“Voting is important…unless it’s not for who we support” – Robert Porras, Jr
The 2020 U.S. Presidential election is just 3 weeks away and the propaganda machine is ramping up. As I look upon the nation, I see people all over taking up individual sides and going into their posturing positions. They’ve begun attacking the other side along ideology lines. Liberal America—fierce and passionate supporters of the Democratic Party and their nominee, former Vice President Biden—have a strong dislike for the President and anybody who remotely supports the President. For the most part, they feel as if the other side doesn’t care about the plights of Americans…before and during the current COVID-19 pandemic. On the other side, Conservative America—equally fierce and passionate supporters of the Republican Party and their incumbent nominee, President Trump—have a strong dislike for the former Vice President and his supporters. They feel as if the other side is reckless with money and doesn’t respect established agreed-upon laws of the land. As a politically neutral person, I support specific characteristics of the warring factions but I also think both sides equally flawed.
To me, it all comes down to dominance. Each side wants to completely dominate the other and force them into such submission that they are essentially rendered meaningless in this country. This is why you have these “Vote 🔵 no matter who” and “Vote 🔴 or America will be dead” sayings. I think it’s all ridiculous and quite honestly, if the country was heart of the ocean 🔵 or ruby 🔴, we’d be in terrible shape. The fact that there are at least 2 major political parties and we have a somewhat split electorate nationally actually contributes to the United States being the type of country it is and not on the fringes of an autocracy. It’s very easy to look around the world and get a really clear grasp of what socialist and more liberal countries look like. Just as well, you can check out what ultra-conservative countries look like.
It just seems like both sides want the extremes without considering the consequences. For instance, the more liberal side wants free universal healthcare…something that would apply to all American citizens and perhaps even to all legal visitors to the United States. When it’s always been presented, it’s always in the context of insurance and not so much the actual health care. The prevailing opinion has always ranged from super-taxing the wealthiest people in the country to fund such an endeavor. I’m all for every American having access to basic preventive and emergent health options such as annual physicals, check-ups, immunizations, and even emergency, life-saving surgeries and other procedures. I think that should be a free, standard service just like I think C-SPAN and The Weather Channel along with local ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and FOX affiliates should be completely free and not within the purview of cable and satellite providers. Unfortunately, just as the same with the very basic of television channels, everything comes at a cost. We are a country of just about 340 million people. To contemplate having the same kind of healthcare setup that countries with anywhere from 3-15% of our population without incredible across-the-board tax reform is incredibly unwise. On the other hand, the more conservative side wants stronger security and immigration enforcement of the nation’s borders…in particular, the southern border we share with Mexico. When that has always been presented, I’ve heard rumblings of a 1500-mile reinforced steel fence or illegal immigrants being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the American law. The prevailing opinion there has always been “become a citizen like everybody else and pay taxes…like everybody else”. When I wrote about President Trump being elected as the 45th President of the United States nearly 4 years ago, I mentioned: “the can that has been kicked down the road for decades”. I think that the immigration issue in the United States needs to be seriously addressed. There needs to be a concrete and enforceable policy on entry regulations as well as a path to American citizenship for those who desire it. I also think that we should have more protection and security at the border. I’m not a fan of things like holing migrants up in detention centers along the border and separating them from their parents. I think continuing to look at the immigration issue through the leans of the status quo is also incredibly unwise.
At the end of the day, I would love to live in a united and harmonious country…somewhat along the lines of what I experienced in Japan. Of course, there’s the part where the United States is a huge melting pot of diversity: I think the late great President Kennedy once quipped “a nation of immigrants”. It’s OK to have differences of opinion. It’s OK to prefer one thing over the other. But what I don’t think is cool is projecting extreme ideologies on the whole sum. I think a lot can be accomplished in this country through honest and concerted efforts toward compromise. It’s just as simple as that.
This upcoming election, unfortunately, will not make the country better. It’s basically going to be people voting for who best relates to their extreme views…either all the way left or all the way right. I think the best place to be is in the middle, where compromise often resides. But that’s not where we are in today’s society. As I wrote, it’s about dominance. When it comes to political ideologies, the electorate and the people elected only want what they want, which is not necessarily what the entire country needs. And so we end up in this cycle of one side getting what they want for 2-8 years at a time.
