I recently read an article from the New York Times that sadly showed the true messiness of the United States’ upcoming election. “Teaching Seventh Graders in a ‘Total Mess’ of an Election Season” by Julie Basman tells the story of seventh grade teacher, Brent Wathke, and his struggle to teach his students about modern political issues in today’s political ruthlessness. This entire piece serves as an excellent reminder of how far we’ve come and how low we’ve fallen in order to rise so high.
After reading the article, my initial thoughts can be summed up in a personal tweet I posted, “Sometimes, kids have more sense than adults. We need to consider the children when dealing with politics and voting.” Currently, I think we adults are giving kids a very paradoxical image. We tell children to be nice, yet we yell at our TVs when Trump or Clinton grace the screen. We engage in heated arguments with family, friends, and even strangers about which candidate is “our only hope.” We are appalled by the candidates’ harsh, cruel words towards each other and other people, but we don’t hesitate to put someone from our opposite party in their right place. Many of us are sick of hearing Trump or Clinton spewing such ridiculous and unkind nonsense; however, I’m afraid we have become exactly like them. Like Trump and Clinton, we are all human beings, and sometimes, humans lack empathy.
I understand why some people become so riled up about politics. Politics is immensely important, but it I think it can be easy to forget that life is so much more than who the president of one country is. Because politics are so significant for some people, that is an even larger reason to tread carefully and respectfully when discussing the government with others. When it comes to politics, we must consider humanity because the government should enrich human life, not enslave, control, betray or corrupt.
Our political views can sometimes be dehumanizing. We talk of building walls, walls that will keep other humans out. We use the term “fetus,” ignoring heartbeats and the beginning signs of life. We’re considering shutting ourselves off from the rest of the world, yet the rest of the world is full of people just like us. We no longer want guns, but we’re open to killing each other with heartless slanders of the tongue. We say that the rich need to pay, forgetting that the wealthy often suffer more than a middle-class citizen may ever know; it’s very lonely when money is the only friend one honestly earned. We demand better healthcare, ignoring the state of our own lost souls. We scream for equality, not realizing that true equality would entail rations for all and success for none. This is what we say we want, but have we truly considered the consequences our wishes would have on humanity?
I am not asking you to change your political views at all; I am simply pleading with you to show more understanding towards those who disagree with you. Everyone has their own personal reasons for their political stance. This is the United States of America, and because it is the US, people have the precious right to their own opinions. No one should make anyone else feel bad about voting for a certain candidate. While there is nothing wrong about a healthy political debate or discussion, there is something incredibly wrong about disrespect and narrow-mindedness. Before you deal with politics and voting, think of the children, the small ones and the ones who are all grown up.