Donald Trump

If we want anything to get done in the Trump administration the poisonous rhetoric has to stop.

We may not like him, we may be upset at his election. But it happened and sooner or later you’ll need him to govern. Poisoning the well with bullshit on all sides of the ideological argument will do nothing but kneecap the United States of America for the next four years.

Why do I say that we as Americans on both sides of the ideological equation need to stop poisoning the well? When serious problems arise and the majority of American can’t take the rhetoric seriously, we will allow disaster to happen because nobody will realize there is a problem before it’s too late.

If everything is the end of the world, just like how the Hamilton cast versus Vice Presidential Elect Mike Pence was handled, when the real crisis is at the door, we won’t be able to have an honest discussion to get the crisis handled. I’m talking about real crisis’s, not superficial crisis’s like Hamilton vs. Pence, but a second looming housing bubble, the growing cost of everything, and the Middle Eastern migrant crisis.

If everything is sensationalized and isn’t dealt with through the lens of reality, but instead of the lens of partisan bullshit, we will just be rooting for not just the United States to fail but the entire Western World.

Combating Bad Ideas:

The Trump Administration has openly promised to bring on the end of Social Security, cancel the Federal Student Loan Program, and Repealing Obamacare. I am a conservative, and I see that just ripping these three government programs out without replacements will not only hurt real people, but damage the conservative brand irreparably.

I would be all on board to end Social Security, but there needs to be a replacement. You cannot abandon the oldest and weakest among us, just because you think we can’t afford it. There needs to be a replacement ready to go that is more efficient at its job than the current system.

The current Federal Student Loan Program takes advantage of people at the lowest end of the economic spectrum by issuing them loans without making sure that there is an understanding of how they will ever be repaid. However, it is a necessary evil for many because of the out of control cost of a college education. You almost certainty need a college education to be successful in the United States today, so the system is a necessary evil. However, a full privatization is absolutely insane without huge regulatory controls.

Obamacare is a financial disaster, but it has increased the amount of insured Americans. This likely has bettered healthcare outcomes for a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be wildly out of control with costs. People have gained access to the healthcare system that haven’t been able to before, but that doesn’t mean it needs to cost as much as it does. Single payer isn’t the answer, but it is ignorant to think that just repealing the law and replacing it with nothing wouldn’t have catastrophic consequences for real people.

As a conservative, I am against these three programs on an ideological level, but I’m not so set in my ways to realize that these programs help people and that they depend on them. Just tearing them out of the American governmental system will destroy actual people. You can’t just do that to score political points with your base, unless you want to turn into the monster that people proclaim you are.

Those same people that you just won the support of, not because of your policies, but as a double middle finger to the political establishment. You now need to do something for them. Show them that their vote wasn’t a mistake. Show them that you aren’t what the ideologues claimed you are. Be the leader that the United States needs.

Be the change you want to see. Don’t just do things to score points with your political base. Do things that help out America.