Election Year

Dear Jabbers,
2016 is an important year. Not only is it the year that you come into the world, but it's also an election year. People across the country will be deciding who we want to be our next President. It's a big deal. It's also probably the most annoying thing to happen every four years.

I hope that by the time you are old enough to vote, we are passed the whole Democrat vs. Republican thing. But, more than likely, you'll have to deal with it, too. You see, in our country, over time we've whittled all of the varying viewpoints down to two. As political parties realized that they didn't have a prayer at winning an election, they consolidated into other, stronger parties that shared most of their viewpoints. So we got it down to two: the left and the right. This means that we end up with people who are on the extreme end of each side that run for President, even though most people in the country are more in the middle. To put it another way, most people in our country love the color orange. But in our system, you aren't allowed to choose orange. You have to choose between red or yellow. Some people like a little bit darker orange, so they choose red. Some people like a little bit lighter orange, so they choose yellow. In an ideal world, all of those people would choose orange over either red or yellow. But this isn't an ideal world. And we don't get to choose orange.

Here's the secret that nobody in politics wants you to know...you don't have to agree 100% with either side. And it's perfectly fine to agree with one side on one issue, and the other side on a different issue. There is nothing wrong with saying that both sides make a good point. That goes for anything in your life. Defend your position on something if you believe it. But admitting that the other side makes a good point doesn't invalidate your position. It just means that they make a good point. We seem to have lost this thinking in our country. Part of that is because people buy into this whole two-party system too much. The politicians want you to fight with the other side and they'll do their best to drive wedges between people. It leads to people fighting over issues that don't even really matter in the grand scheme of things. You can't even have a conversation with someone without it resorting to name-calling or people getting mad.

So don't try to change someone's mind. I have been on this planet for 31 years. In that time, I have never seen a politically-driven conversation that ended with one person saying, "damn, you're right...I'm going to change my mind." Instead, it just ends in a bar fight or something. So don't bother. You can discuss different issues with people. In fact, that's good. That's how you learn and form your own opinion, by hearing a bunch of different viewpoints. But trying to change someone else's mind is a recipe for disaster.

And when you are trying to figure out what is important to you, read as much as you can about it. Find different articles, books, blogs, podcasts, or whatever and read/listen about both sides of the issue. Too many people just listen to the radio and spout off the opinions of their favorite host as their own. Actually, lately, people just get all of their information from some meme shared on Facebook. Be better than that.

Just remember, when the time comes you need to vote based on what is important to you. Figure out which issues matter the most to you and then research what candidate has those same stances. Vote for that person. Don't get hung up on the party they belong to. Keep an open mind. Vote for the best person running. Don't feel like you have to consider yourself a Democrat or a Republican. You don't. There is nothing wrong with saying that both sides are pretty damn crazy.

Love,
Dad