From Four Years Ago to Now

It's that time of year. The election is coming up in a few months. I'm finally able to vote, to make my mark on American politics. 

I can still remember four years ago, when President Obama won the election. I was a freshman in high school. During his inauguration, our teachers repeatedly told us how historic this moment was, and that we were lucky to be living through it. 

I and my classmates even got to miss fifth period (math, YES.) to watch the inauguration. We all stared at the TV, watching this indeed historic moment. 

The moment didn't last long. Growing up as a Mormon in Georgia, I was surrounded by conservatives galore. Not long into the class, while we were still watching the inauguration, the whispers began. They weren't nice whispers. They were filled with hate and vitriol and only a slight willingness to have some respect for the President. They at least had the courtesy not to whisper while President Obama was being sworn in. But during every other part of the coverage, and well into the next couple classes, the whispering continued. 

It piqued me. What reason could my classmates possibly have to whisper about a President? We talked about it. They pointed out several of their moral disagreements with his policy ideas, and various other things they heard from their parents. There was also the birther arguments and Muslims and terrorist disagreements they had. 

I agreed with some of their arguments and disagreed with others. One thing I will always give my classmates at Central, we all had the ability to have at least civilized debates. If all else failed, we just agreed to disagree. Not to mention also the fact that most of their arguments they had gotten from their parents. I could forgive their arguments because of the fact that we were all young and hadn't quite formed our own political ideas. 

One thing we all agreed on. Obama was still the President. There was nothing we could do about it, except wait four years until we could vote. 

Imagine then, after my civilized discussions and debates with my classmates, when I got online a few days later and got on Facebook, where I saw adults, grown people whose opinion I trusted and respected, metaphorically shouting about how Obama getting elected would bring about the end of the world. 

I felt horrible. This was terrible. This... this was what our country had come to. Name calling, derogatory comments, and an irrational ability to shut out facts or the truth. 

I pointed out some of these comments to my mother, and asked her why people would do this. 

"Well, Carina, they're just stating their opinion."

"But... Mom... he's the President. And this isn't... there is nothing nice at all about this. He's the President!" 

"Some people just don't respect him." 

"I can see not respecting him as a person, or his policy, but... they should at least have respect for his office, if nothing else." 

"They should. But they don't." 

And the walls of my political innocence came crashing down. Here I was, a young girl, still in high school, looking at the adults around me while they tried to teach their children moral codes and how to act as a proper adult...

And the contradictions that presented themselves whenever they started talking about politics. They couldn't even walk their own moral high ground. 

I grew up. Time passed. I learned more about the intricacy of our government, our politics, our Constitution. I began discussing policy issues and the upcoming election with my parents and friends. I turned 18 and registered to vote. 

The whispers haven't stopped. The only difference is that now I have access to hear the whispers that come from both sides. And at times, they aren't even whispers. Sometimes they're shouts, and no one seems to be able to stop shouting long enough to deal with the actual problems. 

I despair for the future of our country. This behavior is juvenile and ridiculous. This lack of compromise will destroy us if we don't do something about it. 

Our country was created on some of the best examples of compromise ever. 

The Constitution wouldn't have been formed if there had not been compromise. 

Yes, compromise takes time. It takes hard work. It takes listening to both sides. 

IT TAKES GIVING SOME THINGS UP. 

The Constitution took months to create. In the middle of summer. With closed windows, no air conditioning, and far too many clothes to wear. 

Today's politicians have all year, heating and air conditioning, and well, in their opinion, probably still far too many clothes to wear. 

However, if this is what is getting in the way of compromise, I vote they all dress up in ridiculous clothes, lock themselves in a room, and not come out until every single problem is solved. 

In the middle of a humid summer. Or a blizzard. Either one would work. 

Or just locking them in a room together until they come up with a solution. If that is what it takes, I will be more than happy for them to do that. 

Because the alternative isn't nearly so pretty. At least, one of the several not-pretty alternatives, if we keep going the same way we are. 

I've told you before, Amber and I are writing a dystopian spy story. It's set several generations into the future. 

America doesn't exist several generations into the future. In the history of our story, Canada, with an intellectual aristocracy, saw what was happening to America, and the rest of the world. They had had enough of Americans being petty and always arguing and creating problems because our government stopped functioning. The political hatred and vitriol didn't lessen, it grew greater, and it was affecting the world because we couldn't function. 

So Canada bombed us. Destroyed us completely. Wiped us all out. We had grown so embittered in our hatred of someone on the opposite of an invisible political line that we as a people would no longer listen to reason. Force was the only way to deal with us. And that's what they did. 

And with that, all democracy in the world died. 

We need to stop this path of self-destruction it looks like we've managed to place ourselves on. 

I noticed in some of our local elections, that some of the nominees would advertise themselves as being able to work with both sides of the political fence. 

Politicians shouldn't need to advertise the fact that they know how to compromise. They should ALL be able to do that. 

I don't ask you guys to share my stuff often. Or, ever, I think. But this is something that's really important to me, and it should be important to all of you, no matter your political views. 

But please, share this post. 

Put it on Facebook. 

Twitter. 

Your own blogs. 

Email it to your friends. 

Send it to your representatives. Local, national, state. All of them. 

If you can even find a way to send it to Romney and Obama, more power to you, and please do. 

This lack of respect and lack of willingness to listen is tearing our country apart. I don't want to face a future where this problem has escalated to the point that we can't respect our leaders or function as a country. 

I still have some small faith in humanity left. It's eroded, and often overpowered by cynicism, but there's still a small part of that little freshman in high school who believes that people don't deserve unadulterated hatred. No matter what.