Make sure to get your vote out. (political rant) · 10:38pm Nov 5th, 2018
Well, this is it. Midterms are tomorrow, and depending on the results of this election, it could radically alter the course of the next two years. It took a bit of thought, but I've finally decided on who I'm going to vote for. I won't disclose the specifics, partly because I feel no need to risk alienating some of my followers, and partly because I don't have much of an axe to grind either way, as I'm not exactly enamored with either side, but I want to urge you, if you haven't already done so, get out there tomorrow and vote for whoever you feel will run the country the best, be they the democrats, the republicans, 3rd party, or some combination thereof.
However, before I go, I'd like to bring up one thing I've noticed a lot ever since I first got the opportunity to vote (and even more so over the past month or so), and that's the increasing amount of dehumanizing that both sides have been privy to lately. For whatever reason, I've noticed that a lot of people of all ages seem more set in their views then ever before. This isn't an inherently bad thing on its own, of course, but what makes it bad is that many people I talk to nowadays seem to be so embraced in their political views that they will not only refuse to listen to people with opposing viewpoints, but will outright demonize them as monsters for simply having a different viewpoint, even without communicating with these supposed monsters, and this is a problem I've noticed from both the left and the right.
Feel free to take this with a grain of salt, but from what I've seen, partisanship has ruined American democracy, to the point where Democrats and Republicans no longer seem to see eye to eye as humans with dissenting opinions, but rather see one another as the scum of the earth. From the emails I've been getting nearly non stop over the past week, to the videos and blogs I've seen discussing who would be the superior canidate, both parties seem convinced that the other is the enemy of America, and if you dare to acknowledge your opponent as not a monster, but a genuine patriot who wants to help America (albeit in a way different to yourself), then it's considered a sign of weakness and betrayal to your tribe. You happen to be a Democrat who stands up for some things Republicans have done, despite disagreeing with a majority of it? You're a traitor who supports nazis. You happen to be a Republican who thinks the Democrats might have a few points that are worth considering? You're a traitor who wants to see socialists rise to power (these are both things I have been called, by the by, despite being neither Demo nor Repub). All this does is embitter further resentment in individuals, and pushes both parties to further extremes, which only hurts America in the long run.
I obviously have no power to prevent this sort of partisanship among the public, as I am simply one human being in a sea of millions, but I would like to make a request for the small number of you who will read this, be you Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Conservative, or whatever. By all means, vote for whoever you feel will do the best job, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, but if someone tries to, instead of assuming the worst about them, please at least be willing to hear out their points. Debate them if you wish, absolutely, but try to avoid insulting them, calling them stupid or ignorant or whatever. As much as we'd like to pretend otherwise, we don't have all of the answers, and insulting those who think differently will only result in more resentment for everyone, which helps nothing. You need both thesis and antithesis to strengthen your opinions and change the opinions of others, and ignoring the antithesis part of that because 'they have no good points' or 'they won't listen to you anyway' only makes your own opinions weaker. By talking openly, honestly, and respectfully with someone you disagree with, your own views can become stronger, as will theirs, and who knows, one or both of you might be able to succeed at making the other see things in a different way, which helps everyone. Sure, there's no guarantee that'll happen, just like there's no guarantee the candidate you vote for will win, but there's no chance of it happening if you just demonize the opposition.
Midterms are tomorrow, and no matter who wins, I hope that we can at least all remember that despite our differences, we are all Americans, and we should treat each other as such. Because if we have no unity, we have no America.
Regardless of how you vote, I wish you the best of luck.
Cheers 
,
Charles Spratt
I just hope that one day, as Americans, we can fix this rift between our political parties, at least enough for the parties to see each other as something other than monsters for a change.
Well said.
The rift between the parties is entirely why I've never and will never give a f*ck about politics, and will just vote for whoever I want.
4963586
Ditto.
Perhaps civility will return in the years to come