A Better Future

Over the last four years, the American people have endured much. Having finally removed former president Donald Trump from office, many have hoped that now is the time to look towards a brighter future. Personally, I have never been one to discuss politics in an online setting. With this in mind, however, I feel as though there are many things that are far too important not to be addressed. In this article I am going to take a look at some of the issues we face and share my thoughts on them. I only hope to help spread awareness towards the issues I believe plague the American people.

The problems facing the American people arguably go back farther than the past four years. With this said, I believe that former president Trump only helped exemplify these issues pre-existing issues. While running for office in 2016, Trump very much helped create a divide between the American people that can still be clearly seen to this day. Rather than people caring about what's good for America, we saw a very radical shift towards what's better for one's own political party. This has arguably only gotten worse over the course of Trump's presidency. It is so bad, in fact, that I would heavily argue that the political party system should be entirely abolished. We no longer have simple Democrats and Republicans, as both sides have grown more and more extreme in their own right. It is no longer enough to look out for the American people, but rather, the opposition must be dealt a blow regardless of the cost to the people. Our forefathers warned us of such issues, saying to avoid political parties for this very reason. Continuing to let these political factions wage a pseudo-war against each other will only lead to greater problems for the American people, and we need to act now in order to prevent this. It was once said that a house divided cannot stand, and the political parties have created a division rivaling that of what we saw during the American Civil War. So much so, in fact, that extremist groups have already begun rallying together. This being evident after such groups saw fit to storm the US capital building on January 6th or 2021.

Another issue that the 2016 election brought to light is the existence of the electoral college. The original purpose is as follows, according to archives.gov: "The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution, in part, as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens". The issue at hand, however, is that it seems the electoral college is perhaps at odds with the American people. While the masses very much outvoted Trump in favor of Hillary Clinton, the electoral college did not see fit to follow what the citizens wanted. This is not the first time this has happened, either. Another instance of the electoral college going against the wishes of the American people happened in 2000, when Al Gore won the popular vote against George Bush. My question to you is simple. Who should have the final say when it comes to elected officials: we the people, or the electoral college?

While there is no argument that former president Donald Trump created many issues during his presidential term, it is very much worth asking if the means of damage control are worth the risks they very much impose on our liberties. During his final days in office, many sites opted to silence Trump. His accounts banned indefinitely, all in an effort to keep him quiet and quell the rising tensions created by his leadership. While this was an arguably justified, many sites banned him preemptively. The question I have is whether or not many of these sites were even used by Trump, as well as if he had even gone against their terms of service in order to be banned. At what point do we consider actions such as these little more than thought crime? Sites saw fit to ban him not for using them, but rather because he could. While this is fine in Trump's case, as he very much has the ability to cause great harm through his actions, I fear that this is a power that could be very much abused. Stopping Trump is fine, but when companies see they can get away with this sort of thing (especially when it applies to a powerful political figure), I fear there is little stopping them from pulling the same card. This is something that I feel needs to be addressed, as it can be detrimental to political, religious, and social beliefs. If the big tech companies decided they simply didn't like a movement, they could effectively silence it entirely.

A second potential issue is the excessive use of executive orders by the presidential office. This was once again exemplified by former president Trump, often being used as a means to get his way. With this in mind, however, president Joe Biden has already seen fit to sign a slew of executive orders within his first month in office. While many of these orders under Biden were to negate many of the harmful orders which former president Trump had put into place, I fear that these orders may come to be abused again in the future if we don't intervene today.

An issue I have noticed all to frequently, which very much concerns me greatly, is the rise of blatant misinformation spread by our politicians. Whether this misinformation is spread by a genuine lack of education or done intentionally is often up for debate, but one thing that is certain is that this spread of misinformation is detrimental to the American people. I believe that this alone should be grounds to have a politician removed from office. With this in mind, the removal must come from an outcry from the people, and the people must be able to prove that the politician is in fact spreading said misinformation. I do not believe such removals should be left to other politicians, as those who would remove them in such a case are very much their peers. These peers would see fit to protect their own interests, but not to protect the interests of the American people.

The last thing I would like to address is a topic that causes me great distress often. As companies have grown, so has their involvement in politics. Today, many business have a hand in shaping out laws and futures. This is why I believe there needs to be a greater separation between the federal government and corporations. When examining legislations and legal proceedings, you can very often find greater protections for corporations. Whether it's bail out money when said corporation is failing, longer copyright terms than that which is available for individuals, or legislation that offers immunity and legal protections, you can see the very evident problem that is corporations pulling the strings. This problem, in my opinion, will be the hardest to solve. It needs to be made so that corporations do not have a strong sway with the government. There needs to be no super packs, and punishments for politicians and corporations found to be conspiring together. Corporations are not people, and the American people need to be put before any business.

I would like to conclude this article by making note of the following: Everything you have read is based on my opinions and understanding of today's political climate. My goal is not to radicalize anyone, but instead I wish to simply give people material to reflect upon. Change starts when good people have good ideas, and a good idea can unite the masses. America needs to come together now more than ever, and I fear that our way of life will only become more jeopardized if we do nothing. I understand that the world today can feel uncertain at times, and I understand how difficult life can be. Together, we can make things better. We can build a brighter future, a future for the people. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this. I hope that it can help inspire others to think of better days, and work on making those days possible.