fully engaged in politics and elections since college. During the 2012 election, I was the president of the Marietta College Democrats. It was fun; it was exhausting. Since then I’ve just stayed away and basically let the primaries run their course.

Of course, completely ignoring the primaries wasn’t really possible considering it was a massive dumpster fire which has now become a larger dumpster fire that is beginning to engulf the general election.

Let’s get this part out of the way: I support Hillary Clinton. I think that she is the most qualified candidate and I have an enormous amount of respect for her, what she has accomplished, and everything she has been through and endured along the way. Is she perfect? No. No candidate is perfect and that doesn’t disqualify her from getting my vote.

I could go on about Clinton and other candidates, but I want to discuss some issues that have been bothering me about the election so far and of politics in general over the last decade or so.

Entertainment

Politics is not entertainment.

Again, just to be perfectly clear:

Politics is not entertainment.

This seems to have confused some people and in turn seems to have confused the media, who treat politics and elections like a massive reality show.

This election is a contest to determine the future of our country and the world. This is not about ratings or drama. This is not about ho said the latest stupid or insulting thing. This is deeply important to everyone’s future.

It’s downright shameful how the election has been handled and how early the non-stop coverage began. Feuds between candidates who effectively were campaigning on the same platform were drawn out to the point that both major parties looked like they might fracture. And now we are beginning to see the repercussions of this with fractures showing in both parties.

Compromise

The issue of compromise has been bothering me since the before the 2012 election.

Somehow, the notion of compromise has become a synonym for evil. Yet compromise is how our political system functions. You don’t negotiate with a group that disagrees with you and expect to win every time. Part of politics is understanding that you sometimes lose, you sometimes win, and more often than not, everyone loses and wins at the same time.

That’s just how the system works.

I understand the desire of some people to change the system or even to buck the whole thing because they never get what they want. Unfortunately for them, we have an extremely robust system of government.

Things can change, but slowly. Celebrate wins, learn from losses, and keep at it and change can happen.

Finally, not participating in the system because you don’t like how it works will never result in any change. So vote. Please.