Don’t be a political punching bag
January 19, 2016
As Obama’s second term is quickly coming to an end, America’s presidential hopefuls are trying to leave the best imprint of their beliefs and agendas on the public as they can. But their tireless efforts to gain their parties’ nominations has infected every nook and cranny in America with contradictions, never-ending rhetoric, and endless debates among citizens and candidates alike. Quite frankly, the race for supremacy in the polls is poisoning America.
If you feel like you’re being forced to drink from the fountain of political hogwash, you’re not alone. Millions of us want to shove Donald Trump’s baseball cap down his throat and tear away Hillary’s phone from her email-happy hands.
No matter how badly you want to crawl under the rock of political indifference, it’s almost impossible to cleanse your system of candidates’ empty promises and escape the tensions of the election season. However, it’s not too impossible to seem politically indifferent during this season of raging tempers and opinions, regardless of your beliefs.
The first step in obtaining political sobriety is to disassociate yourself from every candidate’s campaign. Basically, don’t give out your email address. Ever. I can personally say that if you do, you will receive dozens of emails a day from that candidate’s campaign, then another candidate from the same party will somehow get your email and send another dozen emails, and so on. Eventually, you will feel as though you are stuck in the grips of a grossly tech-savvy political Godzilla.
Also, ignore every advertisement for every candidate. They are usually brimming with exaggerations or outright lies, and focus on the failures of other candidates rather than their own achievements. Not to mention, they are filled with hate and discontent for other candidates. You don’t need that hate and discontent to trickle down from Jeb’s attack ads on Trump and tainting your life.
Yet the biggest step in maintaining your sanity and seeming politically indifferent during the election season is to not start any debates among your friends, family, classmates, etc. Leave that kind of stuff to Megyn Kelly and Anderson Cooper, because it’s just not worth weakening your relationships over a stupid political opinion. Wouldn’t you rather talk about something enjoyable with your friends rather than fighting with them over your differing views on Planned Parenthood?
And if you do find squabbling with people over politics enjoyable, I’m sorry. It must be hard to socialize when you’re politically disgruntled all the time (but I’ll save that rant for another day).
Whether you want to “Make America Great Again,” “#feeltheburn,” or fall somewhere in between, remember that it’s o.k. to step back and bask in the glory of being free of political tensions. And if you can’t find a candidate to support wholeheartedly when the glorious day of November 8th finally rolls around, just pick the lesser of the two evils and move on with your life.
