Politics, Et Cetera.

(Draft 5)
Like most first generation immigrants, my parents started out broke and eager to advance forth in
the new world of America. They were always busy and rarely were at home to care for baby
Cedric. Thus, I spent much of my childhood in daycares and in the homes of my parents newlymade American friends.
A certain family, lets call them the Joneses, always were there to babysit me while my parents
worked their tails off. I grew up with their only son John, who was a year older than me. Mrs.
Jones changed my diapers, Mr. Jones taught me and John about programming, and we did
everything imaginable together. Even after my parents moved out of Carrollton into Plano and
eventually into Murphy, we retained a lasting bond with the Jones family. I experienced most of
my favorite (and least favorite) memories while hanging with them: almost getting kicked out of
Six Flags after leaping off a moving antique car that John was driving, losing my iPod while
skiing on a black diamond run that Mr. Jones specifically told me and John not to try on what
was my first day off the bunny slopes, listening to Chief Keef while playing video games with
John and occasionally even Mrs. Jones, et cetera. In short, they were my white second family. I
love them just as much as I love my parents and my sister.
Hold that image.
Over the course of my 7th grade year, my lunch tables conversation gradually began to shift from
Clash of Clans and girls into politics. And a girl.
Namely, Hillary Clinton. Since the majority of the people at the table were pro-Hillary moderate
progressives, I was pumped full of liberal jet fuel, ignited by my instilled hatred of conservatives.
And then, while on a ski trip with the Joneses, Mr. Jones made a casual comment about liberalmania among the youth. After further inquiry, I discovered that he was a conservative. Alright, I
thought, theyre moderate Republicans, big deal. And, perhaps unwisely, I told them about my
pro-Clinton views.
I expected a reaction, but definitely not the one I got. Mr. Jones, who I have always known to be
a stern but soft-spoken man, spewed venom about Clintons various scandals and inability to
serve as president. Mrs. Jones stared at me as she would a cockroach or some other distasteful
insect until I awkwardly changed the topic.
I couldnt believe it. My closest family friends were hardcore, Tea Party Movement, Trump
supporters. There was no way for us to discuss this civilly, or even at all. For the rest of the trip, I
didnt touch the issue. The problem of politics opened a chasm between us.
And to make matters worse, I, being the salty little liberal I was, resolved to never speak to the
Joneses again. I went home and ranted about the evils and hypocrisy of the GOP and told my
sister about how I would block all contact with them. It took a good thwack on the head and a
lecture about tolerance by her to knock some wisdom into me.

But here lies the greatest problem in America. It divides families and friends, and is more
relevant than ever now, as the 2016 presidential race is unfolding before us. Tension between
political parties is a huge problem in the United States.
However, political belief is based upon the moral concepts of an individual or a party. Its
difficult to argue the validity of ones moral code or prove the beliefs of another immoral. Public
policies reflect the moral beliefs of the people. Thats democracy. Political belief is essentially a
reflection of moral values, which complicates matters. Like religious beliefs, they are issues
that can never be agreed upon or brought to a compromise.
However, theres an obvious solution, the one I was told by my sister when I came home
screaming after the ski trip: tolerance. Treat political belief as you would religion: Let others do
their stuff, and you do yours.
But Cedric, you guys might say. Then your speech is over! You can end it here, bow, and sit
down.
No, I cant. For three reasons:
1. My speech coach will kill me if she found out that my speech was 90 percent introduction, 9
percent useless rhetoric and 1 percent the obvious Dont worry, be happy. tolerance-solves-all.
2. I like talking and telling jokes to you guys, because you actually laugh instead of just staring at
me awkwardly.
And, most importantly,
3. Unlike religion, policy decisions affect society as a whole. Sure, I can pray as much as I want
to whatever god I want, but that doesnt mean that suddenly Obamacare is going to get cut. By
staying informed about political issues and voting, I can actually have a significant impact on the
laws and government programs of the U.S. Disagreements regarding politics are more significant
because of the governments huge impact on our lives. Tolerance is an idealistic and impractical
solution that cannot be realistically implemented in American politics.
Which brings me to my next point. Contrary to the peaceful coexistence of various religions
in the U.S, political differences often are not settled peacefully. Either by yelling and beating
the crap out of each other at political rallies or refusing to speak to members of the perceived
enemy, political parties are becoming more and more like rival gangs and less and less
diplomatic.
But there is a solution to this dilemma. A two-step solution, involving
1. Learning and promoting better, nonpartisan knowledge of the history, important details and
significance of politics in the U.S.
2. Maintaining a no-disclosure policy in school and at work when possible.
First, the learning and promoting of the knowledge of all stuff politics. Far too often,
Democrats and Republicans alike end up jumping the bandwagon and going for a candidate that

they know nothing about, just like I did. Rather than actually researching the policies and past of
Hillary Clinton, I let my friends inform me of everything. A clear, unbiased understanding of
politics is based upon a variety of sources. In addition, for younger people like me with less
experience in the matter, I strongly recommend watching John and Hank Greens explanations of
how the system works, the differences between the various political candidates policies, et
cetera. Basically, stay informed as possible, from as wide of a variety of sources as possible. This
applies for people of all ages, because in 2 or less presidential terms, it will be you at the polls.
Start learning early, so you wont end up being one of the bandwagon riders.
But why, Cedric? Why does this matter?
Well, once again, for a few reasons.
First, learning a lot of stuff from a variety of sources encourages open-mindedness, as exposure
to contrasting opinions means tolerance of contrasting opinions.
Next, the better informed, open-minded voters are usually not the ones arguing and copy-pasting
statistics from shady blog posts in the YouTube comments, or screaming about their political
beliefs in real life.
Finally, better knowledge regarding politics means the ability to put things into context, and
supporting the best President, not the best debater or public speaker. Discussing the issues rather
than mudslinging is what will bring true change to the nation; Democrats and (a few)
Republicans would agree upon this much.
Second and last, the principle of keeping your political beliefs and hands to yourself: what
many people at school, work and Trump rallies dont seem to get.
Its really quite simple: when youre outside the house, dont talk about politics. Although a good
amount of adults seem to get this, kids like me and the Democrats at my lunch table really dont
know what to talk about or when to shut up. Unfortunately, people have lost the skill of talking
about politics casually. The one thing that we can do is keep our mouths shut and awkwardly
attempt steer to the conversation away from the ensuing chaos and violence than will inevitably
follow political banter. Dont take part in these conversations at all.
In summation, American politics quickly turned from calm discussion into an all-out brawl with
legal expenses covered by everyones favorite politician. Its extremely difficult for us to agree to
disagree on the issue of politics, due to its huge impact on everyones lives, but we can inform
ourselves, open our mindsets as much as possible and simply not talk about political issues in
public. The rivalry and anger associated with partisan politics is a large problem in the
United States because of its relationship with moral values and the very real impacts of the
policymaking decisions that it causes, but it is a problem solvable by the methods
mentioned above.