But, I also believe that many, if not the majority of people in our world, simply do not want to change. They fear it… they like the way they are… they want everyone else to change to meet their needs and not the other way around. Change is a two way street in my opinion. More often than not, everyone needs to change and meet somewhere in the middle rather than having a certain group of people change to meet the group on the other side of the valley.

I see people in various states of change… unwanted change forced upon them, disguised change for some to see while others see the unchanged individual, and those willingly engaging in change for the betterment of their own life as well as others. Who do you think has the easiest time going about their daily life from the above categories?

Of course those willing to change are going to have a much happier existence simply because they have chosen to change. Those who are forced to change, do so without buying into the outcome that change is good for them… otherwise they would have elected to change willingly. And those who are choosing to pull the deceptive veils of change over their persona are only hurting themselves worse over time. To put it simply, they are nothing more than liars… to themselves, and to those around them.

To me, these people are also untrustworthy. At least the people unwilling to change have the guts to publicly stand their ground and fight for what they believe to be in their own personal best interests. Those who disguise their true intentions are weasels, snakes, and deserve to be treated as such. They deserve no respect for their actions. Change… or don’t… no need to fake it.

How do you live your life when facing change? Are you one of those who accept change and move forward? Are you one who will always buck change while going down in flames protecting what you know? Or, are you one of those who will fake change to get by and keep your precious status quo in check?

Do you know any of these fake changers in your life? How do they make you feel? I have known a few of these people throughout my life and they irritate and aggravate me… for the simple reason that they are nothing more than fakers! I can’t stand fake people… fake attitudes… fake in general. Be real or get out of my life.

Fake people, acting like they have changed, are also manipulators. It makes sense doesn’t it? If they had bought into the idea of change, they wouldn’t be disguising their actions. If they are disguising their true self, they must be doing it for a reason. That reason is that it serves their selfish reasons for a presumed payoff. They are trying to manipulate the people and situation around them to serve their own needs.

Fakers… manipulators… liars… weasels… the list could go on. People who disguise their true actions with veils of deception cannot be trusted. Choose to accept change or fight it… don’t be one of those who fake it.

We can develop relationships by consciously looking out for the wants and needs of others we are involved with in our lives. If we focus some of our time and effort in satisfying these wants and needs, we can effectively earn our way into their good graces. Making deposits throughout the course of a relationship can build a nice balance over time just like earning interest on your money. Everything sounds pretty nice and good to this point. Everyone is happy in this situation right? Everyone in the relationship is getting something for their efforts.

Well, I have a completely different view about things… especially when the relationship involves your family, close friends, and your spouse. Initially, I saw this “Love Bank” as a quick fix scheme…. or a relationship “get rich scam.” While I’m sure there are people in relationships where this type of mentality can succeed, at least for the short term, it’s not the answer to building lasting and bonding relationships. Consciously deciding to fulfill the needs of others so that your “account” will grow in their eyes is a blatant form of manipulation.

It’s a simple do this for that mentality. My wife likes French fries so I think I’ll bring her a surprise this weekend… what she doesn’t know is that I am actually building my account up because I’m going to be making a withdrawal from that account by doing something she’s not too keen on me doing. The simple ideology of an account implies that withdrawals are going to be made. Why is that necessary? Are our relationships so superficial and weak that we need to put layers of fake attention on top so we can avoid the most dreaded word in relationships today? That word would be compromise.

Near the end of the discussion, I simply stated that 99.9% of the time, satisfying the needs of my wife occurs unconsciously. Sure, there are times when I plan on certain things to make my wife happy, that’s called being romantic. But, the rest of the time, satisfying her needs just happens. It happens because I live my life by putting her needs first, before mine, every time. It’s how I live… it’s who I am. She is the exact same with me, it just happens. Our relationship is built from putting others first. I want what makes her happy and she wants what makes me happy.

We talked about this on the way home (we are lucky and can talk about everything) and while our life does go through the natural ups and downs all human beings experience, our relationship has always been happy and very strong. Rare is the case where she is not first and foremost on my mind and vice versa. We simply have a relationship built to last because we live for each other. We do not live each day making an effort to deposit money into our Love Banks. Our banks are always full and they never see, or need, a withdrawal.

If conscious efforts are needed to satisfy the needs of the relationships in your life, I can guarantee you that you aren’t living your life by putting others first. Rather than look for a quick fix scheme to cover up the underlying relationship issue, maybe taking a long hard look at the relationship itself is needed. I know everyone doesn’t have a bond like I have with my wife, but I know everyone can have it. All it takes is a decision to live your life unselfishly. I can promise you, you’re life will be happier as a result.

In the last article, I mentioned the 16 pages of bickering that resulted from the original topic writer’s opinion piece. What I didn’t mention was the fact that nearly all of the “debaters” considered themselves of the same faith. How can there be such disparate viewpoints on an issue so black and white such as abortion? Without religion, sure, there can be many shades of gray, but within the religious community, there is one simple and resounding fact, abortion is not to be accepted.

Let’s just throw this issue out and focus on the bickering and the resulting ramifications, because in reality, the issue isn’t the problem. The issue is that there are too many differing factions amongst the religious community. Each denomination can be separated by many different sub-categories and have their own set of acceptable rules and regulations you should abide by. Orthodox and unorthodox, strict versus non-strict, and the list goes on. But, as part of the Christian faith, all teaching should be directly rooted within the Bible’s passages and messages.

When the public sees Christians fighting amongst themselves over such core issues, what are they left to think? Are they going to think Christians are following their own standards and spiritual guides or are they going to think much differently? Christians, while debating such issues, must watch what they say and must think about their personal spiritual relationship before regurgitating some “official” Church stance on the subject.

Personally, I am a Christian, but I do not consider myself a member of a specific denomination. I don’t believe you have to be Catholic or Protestant. I believe you are simply a Christian if your faith is in Jesus Christ. However, when I debate religion, I am slow to argue and quick to listen. Debating is much different than arguing. Debating will attempt to answer questions and offer informational arguments concerning the issue at hand. Arguing only leads to a winner and loser mentality no matter what the fallout.

Christians, who argue in front of their fellow man, believer and non-believer alike, do nothing but harm their faith and leave those who can hear, see, and read with distaste for all involved. How can people of the SAME faith, be at each other’s throats over issues which are so clear amongst the Christian community? Some people feel the need to be, or feel, right no matter what the costs are. Some people will destroy everything for their own personal satisfaction. This is what I equate religious infighting to… some people are so worried about winning, they are actually losing and they are hurting more people than they can ever imagine.

You can take this ideology to any issue in your life. If you are too worried about winning, then you are likely arguing. If you are worried about the other person’s point of view and listen, then you are more than likely debating. Debating is healthy and we all learn from it, even on spiritual issues. Arguing is always a lose/lose situation. In the case of religious infighting, it’s even worse than just a lose/lose situation, you are potentially harming everyone around you and your entire faith. Be quick to listen, be slow to speak. The old adage “Think before you speak” can be applied everywhere.

Could you make that statement to your spouse and have an intelligent conversation? Well, my wife is not a Liberal Agenda type of person. She believes in the same fundamental rights I believe our government protects and we also share the same beliefs in how distinguished moral and ethical behavior should be paramount in any person we elect. I would whole heartedly expect her to say the same thing… she could not marry a Liberal Agenda believing man. You may be saying that love in the truest form can overcome such a trivial affiliation. I beg to differ.

The separation of a Democrat who has subscribed to the Liberal Agenda differs from the moderate Democrat and all forms and segments of the Republican Party. They have views that distort what truly matters most. These differences are not issues that can be compromised on for the most part. These differences are belief differences, not political process differences. Issues such as health care, immigration, taxation, and many other governmental talking points can all be debated and compromises can be reached that can satisfy all parties involved. However, there are certain aspects of the Liberal Agenda member that unequivocally separates them from the non Liberalized crowd.

Primarily, the issue of abortion is a core factor creating this vast difference. The Liberal Agenda Democrat will forever support abortion as a woman’s right. There is no compromise. The rest of us either believes in some kind of limitation of abortion to rape, incest, and potential mother death or completely ruled out unless the mother’s life is in peril. These two opposite sides of belief cannot be bridged with compromise. It’s an either/or situation. Can someone who believes a child’s life doesn’t carry any significance be married to someone who believes a child’s life should be regarded as one of the most pure and innocent blessings we have as human beings?

Another divisive issue is of course gay marriage. Democratic Liberal Agenda policy followers believe that everyone should be allowed to marry and receive the all inclusive tax benefits from doing so. Everyone else resides anywhere from agreeing only to Civil Unions to not even supporting that. Can someone who truly believes homosexuals should be allowed to rewrite what the institution of marriage consists of be married to someone who believes that it is morally, ethically, and spiritually wrong do to so?

Liberal Agenda followers believe in the basic fact that everyone should get to do anything they want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. Get pregnant and don’t want to deal with nine months of pregnancy and a commitment to raising a child? Abort it. It’s your right, right? Are you gay and want to have the same benefits as a married couple? Change what marriage means so you can get the tax benefit. It’s your right, right? Want to smoke marijuana because it makes you feel good? Legalize drugs. It doesn’t hurt anyone but the drug user right? It’s your right to harm yourself if you wish, right? Want to remove all references to God and Christianity from education and our justice system because it may be offensive? Pass laws to remove it. It’s your right, right?

So, I stand by my comment. I could not and would not marry a Liberal Agenda Democrat. I don’t believe true love can exist in a situation with such disparate viewpoints. This is an either/or situation. I believe a standard Democrat and Republican can be happy together in marriage with a few bumps. But as we have seen, the middle of the road Democrat or Republican is a dying species. Our world has become divided by canyons of ideological differences that cannot be bridged by simple compromises. How we move forward will be a continuous struggle because at the root of our differences is actually our spiritual belief system. Religion has and always will be the major difference between us while we spend our time on this earth.

After Obama’s clear win to become our next President and the Democratic Party’s steamrolling of Republican opposition in the Senate and House elections, the Democrats are in a position of distinct power. How they utilize this newfound power remains to be seen. However, the media has been throwing the term “mandate” around… Has the Democratic Party been given a national mandate which provides a political superhighway without roadblocks allowing the liberal agenda to be stamped into our public policy for all to abide by?

I’ve read that Obama’s win effectively “crushed” the Republican Party and thus the desire of the nation is equal to that of the Democratic Party’s agenda. I say that the media is overreacting to the final Electoral College vote and making sweeping generalizations of just how “crushing” of a win this actually was. In 2004, George W. Bush garnered more than 62 million votes while Kerry received 59 million votes. As of right now, with a few votes still to be counted, Obama has received 64 million votes and McCain nearing 57 million. Not quite the “crushing” knockout blow the media has been trying to shove down our collective throats. Looking into the numbers, that 7 million vote difference is largely made up of two states of voters, California and New York. Those two states voted for Obama by more than 4 million votes combined. That means the other 48 states accounted for less than 3 million votes for an Obama win, or just about an average of 60,000 people per state.

Is that a national mandate? I think not. America is not calling for the liberal Democratic agenda to be our nation’s policy. America voted Obama as our next President, but we did not provide him a clean slate to rewrite governmental policy into some sort of Liberal or Socialist state. Nancy Pelosi, the farthest left wing liberal known even knows this simple fact that the national media has seemingly missed. She states, “The country must be governed from the middle. You have to bring people together to reach consensus on solutions that are sustainable and acceptable to the American people.”

Wait a second while I pick myself up off the floor by this knockout blow to my jaw. Let me reprint that, Pelosi said “the country must be governed from the middle.” Words from HER mouth… In this day and age with the Democratic Party’s chest filled with pride and determination, the one voice of moderation is their Party’s MOST LIBERAL? Have I gone insane? Am I dreaming? Can this be true?

As I sit here flabbergasted at her publicly stated opinion AFTER her party dominated the election races in terms of wins, I will be honest, I expected her to be the first in line trying to push the liberal agenda forward at a breakneck pace. But the more I think about it, the more I understand her position and realize that she may not in fact, be a bumbling idiot like she appears to be the majority of the time. She has a job, power, and ego to protect. She knows that if she allows her party to go overboard on forcing their liberal agenda through the governmental pipe that is now under their unabashed control, they face a potential voter backlash for their actions.

Even though Obama won and the Democrats are in power, there are still nearly 60 million people who didn’t vote for their party. The Independents that helped vote the Democratic Party into power are not subscribed to their liberal agenda. If Pelosi allows her Party to rush forward and push their personal agendas forward, she knows that in the end, they will pay a price by being voted from office. We have seen this happen before… remember the Clinton and Gingrich days? Pelosi has at least learned from past mistakes made and hopefully she will stay true to her statement and direct her party as Speaker of the House to govern from the “middle” and “compromise.” It’s all talk and grandstanding until actual laws are created, debated about, and voted upon. Let’s hope she keeps her word because America doesn’t want the liberal agenda, what we want is stability and our country returned to us, not taken from us by a socialist state.

Citation: http://www.foxnews.com/

Obama has the eyes of the world upon him. He is not only our rock star… he is the world’s rock star. In our time of globalization, Obama is sitting on top of the world’s political pulpit. After a projected record amount of voters have utilized their one true democratic tool, Obama has been elected the leader of the free world. After many campaign promises have been made in exchange for votes, our eyes as a nation are going to be squarely placed upon him. Obama will face the ultimate political scrutiny… not only from the American public, but from the world as a whole.

I watched Obama give his gracious acceptance speech last night. He is a very good speaker and he can motivate with his words and demeanor when he’s speaking. However, his actions are now required. No longer is campaign and political rhetoric going to be enough. There must be substance to his speeches and there must be evidence of his political ability. At this point in time, we have yet to see either because of his lack of political service.

What exactly Obama will accomplish over the next four years remains to be seen. Many are awaiting some sort of Holy Grail to materialize and make our nation resemble a fairytale of the grandest proportions. Others are nervously and anxiously awaiting what true agenda Obama may be harboring. Obama, based upon his past votes and publicly stated positions, is still regarded as a “Hard Core Liberal.” His political viewpoints and Democratic Party affiliation still direct his decision making that will undoubtedly create great public and political divide. Promises of bi-partisanship is one thing, actually compromising on some of the most important divides is another.

We have seen how political divides have separated this country. For many, their newfound ecstasy achieved as a result of their chosen affiliation’s rise to power will come under distress as the reality of the political process diminishes the many campaign road promises. Yes, Obama will be in office with a dominant position regarding both the House and the Senate. However, he does not enjoy a veto-proof House and Senate. That means that any law or political action he champions MUST be made with inherent compromises in place.

Obama is our next President and he deserves the respect this office places upon him. However, the respect of the person himself is on the line. If Obama can truly earn the respect of his opposition as a true political leader charged with bringing our country forward together, then I will gladly stand in line and support Obama. Until that day comes, I am a skeptical citizen waiting to see what the true agenda of the Democratic Party’s most liberal President has in store for our country.

The President is sworn to uphold the Constitution upon inauguration. Our nation was born upon the ideology of freedom. Free markets are at the core of our capitalistic economy. As our country moves forward, I implore you to watch with keen eyes how your rights are being protected, how your country’s foundation is being protected, and how your country’s moral and ethical values are being protected. Many of Obama’s campaign promises directly affect each one of these core issues. If our American citizens are so easily fleeced of our rights for monetary gains, we will no longer have a Constitution, a free market, or a free country. Be thankful that we have democracy and we must make sure that we preserve it. We must not allow the rock star persona draw a veil of deception over our nation’s eyes which will allow its complete rape and destruction from within.

Premise of the situation is as follows. Man facing dire economic conditions has a choice: pay his house mortgage or pay for his lawn to be replaced. Now, I’m fairly certain any rational homeowner would make the sane choice in this manner and pay his house mortgage. The man of course paid his mortgage and allowed his lawn to deteriorate into a brownish display of dead grass. Wouldn’t we all? Well, his brown grass created such an outrage in his community that he was served a notice requiring his appearance in court to settle the damage created by his “criminal action.”

Like any good citizen not bullied into following the rules and regulations of those who wield power as if it’s a magic wand, he didn’t appear in court. The local judge, “enraged” by the citizen’s use of free will, decided that it was appropriate to arrest and jailed the man for 2 days. Contempt of court, show up or be jailed. Seriously… arrested, finger printed, photographed, entered into the criminal database and jailed for 2 days over a brown lawn? Yes, it actually happened.

How can something so simple be allowed to reach this level of absurdity? How hard would it have been for the Civic Association to work with the man in an effort to settle this issue without it going to court? Knowing that he is a retired individual living on limited resources, they should have understood the situation and worked on a human level to help correct the issue. However, their “rules are rules” approach led to this man being treated like a second rate individual.

A testament to the fact that humanity and rational thinking still exists, a man and several volunteers helped the man replace his lawn and make it a nice shade of compliant “green.” Who was this kind gentleman? He was a former resident and former Marine who felt the man was treated unfairly. Thank goodness for some basic common sense in our uncommon sense world.

How much time was wasted because of this lunacy? How much money did it cost taxpayers by having the courts and law enforcement involved in this “incident?” Why did this man have to be demeaned in front of his neighbors, his family, and country because of his lawn? Sometimes I just cannot fathom what our judicial system is used for when there are actual criminals roaming the streets because they don’t have the time to charge and prosecute them or place to keep them jailed.

Can’t these matters be taken care of without laws, rule books, and police involvement? Can’t we act as rational adults and work these things out without someone with a gun enforcing the “law?” Weren’t we taught in school, and even as toddlers, the ideas of compromise and helping others? Since when did we become accustomed to a third party being necessary to mediate all disagreements or arguments? I’m pretty sure people are generally smart enough to work things out in an agreeable manner without help from an “objective” third party.

We need common sense to return. Without it, we are nothing bunch a bunch of crying babies asking for mommy and daddy to come solve our problems because we didn’t get what we wanted. Next thing I know, I’ll be reading about a grandma being arrested because she left her laundry on the line for 2 days when it clearly states in the bylaws of the subdivision that all laundry must be removed 30 minutes prior to dusk. Oh, you think that won’t happen? Did you think someone would go to jail because their grass was dead before you read this?

Citation: http://www.nypost.com/

The shambles of our current economy scares the majority of Americans. When our homes and property come under fire, our fear creates destructive undercurrents within our financial sector. Negative tones from the market feed our fear and society begins looking to save their livelihood. The issues have infected the everyday person, not just the investment banker, stock trader, mortgage firm, or Wall Street giant. Society hobbles along when the major firms take hits, but it comes to a screeching halt when your local town begins to see the effects of a national financial crisis.

Yank the money from the bank, pull the funds from the stock market, and start living as if money in the form of cash is the only way to protect your family’s investment. That is what some are doing in fears of losing everything. When we see our savings and retirement accounts plummeting because of the fickle and volatile stock market, we get antsy and start pulling money from the system. As more and more people feel the pressure, fear continues to feed the monster and before we know it, we are in a full scale crisis, or disaster.

Fear and negative speculation play a very large role in how our economy works. To replace these two nasty demons, we must have confidence in our markets. We must be confident that at some point, our money will be returned to us intact, with interest for our risk assumption. If we fail to have confidence in our financial markets, they will fail, immediately. This is the juncture we are at. Mom and pop, and even the next door neighbor, are worried about their future and they hear fear mongering and dire reports on each and every news report. They see people losing jobs and houses as well as families being destroyed by money “disappearing.”

We are at a point where our economy is teetering on the edge of absolute destruction for the near term. Let’s return to the initial question, “Should we allow government to bailout Wall Street?” According to our most gifted economic minds and financial leaders, the answer is yes. But as a taxpayer, the answer is a little hard to swallow because the $700 Billion we are talking about is OUR money. We are the ones at risk now, why should we assume MORE risk if things don’t work out? Not only are our lives on the line now, we are placing our necks firmly under the guillotine with the bailout.

In my opinion, it is a risk we must take or we are more likely to pay an even more extreme price later (the later may not be that much farther down the road). We must realize that the $700 Billion being offered as part of the bailout plan will not fix anything fundamentally. It is a short term fix to release the grasps the demon of fear has upon us. It is a “pill” to fix the confidence problem our economy has. We hear that banks will “loosen” their credit strings with the bailout in place. We hear that home owners will be protected. We hear that the housing market will not implode. We hear that our stock markets will stabilize. We hear… lots of things.

In the end, we must not HEAR, but EXPERIENCE these things, or our tax money, confidence, and livelihoods will disappear completely. There are only so many bailouts that can happen before total economic decay. The dollar can only be diluted so much. Eventually, there will be a price to pay for a short term fix, but the fix is a risk worth taking given the country’s current standing. However, we cannot just move forward happily as things hopefully stabilize. We must fix the underlying problems which created the fiasco we are in. Without that, we will see another issue such as this in our future, but much larger. Patching the wound now gives us time to live without fear and angst, but we must use that time to focus on fixing the root problems… or we will be in the same boat just on a different day.

Doesn’t it seem like we are living in a polarized society? How often do you see our political candidates debating about the “middle” ground? How often do you, and those you observe, have conversations with people about religion, politics, environment, taxes, etc which do not degenerate into red faced, deep breathed, eye bulging, and shrill shouting fests? It seems as if we cannot have a standard conversation about hot issues anymore without being labeled a polar opposite or fringe supporter. The middle doesn’t seem to exist.

We live together because we are tolerant of each other’s differences. Society continues to work because we allow similarity to overcome our differences as a people. However, if we try and take our society beyond a simple acquaintance, we have major issues to deal with, issues that polarize us and separate us. These differences create overwhelming chasms between individuals that seem to boil over into us versus them or me versus you episodes.

Over time, our political parties have evolved, or devolved if you like, into polar opposites of each other. If one party chooses a particular stance, automatically, the other chooses the exact opposite. Common ground appears to be lost between them. The media pushes these differences and creates a deeper valley of opposition between people because it satisfies their need for sensationalist news reporting (ratings). They need polar opposites and they want to create voter blocks that are in fact divided because it’s easier to cajole a vote out of a “manufactured” voter segment.

This same ideology applies to news in print, online, and on the radio. They are all working on creating voter blocks by polarizing the people listening. The middle ground is much harder to sway and win.  They are actually listening to each side while utilizing facts and information to determine their stance on each and every issue.   The middle does not haphazardly apply a blanket stamp of approval based upon party lines.

How do you approach your decision making? Do you make an effort to listen to both sides of the story and dig deep for additional information or do you listen to the “guy” from your affiliated party and jump in line toting the media bylines as conversation ammunition? Remember, they WANT you to know nothing. They want you yelling and screaming vehemently about the cause using their campaign taglines and propaganda.

Make an effort to learn more and become an informed voter and you will more than likely return to the middle ground rather than be polarized like the media and political parties wish for you to be. Republicans have good ideas and so do Democrats. If we were on middle ground, our government wouldn’t be in the state it is, pulling apart at the seams while nothing is accomplished. Polarized society and government has led us to the dire state we are in.

Stop yelling the “approved” party lines and start investigating. Information is the key. Sometimes you may not like what you find, but an informed voter is worth more than the lemming they are trying to make you and me. Make your vote count, make them earn it, don’t become a media and political party polarized voter just because it’s easier. We need to come together in the middle ground as a nation and until we know more than what the media tells us, we cannot make an informed decision. Step out of the line and learn.

I’ll admit that I am guilty of being uncompromising on certain topics (abortion being one of them), but for the vast majority of other issues, I am willing to compromise when given an agreeable solution that actually helps people. I like to think that each and every one of us falls into this mold. There are some topics that are just divisive and always will be because of their roots in religious belief or moral and ethical makeup. But, it seems as our country progresses forward, we are making every single debate or difference a core division amongst ourselves.

I like the color blue and you may not. Does that mean that I must berate you and demean your intelligence level because, of course, all rational people must love the color blue? We can replace the argument with any topic and it fits the mold of how we are living. If other people do not agree with our idea, then of course they must be 100% wrong and must be corrected by submission or defeat at all costs.

Our current political process has succumbed to this theory of ideological submission and defeat. The other party is wrong, completely wrong, and they must be deported for their traitorous rhetoric. At least that is how they would like us to believe as voters. No way could the opposing party have anything substantial to bring to the table. Why? Because they are the enemy! Somehow over the years, our parties have been categorized as follows: Republicans – gun toting war nuts in search of oil so they can make their friends as wealthy as kings (oh, they are also homophobes intent on forcing women to give up their “right” of abortion). Democrats – tree hugging, drug legalizing, baby murdering, robin hoods intent on stealing your wealth and taking your guns away (and oh yeah, they are all communists).

With such trumped up sensationalistic ideology running rampant about both parties, isn’t it hard to believe and vote for either one? The media does nothing but try and hammer home the stereotypes listed above. There is no need to listen to politicians anymore. All you have to do is check which party they are affiliated with and that’s all you need to know right? That’s what they are hoping for. They do not want an informed society with an understanding of the middle ground. Middle ground is not a case for winning. It’s a case for compromise.

As the goal of winning at all costs being the decisive factor, all we will ever get is the kind of society splitting arguments we see pushing each of us farther apart. It’s in all of our lives, not just in politics. We must recapture our ability to debate without total annihilation of the “enemy” being the necessary outcome. Assuming that we all want our country to benefit from our existence, our goal should be what makes the country stronger, or what makes our society healthier, or what makes us come together more as a nation. Destroying the enemy as being the key to victory will only make those concepts unattainable.

We can easily see where divisive living brings us: deteriorating economy, foreign policy hatred, high divorce rates, broken families, and parentless homes. Our financial markets and political process are not the only victims of our country’s focus upon winning ideological debates. Our homes and families have also become victims. In the end, we are all paying the price because we have failed to realize that living together in harmony means more than being victorious in a spiteful debate over ideas. Winning is not everything, in life or in sports.