Neighbor News
Thoughts of the non-voters
Rockville High School Creative Writing Presidential Election 2016
By: Jarod Werner
The Death of the Open Mind
Though the two have been roundly criticized for their whole campaigns, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are only symbols of what is really wrong with the country; most Democrats and Republicans hate each other.
Earlier in the year a man was beaten for wearing a pro-Trump t-shirt, and last month a GOP office in North Carolina was firebombed. Many of Trump’s fervent supporters say that they will start a violent uprising if he loses, with some going as far as planning Clinton’s assassination.
Are the candidates themselves to blame? In part, yes. Trump’s Twitter tirades have lead to many of his supporters believing conspiracy theories, and Clinton’s email scandal has lead to her being seen as an untrustworthy candidate to many.
But the real problem is that people can’t accept others’ opinions. The widespread usage of social media has led to people saying whatever they want, whenever they want. This includes potentially controversial political views. As a result, online fights break out, which extend to real life. The internet was originally made to unite us with a wealth of information, but all of this information has succeeded in dividing us somehow.
In the past, Democrats and Republicans referred to each other as “friends from across the aisle”, but this is no longer true. They won’t consider the other party’s suggestions; long filibusters are held to prevent bills from being passed (one of which included Senator Ted Cruz reading Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham to bide time). And, they give each other harsh criticism outside of the political spectrum, such as saying that Melania Trump can’t be the First Lady because she has posed in risque photoshoots. These are personal attacks leaning more towards bullying than politics.
The solution to these problems is for people to learn to be more accepting. Sadly, it doesn’t look like this will happen anytime soon. It is perfectly fine for people to have their own opinions, but it is not okay for them to aggrandize themselves and put down others because of them.
