Last night, Pam and I went to Hillary Clinton‘s rally in Philadelphia. For those of you who don’t know, this year is a big year for America’s governmental system. We will be electing our next president, and this year it seems like a lot of pressure is being put on who will be the winner. Maybe it’s always been like this, but during the last election I was too young to vote, and therefore was not privy to the anxiety that surrounds the outcomes of elections. Ironically, it feels as though this election has the weight of the world on top of it. I have never attended a political anything, so with Hilary Clinton coming to PA, I decided I needed to go out and experience it.

I think everyone needs to take a break from politics, the media, and outside sources, and just sit with their thoughts. How do you feel about civil rights? Foreign policy? Government spending? Systematic racism? Education? LGBTQIA* rights? Women’s rights? The environment? The list of things that are important to people will go on and on, but once you have thought about the things that are important to you, look up what candidates stand for. No- NOT what they’re yelling about each other on TV. Look at their voting patterns. Look at what they have done in the past. Look at official statements and press conferences. Do you feel like they would be represent you and what you hold as personal truths? Good- then it looks like you found yourself a candidate. If you didn’t- that’s fine! You have autonomy and you should be able to make the choice not to vote if that’s what you want to do. If you feel like both candidates have supported things that you don’t feel comfortable backing, I understand that. I agree with that, and I think you aren’t alone in that feeling. In the end, I don’t want to endorse someone who upholds systematic racism and patriarchal values within a governmental organization that feeds on creating wars and distrust within it’s people. I don’t want to vote for anyone who creates trauma for the people they are ‘trying’ to represent. I wish I didn’t feel the obligation to feel that. But for the most part, that has been something that has been instilled in our generation. 

This election has been interesting. I’ve seen some pretty horrible things being said by people I thought were what I would deem morally sound. Unfortunately, I think this election has really brought out the bad in some people. I think it’s also testing my limits on the ideas of morality- what deems good and bad? Obviously this thinking only exists within a binary, and therefore is flawed by its own nature. But even if I change my thinking to include a grey scale, how do I really feel? It’s hard to look at someone and say “I know you would hate me if you knew I was dating a girl, but I also know you volunteer at a homeless shelter weekly because you care about your community.” How do I feel about that? That person obviously has what I would deem ‘good’ qualities, but they also have ‘bad’ ones as well. What I’m really trying to say is as a non-party affiliated gal, I really hate how this political binary is showing me that so many people I know are still horrible, horrible people and I now must choose to vote within the system that continuously breeds these individuals, or face very literally consequences.

Overall, whenever someone says something problematic, I try to have a productive conversation with them to try to work through some of the thought processes that they have. Normally, I have a good conversation with people who have “Ah-Ha!” moments, and it’s good. Now, I’m faced with hostility that doesn’t even allow for positive confrontations. It’s interesting to see how the validity of an argument is misconstrued depending on how someone interprets your political affiliation to be. Actually, it’s really aggravating. You can’t just jokingly call someone a F****t and expect everyone to laugh with you. Someone’s gonna call you out for being mean! And homophobic! And if you just blame it on someone being ‘politically correct’ or ‘overly sensitive’ just remember that you made someone else feel bad. Who cares if you think that they need to suck it up? If YOU have ever been made to feel uncomfortable, and you were told to suck it up, I am so sorry! That’s really sad, and not how the situation could have been handled. But you can’t do that to others now!

I found this really interesting- its a post from another blog, complete with their own personal typing style

Honestly something that bothers me more than most things is having my compassion mistaken for naivety.

I know that another fish might eat this bullfrog right after I spend months rehabilitating it.

I know that turning a beetle back onto its legs won’t save it from falling over again when I walk away.

I know that there is no cosmic reward waiting for my soul based on how many worms I pick off a hot sidewalk to put into the mud, or how many times I’ve helped a a raccoon climb out of a too-deep trashcan.

I know things suffer, and things struggle, and things die uselessly all day long. I’m young and idealistic, but I’m not literally a child. I would never judge another person for walking by an injured bird, for ignoring a worm, or for not really caring about the fate of a frog in a pond full of, y’know, plenty of other frogs.

There is nothing wrong with that.

But I cannot cannot cannot look at something struggling and ignore it if I may have the power to help.

There is so much bad stuff in this world so far beyond my control, that I take comfort in the smallest, most thankless tasks. It’s a relief to say “I can help you in this moment,” even though they don’t understand.

I don’t need a devil’s advocate to tell me another fish probably ate that frog when I let it go, or that the raccoon probably ended up trapped in another dumpster the next night.

I know!!!! I know!!!!!!! But today I had the power to help! So I did! And it made me happy!

So just leave me alone alright thank u!!!!

So yeah!! If having compassion for another human being and their feelings is ‘politically correct’ I’m going to do it! And I think you should too, because one day we are going to realize that it’s just us humans on this giant flying rock in lonely, lonely space, and we need to be nice to each other because literally we will all die one day, and might as well know that we lived a life where we actively tried to be kinder and nicer to one another.