2016 Election

I'm not about to get political, but it would be a missed opportunity to not write about the election at some point.

Don't think so? Yeah I don't really believe it's an important opportunity either. Sometimes a situation is so ridiculous it doesn't even count as comedic anymore.

That said, I read a comment that rubbed me wrong today:

"If this election hasn't made you deeply and profusely ashamed to be an American, you might be part of the problem that got us here."

For now let's forget that the quote has an author and tear the idea to shreds!

First off, 'profusely' should have been 'profoundly.' Second, too many adverbs.

More importantly, the quote is forgetting our nation. The primary system was designed without today's massive amounts of participation in mind, and thus we still see primaries held by caucus, closed primaries and the like.

It's easy to forget that we barely even have a 200 year history. The amount of progress we've seen in that time period is astronomical to most people with some sense of historical perspective. But we shouldn't be surprised that the process by which we elect our highest officials is slow to evolve. Quick and easy change is a formula for radicalization and disaster, two things to keep away from the process by which we choose the most powerful people in the modern world. It is not safe to have an easy means to reform the election process.

The primaries don't hold up to the pressures of modern voting, as is also the case for the electoral college. We the people are ready for a less restrained system, but the process of implementing that system is not easy. Should we be surprised by that? of course not. Should we be disappointed? Perhaps. Ashamed? No.

If you look at the election process we did not select these people as a nation, and given the system we are not altogether accountable for not selecting someone else. The above quote is trying to express frustration at the idea of having to vote for one of two terrible options. But it is irresponsible and uninformed. We were victims of a system that let them be elected with less than a tenth of the nation's approval, and that tenth only picked a candidate from a short list of options. That may not sound like a great system, and it is not, but a government forever stands at the brink of chaos and tyranny; an electoral system well behind the times is a small price to pay for staying steady on that balance.

Moreover, we have a government designed to limit the power of any fool that happens to be elected into office. That is the true genius of American politics we all seem to be forgetting. Trump or Clinton would in reality be very hard pressed to do even a quarter of the damage that even a half-hearted nay sayer would predict. Granted we've spent an unfortunate amount of tax dollars on over a years worth of campaigning, but that in itself constitutes only a small flaw in the system.

There are a million and one reforms that need to be implemented in the election process from limiting corporations' power in candidates policies to having open primaries to abolishing the electoral college, but the fact that such changes take decades to implement is no reason to be ashamed of America, let alone to be ashamed to be American.

We are human, and anything we build will be flawed, and more often than not all the way to the core. The fact that America still stands today on much the same ideals it was founded on is, as I've said before, amazing. The fact that two tyrannical narcissistic prigs will have no chance at destroying it, no matter how big the media makes them look, is amazing.

Here's the fun bit:

Profusely ashamed to be American? the nerve! Part of the problem that got us here? I sure am! I'm American. I'll be profusely ashamed to be American when we make Eugenics a national program. I'll be profusely ashamed to be American when we're sending dissidents to Siberia. I'll be profusely ashamed to be American when I'm not allowed to say that I'm profusely ashamed to be American.

This election doesn't change the principles America stands for. Do we think the UK has a different set of core principles just because they have a new prime minister or because the queen makes a grumpy face? No! America is more than its leaders, in fact it will only have the person elected today in office for the next four years! The fact that someone could be ashamed of their whole national identity for the sake of those four years is embarrassing.

Let's wrap this up with some adjectives. Thinking that this election should make you regret being American is melodramatic, shameful, and shortsighted. It's buying into all the hype you're criticizing. It is sad, and I can only hope that tomorrow morning you can find American pride in your heart.

Also it'll be fun when this is over. Hope your candidate won! (unless I didn't vote for them ;)

Happy poll watching!