Most election years are looked forward to with much groaning and moaning. This is because the onslaught of trash-talking, mud-slinging ads are about the ensue. You will be regaled as to why one candidate is better than the other and why you should pick him or her for your dodge ball team in the world wide arena of politics. You will have your Rights, your Lefts, your Middles and your I-Don't-Care-They-Are-All-Crooks. But this year there is another cry that is starting to escalate that has me feeling uneasy. It is the cry of "Anybody but....." Anybody but Obama, anybody but Romney, anybody but Paul. These are not cries of watchful mindful voters, these are cries of people who are looking to anything and everybody for passage into a imaginary promised land. And the media, campaign managers look on with calculated delight. For they know that one candidate, one president, isn't going to carry us out of this mess. But if they can just appease the majority of the masses, they can get their candidate to the front square and into the big office. So they point fingers and spotlight minimal things so that you are shocked and confused. Their goal is not to unite the country to former glory, but to divide and conquer.
Me, not We, Mentality
Mass media and special groups want you to think about you. What is in it for you? Why aren't you getting what you deserve? Why are the rich getting richer, while the poor suffer? This person is a bigot. That one is a hypocrite. This is what you should think about. That is old-school and outdated, no longer applying to our society. They shape and mold people's opinions by highlighting negative stories or articles, giving only a glimpse at the positive to give you some semblance of hope. Yet there are stories that leak through that show that the world they want you to believe in isn't all that they say it is. Stories of communities pulling together and helping each other, even thriving during a struggling economy. People showing charity and goodwill towards each other, without the benefit of a holiday. Unknown and unsung heroes stepping up and out to better the lives around them. This is the world they don't want you to believe in, this is the world they don't want you to see.
Divisive Mentality
Us against them, black against white, big against small, rich against poor, me against you. They will pick and pull, pointing out differences as opposed to unity. Big corporations are greedy and feed off their employees so you must bash them and see them for the evil carnations that they are. There are more corporations that care about their employees, community and environment then there are that take everything they can without regard to their surroundings. But those who let greed dominate their priorities get the stories because that is what will get the masses buzzing. There are a few elite rich in our country that are all party and play and no work. The majority of those who are considered rich and wealthy in this nation worked their collective butts off to get where they are today. Most of them still work as hard as most of their employees. But again, those kinds of stories do not get sensationalized. That would defeat their purpose of keeping the one group bickering at another, thus clouding the eyes of the people to what is being done behind the curtain in the Land of Oz.
Niceness vs Kindness
Political correctness is the bane of our society. It requires one to isolate itself from the community and take offense over little, petty things. It has you being packed into a box, bleating about imagined injustice instead of taking an honest look at what something truly is and either correcting a wrong or shrugging it off. Ignorance is scorned, instead of being an opportunity to educate and inform. Organizations are stigmatized or limited in their ability to reach out the the community and do more because of their belief systems or corporate mission statements. When concern over an individual's feelings override what is good for the group or community, a corrosive attitude eats at the heart and does more harm than good.
These are but a few of the only tools they use. I am not some conspiracy theory type. Just a simple American who loves her country, even when it appears to be unlovable at the moment. In this election year, what are the issues that are close to your heart?
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