I've stayed quiet on social media during the election process because I've learned long ago how polarizing politics can be. I've seen friends, family, co-workers, and even spouses get into huge arguments about their choice for president. I've seen smart people that I respect say dumb things and act in embarrassing manors and I've kept quiet (while silently screaming) hoping I could ride it out. I will, in part, continue to do so. This post is not about what candidate was the better choice, who was wrong or right, who is less evil, who lied more, or who I thought should be president. That truly doesn't matter. Don't try to argue with me about the candidates or bash anyone in the comments either, I will delete all of those types of things. This is about us as a country moving forward and learning from how we got ended up with this years election.
As I see it,we have a few fundamental flaws in our system, and most of them come back to money. First, I'm disgusted by the amount of money our candidates waste during the election process. We're talking over $6 billion!!!! With a B! Can you think of better ways our country could spend that money? I know I can. How about a few obvious choices? Education, infrastructure, and health care.
Our roads and bridges are falling apart, and people in Michigan can't even drink their tap water. This seems like an obvious choice.
How about educating our kids, I don't think you can ever go wrong there. Why are we still teaching kids the way we did a hundred years ago? Are jobs the same? Not even close, so why teach them the same. Our text books are outdated by the time they are printed. Let's move to digital, lets have teachers be more interactive. I know when I was in classes and the teachers just droned on and on while writing on the chalk board, I stopped listening, still do. Find a new approach. Let's invest in our kids and America's future.
Health care. We should have affordable health care for everyone. Period. Let's stop the lobbyist from determining our prices, and stop the drug companies from advertising. That doesn't help anyone except the drug companies and drives up our health care costs. Let's take away the insurance companies abilities to rule our health decisions and put it back where in belongs in the hands of the doctors and the patients that can make informed decisions.
The other big problem I have with the election process is our outdated voting system. Why can't people vote online? If American Idol can figure it out, surely our government can. Why do we need electoral votes? Why are votes split up by the state? I get it. The system was put into place when horses and paper ruled our communication. We are far from those days, so lets move on. Just count people's votes as they are, and truly make every vote count.
Bottom line, let's start working together and stop the hate. What's done is done, bickering won't change anything. We need to come together to push for reform and make this a better country for all that live in it. We have to set a good example for our children, show them whining and name calling won't solve anything, but rather calm and open dialogue and compromise is what will move our country towards progress. Let's move forward.
I think Americans as a whole were/are fed up the the status quo and wanted a change. We may just have it now. Is it the right change? Only time will tell. As Walt Disney used to say "Keep moving forward."
