Random Thoughts

 I have done a couple different blogs so far, one was more of an  introduction, while the other was more of a formal blog. This time I wanted to do something a bit different. Something that was more opinionated and me just free writing. Hopefully it turns out the way I want it to. As I mentioned before, everyone bare with me as I begin to get use to this whole blogging thing. 

I guess my thoughts are kind of heading towards the direction of the election and the behavior of people during this time, so this is what my blog is going to be based on. Some of you may not agree with what I write, while other's may, but that's just something I am going to have to accept when I am writing an opinion based blog post, especially when it is about something as sensitive as politics. 

I am starting to notice, as I have been reading tons of posts via Facebook/Twitter and comments on various web-pages, that people are expressing extremely strong emotions during this election. Is it because the fate of our country rests in the hands of one of these two candidates or is it because the race for the White House is neck and neck or is it simply that stereotyping seems to be a huge issue amongst both sides? Perhaps its a combination of all three, one can only speculate, but I will talk a little on each of these scenarios. 

I want to start with stereotyping and emotion because time and again I am seeing this with many of the comments and articles I am reading. Of course stereotyping in politics has  been around for many elections, where else would people have gotten the images about republicans and democrats, but how much validity do they hold and why has it been so strong during this election? Could it be that we have two men of two totally different races, backgrounds, and religions running for office? That is possible, especially since I see people hinting around that Obama only got elected the first time to prove they were not racist, however, race is the last reason Obama got elected into office. Could the stereotyping be the direct result of  one of the Candidates disregarding 47% of the country, therefore allowing people to think they have the right to do the same? This could definitely be a contributing factor!!  How about social networking as a reasoning? Definitely! For one, just look at the amount of pictures and comments circulating social networks like Twitter and Facebook! Plus, how many of us either write political posts or have someone on our social network sites who do? People are definitely hiding behind the computer to say things they wouldn't say otherwise, it is convenient, its easy, and most of all it prevents direct confrontation....most of the time.   

I think people have it all wrong though, for one, all republicans are not rich and crooked and for two, all democrats are not poor, lazy, and living off of the system. However, these images will always remain strong & prevail no matter how hard one fights to change it because somewhere along the line, whether through debates, conferences, or hidden video recordings, political parties were put into two categories: rich & crooked and poor & lazy. 

The race for the white house is neck and neck and it is causing such an intense amount of emotions amongst voters everywhere. If you have been following the polls lately then you know that both candidates are about tied for the race to the White House; this in itself is causing a wide range of emotions amongst both sides. The reason for this is because people either want change or they are afraid of change, so not knowing which way this election is going to fall is causing stress, nervousness, anxiousness, etc. and some people are releasing these emotions through strong, opinionated, and often times rude remarks, often via the Internet. There has to be a better way though, the negative hatred I am seeing everywhere is not going to solve any problems our country is facing. The negativity towards the opposite side is part of the reason many things that are good for this country are not getting approved because nobody in politics seems to be able to get along together long enough to come to a bi-partisan agreement on things, not just during the last 4 years either. Perhaps,  bi-partisanship is what what we need to bring this country back from the point of no return; democrats and republicans, conservatives and liberals all coming together to make solid, positive decisions, instead of decisions just to make the other person look bad! This is just a thought though!

The final scenario of why people are behaving the way they are during this election has to do with knowing the fate of this country, the fate of the economy, the fate of social security and medicare, as well as the fate of America's image among its allies and enemies rests in the hands of one of the two candidates. Don't worry, I am not going to sit here and tell you which one I think has a better plan for America (those who know me already know where I stand on that). I believe people are concerned that their decision is going to play a major factor in what happens to us as a country, which is a reasonable and understandable feeling. Perhaps people haven't seen the change they were hoping for in the last four years and are afraid that the next four years will only get worse or perhaps people have seen changes and our afraid that switching now would not be a good thing. Either way this is going to cause disagreements amongst one another. In addition, people from both sides feel like the opposite side is telling lies and of course the media doesn't do a very good job at easing those feelings. No matter where you look, you are going to find something that supports or opposes what has been said by either party, so arguing over it seems relevant at the time, but is actually pointless, because somebody will always find something to counter your argument or claim. 
At the end of the day, we can all agree that this country still has a long way to go to get back to the way it use to be. We can also agree that once a person has decided who their voting for, there is little anyone can do to change that; but I hope that we all can also agree that arguing about it and stereotyping people is doing very little to help our country, in fact, it is setting poor examples for our children, who will be the next generation of America! All that matters is we all get out there and vote for the person we think can help our country the best, the person we want to vote for, other than that, all the political talk is pointless and a waste of time, since there is no way to talk politics politely!!