Primary season thoughts
*climbs atop soapbox* I'm seeing more and more political posts as primary season launches into full swing, and I'm going to go into teacher mode for a moment, and encourage everyone to exercise critical thinking skills. If you know me at all, you know my political leanings, but this is for all of us.
Beware painting any candidate as a savior or a devil. Literally every candidate, the ones we adore and the ones we despise, are humans. They have good qualities, they have bad qualities. They have ads that skew the truth, debates that don't get to the heart of matters, and hyperbole contests to see who can scare people more. Yes, some candidates are worse than others in that regard, but they all play the game to some degree. That's the way the game's rigged to be played. Don't give them your heart - they will break it.
The only things remotely reliable when it comes to whether a candidate aligns with your views or not, is what actions they've taken, and to whom they're beholden. Don't take what candidates and media say at face value. How did the candidates vote on issues you care about? What policies have they championed, and what have they demonized? Who's donating to them? This requires some homework. Start with Project Vote Smart - where you can look up voting records. Then look into the money. Open Secrets can tell you who's giving how much to whom. And don't give the mainstream media a pass - to whom are they beholden? What agenda are they pushing? Why does one candidate get constant airtime over another? Look in more than one place for your news, and look outside of the U.S., too. You might be surprised by how much clearer things may appear from afar.
Politics is a dirty, fascinating, important game that won't be washed clean until we get as much bias and money out of the system as possible, but in the meantime, we can seek out as much factual knowledge as we can, and make sure our involvement, at least, is as pure as we can make it.
*climbs down from soapbox, wanders off*
Beware painting any candidate as a savior or a devil. Literally every candidate, the ones we adore and the ones we despise, are humans. They have good qualities, they have bad qualities. They have ads that skew the truth, debates that don't get to the heart of matters, and hyperbole contests to see who can scare people more. Yes, some candidates are worse than others in that regard, but they all play the game to some degree. That's the way the game's rigged to be played. Don't give them your heart - they will break it.
The only things remotely reliable when it comes to whether a candidate aligns with your views or not, is what actions they've taken, and to whom they're beholden. Don't take what candidates and media say at face value. How did the candidates vote on issues you care about? What policies have they championed, and what have they demonized? Who's donating to them? This requires some homework. Start with Project Vote Smart - where you can look up voting records. Then look into the money. Open Secrets can tell you who's giving how much to whom. And don't give the mainstream media a pass - to whom are they beholden? What agenda are they pushing? Why does one candidate get constant airtime over another? Look in more than one place for your news, and look outside of the U.S., too. You might be surprised by how much clearer things may appear from afar.
Politics is a dirty, fascinating, important game that won't be washed clean until we get as much bias and money out of the system as possible, but in the meantime, we can seek out as much factual knowledge as we can, and make sure our involvement, at least, is as pure as we can make it.
*climbs down from soapbox, wanders off*