2016

Yesterday I told my dad "I hate America." Quite literally everything I voted for did not win. It was really discouraging. Do I really have a voice at all? Just because my voice didn't match the majority or the electoral college it doesn't really matter. I'm feeling a little discouraged at the executive level and at the local/state level. My city passed a 0.5% increase sales tax to improve roads and infrastructure among other things. 5 months from now I predict the citizens of Manhattan will be complaining about how roads that aren't that damaged are being repaired and we have to drive through construction.

I remember in 2008 after Obama won the first time I called my mother from the city of Chicago and I was literally crying for America. I told my mom 4 years from now there won't be any jobs and we will have made enemies with our allies. And, well, my predictions were correct. So I've decided to list my predictions for 2016.

• Gas- when Obama was elected we were paying less that 2 dollars a gallon for gas. Today we are pressing 4 dollars a gallon. In 4 years I believe we will be paying close to 8 dollars a gallon.
• Foreign policy- no two countries have ever settled the amount of debt that we owe to China peacefully. If we haven't already faced the threat of China's nuclear weapons, we will be sending military to China to prevent this.
• Health Care- Hopefully by this time I will have graduated from PA school. I will certainly have a job as PAs are a great and affordable way to provide healthcare for all. However, my patients will not be getting what they need or want in a timely manner. I will be filling out paperwork beyond paperwork and imagine being on the phone with machines for hours advocating for my patients.
• Jobs- While I have a job, I worry for the jobs of people like my brother Brian who work in manufacturing. Over the course of his 1st presidency a lot of blue collar jobs have been outsourced because it is not profitable to buy healthcare, provide income and goods for people in our own country.
• Taxes- While I'm not in a large tax bracket right now, I see the effects of taxes on people like my parents, both U.S. army veterans. They are in no means "rich" in the american standard. However, every year they pay a little more of their hard earned money to the government because every year more social programs are added and more debt is created. What if Americans didn't have to pay taxes? What if we were able to use our money and support our own socially supported foundations that we believed in? Is that even a possible mission for Americans, who are mostly greedy and enjoy their savings accounts too much?

While I, in all honesty, don't know much about politics I'm aware enough to know that no ONE man will ever fix this country. I know that one election will not determine the fate of the world. If I had to complain about one thing, it would be that I didn't vote in the primaries for my local government. I knew so much about the presidential candidates, who very rarely make changes that effect me directly, and I didn't know a lot about my own local/state candidates who, everyday, are making decisions that effect me directly.

One thing that Mitt Romney talked about that if he was made president he would end the pornography industry. Can I just tell you how pleased that made me? Pornography destroys families, makes women into objects of sex to only fulfill a twisted desire. It contributes to sex-trafficking, which is, disgustingly, the 3rd largest industry in the world. Lives are broken and lost due to pornography and sex-trafficking and this presidential candidate promised to break into that and create legislation to conquer that brokenness. He made it through his presidential campaign without caffeine, that alone should have won him america's heart. 

So my reflection on the election (haha):

Why am I shocked that American/Kansas/Manhattan didn't feel exactly the way I did? We're all different people with usually respectable opinions. I just had hoped for a new start for my country, one where my president was less concerned about his groove-thing on the Ellen Show or Oprah and more concerned about the family model, our international allies and the vitality of American people.