I am not the political type.
I tend to keep my (apathetic) political views to myself and can’t be bothered getting dragged into that world. Admittedly that’s due to my ignorance of that world but also quite frankly… I hold very little interest.
Well, unfortunately given the political landscape of the upcoming presidential election, my peaceful ignorance and naivety were rudely disturbed by the clashing of Clinton and Trump.
Actually, no, it wasn’t even THEIR clash that woke the “political-me” from his eternal rest, it was in fact the clash of their supporters.
You can’t ignore it thanks to both the media and social media. I see posts, tweets, photos, memes, videos, and the kitchen sink all related to Clinton vs. Trump. And what’s been so disturbing has been the amount HATE and INTOLERANCE exemplified by supporters of both candidates.
There has been way too much intolerance between the two partisans among my “peers” and your average joe (take a quick gander on the comments of any social media posts and articles and you will see what I mean). It’s sad and disturbing to see this take place on such a massive scale.
It’s as if “racial intolerance,” “ethnicity intolerance,” “gender intolerance,” and “religious intolerance” weren’t enough… we just HAD to find something else to champion our hatred and inability to accept a “different perspective.”
So much anger… so much hate. *sigh*
And what’s worse is I noticed myself getting caught up in it.
I feel very strongly about this election simply because of what one particular presidential candidate represent in my view and I can feel my own disgust and intolerance build for this candidate AND the supporters of said candidate. Many times I was tempted to get into the “B.S. tossing contest” (which involves grasping at fake-truths, made-up facts, and irrelevant stories and pointlessly throwing them at the other party to make oneself feel “right” and the others “wrong”).
Thankfully I refrained (for now…) and am slowly clearing my mind-space of all the negativity and hatred exhibited by supporters of both parties. I know who I will vote for and I am finding space within myself to accept (and respect) the decision of others to vote for the other party.
I hope you do the same. After all, we really don’t need another reason to hate in the world.
