As you walk along in the cool crisp Autumn air, surrounded by a glorious array of vivid colors, sights, smells and sounds, you may actually surprise yourself to find your answers to the above questions are somewhat different than what you had initially decided upon in the presence of worldly noise and filters. You might even find that despite all of the negative rhetoric presently slamming the air and internet waves, that your life is actually substantially, tangibly better than it was two or more years ago. Maybe you find it easier to provide your family these days? Maybe you now have a job and moreover you have the job security that you lacked before? Maybe you actually now have money leftover to SAVE for a change? Maybe your energy bills are now considerably more realistic, with Presidents Trump's push for a responsible, but wholly pragmatic true energy independence? Maybe you now have the hope of lower drug prices and more affordable healthcare in the very near future, and a hope for more choices in your healthcare (e.g., access to preliminary drug trials for terminally ill patients who don't have time to wait for final FDA approvals). Maybe because of the latter, you are less stressed and worry a bit less these days? [ I also have to debunk one widely spreading campaign myth here: Republicans have NOT vowed to repeal provisions for pre-existing conditions!! President Trump has repeatedly stated, from Day One, that he will ardently fight protect coverage for pre-existing conditions in healthcare insurance. Claims to the contrary are flat out lies designed to evoke emotions in order to gain votes. Moreover the Democrat's plan for a "Single-Payer" option would leave us with fewer choices in healthcare, not more. Single-Payer healthcare would also mean longer wait times for patient care. That is socialized medicine in a nut shell. Furthermore, we don't have to theorize about possible outcomes were such a system to be enacted in the USA. We actually have numerous examples of the shortcomings and failures of socialized medicine to draw upon from all around the globe.]
Perhaps as you walk along, further still, other truths about the state of our nation and who is to blame for that which ails us will also come into focus a bit better? Perhaps at the end of day, you will realize that no single politician on either side of the aisle can be blamed for the actions of madmen. We didn't blame Democrats for shootings perpetrated by madmen with left-leaning political ideologies perpetrated in years past? Why would we do so now? It just doesn't make any logical sense. Sure it may feel good to point a finger and arbitrarily assign blame. It may also help to conveniently bolster ratings of one political ideology over another, in the short term, but such sentiments fall miserably short when it comes to standing up to the scrutiny of logic and reason and moving our nation forward into healing. That being said, no politician should ever outright condone violence as we have seen in this election cycle (e.g., Maxine Waters calling for Democrat supporters to get into the faces of private citizens going about the business of their daily lives in order to "create a cry-out!"; former Attorney General, Eric Holder claiming that "When they go low, we kick them!"; Hillary Clinton "You cannot be civil with someone who wants to destroy everything you stand for.") The latter are not in any way examples for how a true democracy works. Ironically, these are examples of fascism, the very fascism those on the far Left would like to project onto President Trump and his followers, but I digress.
Remember the saying "It's all about the economy stupid"? Well, I wholeheartedly believe this truth, for in the absence of a robust economy little can be done to advance any meaningful agenda, be this a Left or Right-leaning agenda or something somewhere in the middle. I think it could be safely argued that our United States economy is doing remarkably well at the present moment. Our national debt on the other hand isn't in such great shape, nor do future trends bode well for us in this respect either. That being said, a robust economy will go a long way towards helping us reverse our national debt trend. Prioritizing all of the issues facing our nation will be another critical factor in reversing this downward spiraling debt trend. Personally, I think renegotiating bad trade deals will also go a long ways towards this negative trend and I have to President Trump credit for his willingness to go there. Bearing all of this in mind, is it crazy to suggest that maybe we, as citizens, have to prioritize what matters most to each us when we walk into the voting booth next week? Sure, we'd all love to "Save the World," but let's be honest in order to save the world you have to have an actual plan (and $$money$$ to spend), complete with fact-based ideas that will bring forth tangible solutions to solvable, real-world problems. More importantly, every experience I've had in life, as a daughter, as a student, as a wife, as mother, as an engineer, as an artist has taught me that "survivablity" and future success is rooted first and foremost in the building of a strong foundation. That is to say, we have to take care of ourselves and our families, our communities and our country before we can have any reasonable chance of saving the world at large. I think this what President Trump means when he states that he wants to put "America first" for a change. President Trump isn't saying that United States interests 'trump' all other worldly interests, period, end of discussion. He's merely stating a simple fact: We need to get our own fiscal house in order. That's just common-sense good business from where I'm standing. Keep in mind, the United States of America is probably one of the most --if not the most-- generous of nations when it comes to providing humanitarian aid to others across the globe.
Above all I would ask that you, my fellow citizens, strive to seek truth when evaluating political claims and platforms. Ask yourself: Is the person who is giving me information and making claims accountable, not only in their words, but also in their deeds and actions. Do their claims speak to actual facts or are their words designed solely to divide us, to assign blame and to evoke emotions? We seldom think clearly, logically in the throws of emotion; I think this is an intentional strategy and one we need to be keenly aware of as voters. If you do nothing else this election cycle, you need to ask yourself: "Am I being used, emotionally coerced in order to advance a purely political agenda?" Moreover, is this political agenda rooted in actual tangible solutions which if enacted would produce a net benefit for the country, or is the agenda being advanced merely a floating haze of nebulous political ideologies? It's hard to bring about meaningful change when your only counter-arguments for existing policy is "Not that!" In the absence of a willingness to bring meaningful arguments to the table you're only left with emotion-evoking tactics and technical subterfuge (i.e., tech and media giants suppressing content they might not like) in order win people over to your side. Doesn't the latter kind of imply that those 'in power' on the Left (politicians on the Left, Hollywood, the media and some tech giants) basically think that "we the people" are stupid? Maybe I'm missing something here, but that's how it comes across to me. Now is perhaps the time for all good men and women to turn the page and actually begin making a reasonable case for their cause. The Left has some really good ideas, but honestly you have to tone down the rhetoric, stop with the flat-out lies and come to the table. This "all or nothing" mentality isn't getting your party or the country anywhere. It doesn't have to be black and white, there is a grey area, a middle-ground where two sides can meet in order to reach compromise. If you ask me, you couldn't have asked for a better President to work with when it comes to compromise. Donald J. Trump is the Deal-maker of deal-makers. Perhaps that is why those on the far Right have been slow to come to his support? Like it or not, President Trump IS making history. Does your party really want to go down in the volumes of history as the party who sat on the side-lines during these historic times in stubborn, unproductive resistance while Trump and his administration made the country tangibly better in terms of the economy, jobs, military, trade deals, the U.N., NATO, North Korea, cracking down on terrorism, taking care of the Dreamers, fixing healthcare, finding a solution to our broken immigration system, etc. Opportunity comes in all shapes and sizes?
So as your walk amongst the bounty of nature draws to its inevitable close, please consider one final thought. This thought being that the most enlightened of individuals among us, spiritually speaking, are those who can first and foremost BE true to themselves. Belonging, purely the sake of belonging in the absence of rational thought, is highly overrated in my humble opinion. It also just may be the biggest part of what's wrong with America today. Listen to your inner voice and to thine own self be true .... Now that is the place you go about changing the world from, one ripple at a time.
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