I am venturing from my typical posts for this one…and before you write this post off as having little to no significance, I ask that you take the time to read it. I have many passions; healthy living, recipes that take under 30 mins (as I have shared on the recipe section of this website!), travel (As I’ve also shared on the website!), working out and living as healthy as possible. I have and will continue to write about all these topics, but I am also passionate about politics. In the world we live in I feel it is an incredibly important topic more people need to educate themselves on. It’s not safe to just bury your head in the sand. No longer can we turn our heads and pretend decisions don’t affect us. They do!
For instance, did you know we have (as of the writing of this blog post) given more than $54 BILLION to Ukraine to help fight a war we are not involved in (yet). That is more money than we spent in the entire 20+ years we were fighting the war on terror in Afghanistan. Whether you are happy or sad about this, let that sink in. I’m not for one minute saying we should not have aided Ukraine in some way but with the money we have given them we could have fixed or, at the very least, HELPED to fix many of the domestic issues here in America. We could have given raises to much deserving teachers, potentially not need to raise the debt ceiling, fix potholes (Hello, Tennessee drivers?!?!) and so much more.
Why? Why should you care about money being sent to another country? I ask, why NOT? I am not here to debate Republican vs Democrat or specific people on either side of the aisle. There is very little changing of minds and it’s not worth it, because it will probably only divide many people even further than we already are, and that is not something I want.
However, political education is important and is something I have only recently (in the past seven – eight years) begun to try and understand or make any sense of. While I am still a long way off from grasping full understanding of all the intricacies of politics, I DO understand the majority of Americans are a lot more alike than we are different. I truly feel if we spent more time discussing what we are in agreement on vs what we disagree on we would be truly the “United” States of America instead of the Divided States of America, as I feel we are now.
For example, most Americans want safer schools, want gun reform of some kind, want less war, more money being spent on bettering OUR country and making it stronger and safer instead of sending so much of it overseas to other countries, and many want lower taxes. Those are all points of discussion most everyone I talk to agrees on. Now, perhaps everyone has varying thoughts on HOW we get those things accomplished, but I have yet to meet anyone who does NOT want the above-mentioned things.
Most Americans – no, make that ALL Americans want kids to not just FEEL safe but to actually BE safe while in school. All Americans want a President who leads us well and with well worded speeches full of not just empty promises but plans of how to execute bettering our world and our country. (I think most everyone also agrees that neither our current nor most recent former President did a great job at this) See what I mean? There are a lot of things we are in at least partial agreement on. How about we work harder at discussing in a friendly manner, all the many things we agree on instead of the few (or maybe, many) things we disagree on? For example, if you know I am pro-life, and I know you are pro-choice maybe abortion isn’t the greatest topic of discussion the next time we have dinner! Easy-peasy!
It is always dumbfounding to me the amount of people who look for and get excited about arguments. There are many, many things my friends and I disagree on, but we don’t let those things get in the way of our friendship because we cherish each other, and our time together MORE than we care about getting each other on our respective “side of the fence”. It really isn’t hard. I respect their opinions and they respect mine, and isn’t that the way it should be anyway? Mutual respect. I know I respect my friends who are passionate about what they believe MUCH more than the ones who have no thoughts on anything at all, ever. Even when we disagree, I think “But man, I love their passion on this topic, even if we will never be on the same side”. Even when I’m scratching my head at how in the world, they could ever think that way, and I’m sure they’re thinking the same thing about me – but at least we believe in and are for or against SOMETHING.
I suggest talking to someone you know and trust and ask the “stupid” questions (I don’t believe any question is ever stupid) like “What do lobbyists actually do?” If you don’t know the branches of government, find out what they are and what they each do and are in charge of. Who becomes President if both the President and VP suddenly die? I’m surprised at the amount of people who genuinely do not know the answer to this question… Go visit Washington, D.C in person and tour all the monuments, statues, parks, historic sites like Mount Vernon, and other places nearby and try to sit in while the House or Senate are voting on a piece of legislation. It can be quite intriguing. If you have an inside connection tour the White House, or at least go on the Garden Tour (I’ve also done this and had an Olivia Pope moment. #Scandal) There are many ways of making learning fun and today’s youth are learning less and less about historical moments and significant moments. It’s incredibly sad that more kids know who Lebron James is than who the first President of the USA was.
I hope someone found this little detour of a blog post interesting and as always, I love to hear from you on any topics or subject matters you’d like me to post about!