#SearchbeforeyouPost

 

We are lucky enough to live in a country where the majority have access to the entire worlds accumulated knowledge at a moments notice. Your only limit is your data plan or download speed, so why do people in the year 2016 still have absolutely no idea how to wield it properly?

I recently was browsing facebook and noticed a meme my friend had posted, nothing too outrageous like Obama is behind 911(or was he), just making fun of animal rights protestors- I’m the last person you’ll see telling someone that’s not funny or chastising them for a perceived lack of a sense of humor, but this was something that I just had to comment on and set straight.

The meme showed a picture of animal protesters standing in front of the milk aisle at a grocery store, they had signs and pictures, and their message was that cows shouldn’t have to die for milk. The meme was of course making fun of these protestors, you don’t kill cows to make milk DUH- and at first glance, I laughed.

It doesn’t take long too Google something, it’s so easy and synonymous with searching that Google is a verb these days instead of a company. Four minutes into Google and chill I was a subject matter expert, I skimmed through a few sites some pro animal and some pro eating animals but one thing was clear: although obviously the action of milking the cow doesn’t kill it, the cow is forced to be perpetually pregnant for years, is beaten and abused, and the constant stress and torment drains the animal and takes its average 20 year life span down to less than five, and in the end yes they are slaughtered the same as cows bred for meat- just takes a few extra years of torture.

Now you may have tuned out by now but I can assure you this isn’t some diatribe trying to convince anyone to go vegan(I sure as hell am not doing it) the point is that misinformation is so widespread that people will literally take anything at face value, as long as it’s something they already believe- animal protestors are dumb liberal hippies that don’t understand the world, so the meme must have been right.

Practice safe memeing and #searchbeforeyoupost , let’s at least ATTEMPT to cut down on the crap that circulates online- and let’s at least ATTEMPT to think outside our respective boxes.

The Inconvenient Option

 

America is built around the idea that every vote counts, the people’s voice must be heard; so why the hell are we so afraid to speak when the time comes?

A year ago you could ask any American what they thought about politics in America and you could gather up the results and list the same buzzwords like a scattegories for the disenfranchised: Corrupt, Greedy, Liars, Selfish. Ask those same people what they want to do about the problem and you might get something a little more hopeful: “Get out there and vote them out, let them know they work for us!” If that isn’t the slogan for millennials lately I don’t know what is- until it comes time to actually follow.

We are faced with a historic election, the two most disliked and distrusted candidates ever presented to the public are battling it out for the presidency. Go outside right now and ask the first person you see what they think about Clinton and Trump, odds are they absolutely DESPISE one and think the other is…well better than the alternative. Who decided that’s ok?

Voting for the lesser of two evils has become commonplace in American politics. People defending Clinton or Trump spend their time more on attacking the opposing candidate, and less on actually why their candidate is a solid vote in the first place. Faced with some facts or opinions that their candidate is less than stellar- they ALWAYS default to “Well ya but at least he/she isn’t Clinton/Trump”, that sounds way too similar to someone consoling a friend in a crappy way “Ya you have cancer but at least it’s not aids, amiright?”

Remember our hypothetical American? A year ago they would have LEAPED at the chance to vote for someone who isn’t corrupt, they would be desperate to have more than two choices in any given election- after all, how can a country of 250 million plus be well represented by only two parties? Does half the country think that entitlements should be abolished and the other half think we should have free college and healthcare for all? Not even close, but I can bet there’s a few million that think that we shouldn’t cut down any more trees for any reason, and perhaps a few more that think we should drill until there isn’t an acre of federally protected land left- and those people should have a seat at the dinner table too.

America hates the two-party system, until it comes time to change it. When third-party candidates come up lately, you hear a lot of people talk about how they are wasted votes and this election is just too important this time for such things. Hate to break it to you America, but EVERY election is important- and there will NEVER be a good time to vote third party; but it has to be done. We will never get away from the lesser of two evils, and we will never get all our voices heard- until we “waste” our vote and show democracy is too complex for just two parties.

Clinton Campaign Misfire 

 

With the first debate between Trump and Clinton only a month away, Hillary is continuing to double down on the most worthless campaign strategy since “Let’s pick Sarah Palin for vp”. I am referring to, of course, her campaign’s CONSTANT barrage of insults and attacks against Trump.

Now this is the point at which you may be thinking “I’m pretty sure that this is how every campaign has been run, ever” and that’s true but you would be forgetting one thing: The complete and utter polarization of American politics.

The divide has never been worse in this country, Democrats and Republicans 100% HATE each other. Open up a comment section of any article even mentioning Hillary or Trump and you will see thousands of people full-on preaching the gospel of how completely terrible the other candidate is. People who are pro one or the other are dedicated to the cause, they will excuse any scandal as a conspiracy and any gaff as an overblown witch hunt. Starting the conversation with one of these people with insults aimed at their candidate is a lesson in futility.

Hillary needs to stick to the issues, it may sound boring but she’s basically hitting her head against the wall trying to win over Trump supporters; any that are going to abandon that ship will do so because Trump continues to be TOO Trump for some. She has a whole chunk of the electorate that is waiting on the sidelines weighing their options after basically being stood up on prom night by Bernie Sanders, they are ripe for the picking and a simple shift back to the left instead of a pivot to the center will secure her the Presidency.

The Clinton campaign needs to delete any mention of Trump from her upcoming speeches, and fill the holes with progressive causes- and watch any hope of a Trump resurgence disappear into the rear view mirror.