After a very controversial and emotional election year, the candidate has been selected. Our next President has been chosen, yet the very emotional and divisive discussions and feelings continue. What could have made this election year go more smoothly? What can be done to ensure the next election does not become the circus that was 2016? The answer is simple, however implementation is almost impossible.
Media plays a large role in the daily life of almost every American. Whether this be television news, newspapers, blogs, on-line news sources, or social media, it almost certainly impacts our thoughts and choices. Unfortunately, not everyone realizes the bias of some of what the read or hear. Adding to that, not everyone understands that so much information on-line is either severely biased, satire, or flat out fake. The regulation of information released by the media is an infringement upon our constitutional rights as Americans, and thus it is imperative that American’s take it upon themselves to understand and learn how to decipher biased or fake information from truth. As more and more students enter college, this is being learned. I believe a generation of more informed and enlightened peoples are in our country’s future.
In the meantime, there are some regulations that can be implemented to assist with the type of information being circulated during election cycles. For instance, candidates should not be allowed to create campaign ads which defame another candidate. Additionally, during debates, candidates should be held to a certain standard of behavior which does not tolerate insulting the other candidate’s. Furthermore, the debates should not allow candidates to even discuss one another. In other words, each candidate needs to discuss his or her own ideas and plans without discussing the other candidate’s plans. This plan should be followed throughout the entire campaign, forcing candidates to be more respectful and set a better example for the millions of American’s looking to them as leaders.
Social change starts with leading by example. “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” This is an unknown quote which I think is relevant now more than ever. If we hold our leaders to higher standards and demand a lead by example leader to represent our very special country, perhaps Americans themselves would be more apt to live more kind and respectful lives. What can you do to help? Inform others of how to detect biased versus unbiased sources! Lead by your own example and always remain informed! Relay your information to others with kindness and respect, even in the face of adversity and hatred. Change starts with each of us.
There’s been a great push (after voting day, of course) to educate people, especially on social media, on what sites provide accurate news, versus the sites that provide fake news. I think it’s great, but a little too late to sooth my nerves. In addition, there seems to be a common problem of people only reading the title of an article, or a brief description, rather than actually reading the article. Often, I find myself guilty of a similar act, but many times I save the article for reading later if it seems particularly interesting. The crux of it is, I don’t believe what an author says based solely on the title of their article, especially if it seems far-fetched. There was an article published by the Huffington Post that explained this extremely well (in fact, the person who posted this most recently to their wall (according to Facebook) wrote “Prayers helped him win and only prayer will help keep him there”, which leads me to assume that they didn’t even read the article before posting it to their wall. How’s that for irony?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-could-replace-president-trump-with-little_us_5829f25fe4b02b1f5257a6b7
Great blog post. There was a piece on the news recently that discussed how many people fell for fake or bad information about the presidential candidates, and people are wondering if this had any effects on election outcomes. It is frightening to think that so many people are not good consumers of research and blindly believe the things they hear and read.
You have some great suggestions about how candidates should interact and handle themselves. I’d be far more likely to sit through a debate where candidates do not turn it into a personal attack against one another. You used a great quote as well.