The Reagan Revolution occurred for two primary reasons:
1. A large numbers of conservative Democrats believed that their party had left them, and they voted accordingly.
2. Reagan’s message was significantly more optimistic than the message of his opposition, both Democrat and Republican.
I bring this up to highlight to the fact that the dominant currency of many politicians in office today is pessimism spiced with paranoid pandering. They revel in a toxic mix of Fear, Greed, and Hate.
Let’s start with the Fear. We must fear the Common Core because it is a government plot to take over schools. We must fear CSCOPE because it is a Marxist plot to indoctrinate youth. We must arm ourselves to the teeth because Jade Helm 15 is a plot to institute martial law. We must dismantle public schools because teachers are, pick one:
(A) Lazy (B) Greedy (C) Incompetent (D) Godless (E) All of the Above
I understand and validate your Fear… Vote for me.
Then we move to Greed. All taxes are bad. Except the taxes that create a greater burden on the poor (see: Sales Tax; Fuel Tax; Sin Tax; etc.) All welfare is bad. Except the welfare that benefit the affluent (see: Private School Vouchers; Homestead Exemptions; Property Use Exemptions; Corporate Tax Loopholes).
I understand and validate your Greed… Vote for me.
And then we can finish with Hate: We must hate the other, the outsider, the different. Hate them because they want to attack your marriage, take your guns, and kill you.
I understand and validate your Hate… Vote for me.
Enough is enough. I am an educator by trade, training and passion. Which means at my core, I am optimistic. I get up every day because I know it has a chance to be better than the last and the work I do has a chance to make tomorrow even better. This also means that it is getting easier to decide whom to vote for, not by party, but by candidate.
Tell the paranoid fear mongers that they are paranoid fear mongers and I will vote for you.
Advocate for rational taxation and government spending practices and I will vote for you.
Recognize that the world is not perfect, but with rational thought and hard work, we can make it better and I will vote for you.
And for those currently in office and/or running for office, if you prove yourself to be the candidate of the greedy, hateful, and paranoid, you have lost my vote. But I also realize that it’s not you… It’s me.
Think. Work. Achieve. Your turn…
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