Let The Buyer Beware. The buyer assumes the risk that a product may fail to meet expectations, or have defects.
“If I built what customers wanted, I’d make a faster horse” – attributed to Henry Ford
The 2016 US Election has left many shocked and surprised; many, including Trump, were gearing messaging that the election was rigged and yet when it came to the final tally, the result wasn’t the one the pundits were predicting. What happened and what does this mean?
Neither Candidate Was Top-Shelf
There’s enough paper trail on both candidates to show neither have a clean sheet. If it wasn’t the DNC email leaks showing the intent to remove Saunders regardless of what the Democratic voters wanted, it was the lying, misogynistic and undiplomatic comments from Trump that had even his own Republicans turning their backs on him. The American public was asked to choose “Puke or Poop?”. The credibility and statesman-like demeanor of prior candidates on both sides were set aside for what we saw in the candidates. This is somewhat uncharted territory.
The American Public Is Fed-Up
A President from one party and a Congress lead by the other party leads to an impasse that leads to outcomes not based on what was good for the country. This lead to inaction, blame, and frustration. Intents of greatness were compromised to get something moving forward which lead to less-than-great outcomes.
With years of this being forced on the American public, the frustration has boiled over.
The American Public Has Yet Accepted Itself
They are you, your neighbor, your colleague. They may be black, white, Hispanic, gay, straight, atheist, Jew, Muslim, and they are your fellow countryman. It’s a melting pot of people with diverse thoughts, beliefs, needs that require that the Land of the Free let them be free.
Just because some people don’t understand an arranged marriage doesn’t mean to say it should be outlawed. Because a rape victim becomes pregnant from her rapist doesn’t mean to say someone else’s pro-life beliefs should be enforced on them, should they decide to abort. Because a same sexed couple wants to express their love for each other by getting married doesn’t mean someone else’s religious beliefs should dictate whether this happens or not.
America has still yet to understand and accept this and itself.
Some of America Is Still Fighting Not Being A Christian Nation
America’s somewhat turbulent history has seen a division between north and south, slavery, and open racism – and during that time the predominant populous was white and Christian. Over time, diversity in race and attitude has changed the face of the nation. The Founding Fathers did a pretty good job through the Constitution in trying to look ahead at an infant nation and predict how it would grow up. They were able to understand that there were fundamental principles that transcended the current state of the nation.
- Nowhere in the Constitution does it state that the country is a Christian Nation. In fact, the First Amendment bars all laws “respecting an establishment of religion” and protects “the free exercise thereof.” – that’s ANY religion (or none). This is the separation of Church and State you hear of.
- The US Government has documented NOT being a Christian Nation. The Treaty of Tripoli states (in Article 11) “the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” (ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tripoli)
- The Pledge of Allegiance was only recently changed to include “Under God”. Originating in 1887, amended in 1892 and adopted as the Pledge of Allegiance in 1945, it was changed finally in 1954 to how you know it today.
My point here is that America is a nation of many – many races and beliefs. While there are many Christians, there are also many other denominations, atheists, and agnostics. None of them through their religious beliefs should dictate how life should be for the others. Those who can’t accept that are stopping the progress of the country.
American Has Yet To Unify
Many people wish Obamacare had never happened. Many are glad to finally be able to get cover on pre-existing conditions. When it was introduced, my more left-aligned friends welcomes the additional means of millions to access healthcare, whereas my right-aligned friends were bemoaning having more deductions from their salary and supporting the hangers-on.
When I heard the bemoaning my response was “If a loved one of yours became severely ill, even with your medical insurance, you would find yourself committed in a significant financial way that could find you facing a decision based on cost – it’s then you wish you lived in a country with universal health”.
This is not a statement on health care per se, but the attitude I believe is still pervasive: “it’s not my problem… unless it becomes my problem”. Whilst no-one can deny there are those that will try to abuse the system to profit from financial support mechanisms, we cannot let the worse case dictate the policy for the majority. Once you care for your fellow countryman, you remove the barriers and walls that may have existed, for they will also care for you. Only then will unification become more pervasive.
No matter which party you voted for, this is a time to take stock at what the country has said through the voting ballot; The old school way of politics is not fit for today’s America – America is asking for change.
America is a living, breathing nation that still looks to reinvent and challenge itself. There growing pains and lessons to learn, but acting as one worldly nation is the path where the most success will come. Greed and selfishness are enemies of the nation.
I discovered this post in my drafts, written before the birth of my first child in 2009. I keep coming back to it as the advice holds true. I’m sure over time this list will change but I think it speaks to how we need to respect ourselves and others – and how sometimes we forget about that.
Paul's Thought Emporium 