Opinion: The Political Left

When did the Democratic party become a bunch of wimps and placaters? Social justice is a great concept, I’m completely for it. But seriously, the fact that I’m a white, straight male does not make me a bigot, racist or sexist. I do understand that I have privilege simply because of my appearance, and everyday I wrestle with how absolutely absurd that fact is. If I could flip a switch and fix it, I would, however the issue is not with our laws, but instead with our people. The government could pass all kind of regulations so that everything is fair (on paper,) but attitudes will still remain the same. As much as I dislike the notion of racial bias, it would be more immoral to attempt to force a change than it is to keep the status quo. We can only hope to be the change we wish to see, and call out what we see as wrong. Engaging in discussion is also important, but we should not stoop to name calling and insulting, even if others do. The moral high ground is already ours, let’s keep it that way.

Democrats used to be the party of logic and science, but we now have pseudo-science such as the more-than-two-genders movement taking over. I understand that you may not feel particularly a part of the gender norms of society. In fact, I’m perfectly fine with those who identify as genderfluid as well as those who identify as (or are physically) both genders. But you can’t just have no gender, and you can’t invent something new. I sympathise with those who are Transgender, although I don’t understand it on a personal level. This is still a form of one of the two (or I suppose four) genders, and therefore I acknowledge that is it is within the realm of possibility. The same goes for the LGBTQ community, I may not feel the same way but I understand that it’s not some abomination and in fact natural. Outside of humanity homosexuality occurs when population increase is neither priority or productive, and humanity meets both of those qualifications. And of course love is love, after all.

Large portions of the Democratic economic stance also have a tendency to make little to no sense, and I say this as a supporter of entitlement programs. I particularly find the concept of minimum wage needing to be a living wage ridiculous. After all, these are jobs are meant for entry level workers, not those who need to provide for themselves and/or a family (ie. teenagers and some college students.) I do not think that somebody has the right to live life doing nothing to better themselves or society and just waste away their potential (and yes, I do believe everyone has the potential to be more than a minimum wage earner.) This, to me, is where entitlement programs pick up. I support handups (as opposed to handouts) such as government sponsored job training, free education (including college,) and universal healthcare (especially mental health care) to help those in less-than-optimal living conditions grow and have the chance to achieve their full potential.

One of my core beliefs is that the majority of our societal issues stem from some sort of mental illness. A classic example is school and other mass shootings, or really any murder. Something has to be seriously wrong in one’s head before they decide to take another’s life, or else just snap and kill. Most often there are warning signs and with proper treatment these disasters can often be averted. The Opioid epidemic also has roots as a mental health issue, with people who use these drugs doing so as a way to cope with depression, emptiness or loss. I say this as a recovering opioid addict myself (20 months clean, and it gets easier every day.) It would have been impossible to take the first steps to quit without the amazing support system I have. Anybody else who struggles with the same issues has the right to a similar support system, regardless of their economic status. Though Democrats do push for universal health care, they fail to place the proper emphasis on mental health issues and highlight the positive impact that the care would provide.

I’m repulsed by the polarization of modern politics and the “Us vs Them” mentality that people are subjected to. I’ve met so many one-issue-voters as well as all-or-nothing-voters, and I’m unsure as to which is worse. In recent news we saw public figures and Democrats blasting Heath Mello, a Democratic candidate for mayor in Omaha, Nebraska, because she held a different stance than the majority of the party on abortion rights. I’m not going to get into the topic of abortion, I’ll leave that for another time. The issue here is the all-or-nothing attitude and hardlining that makes me glad I choose not to affiliate with any particular political party.

I cannot emphasize enough the idiocy it takes to decide ‘I disagree with you on one issue, therefore I cannot support you at all.’ Not only does this make nothing get done, but it allows people with whom you disagree on more issues to take office. The best analogy that comes to mind is a hungry person being offered mediocre food (not bad, just mediocre) and refusing to eat just because it wasn’t amazing. Pure stupidity, mixed with arrogance and selfishness.

All of this is just to say to the Democrats: You’ve gotten off track, and you’re emphasising the wrong issues (not to minimize women’s rights, but Roe v Wade isn’t going anywhere.) You’re running around headless, alienating potential supporters and making a fool out of yourself. It’s time to snap out of it, because now is not the time for Democrats to lose reason. Just because the opposition is living in a fact free world does not mean we have to. Contrarily, we need to double down on the truth and find ways to prove and demonstrate the validity of our issues to our opposing politicians and work together across the aisle to fix them.