Studies have often times shown that conservatives, especially those whom practice organized religion (mostly Christianity), are more content than liberals/progressives, especially those whom don't practice any organized religion. I think while believing in a rewarding paradise in the afterlife does make a difference to many people and allows them to be more regularly content than those whom don't, I think the main factor in this trend is at the root of the terms "conservative" and "progressive." Conservatives tend to like things to stay the way they are, so they're just as likely to vote for their candidates if little change is implemented during their terms as they would if a great deal of change was implemented. Progressives, on the other hand, typically want the nation to "progress," to move forward, for a great deal of change to occur. Often times, if several of the "promised" changes don't occur, this places a damper on their motivation to go out and vote on election day.
This is frustrating on multiple fronts. First off, like many other progressives, I'm often times frustrated by the very slow, gradual pace to some of these wanted changes. However, it may be even more frustrating to see so many progressives give up when these changes don't go into effect as quickly as they'd like, and we wind up having elections as we did on Tuesday.
With politics the way it is today, with the Citizen's United ruling, the Koch Brothers trying to take over the country (if they haven't already), talk radio being the way it is, and the older generation still hanging around being paranoid, it'd be virtually impossible to elect an extremely liberal president, such as Bernie Sanders or even Elizabeth Warren. While I'd personally love to see one of them run for the Oval Office and would vote for them in a heartbeat, I'm also trying to be realistic in knowing that's not going to happen for at least a few years. With each and every generation becoming more diverse, more accepting of the LGBT community, etc., it will become increasingly likely that we'll one day have an extremely progressive country, but unfortunately, we're not there yet. So, we have to make the best hand with the cards we're dealt and with the reality that is this country right here and now.
President Obama hasn't been as progressive as I'd like to see. I personally see him as a center-left president. However, think of our alternative. I also see Hillary Clinton as center-left, but again, come 2016, think of our alternative. The same goes for these midterm elections. So many progressives sat at home, unmotivated to vote, because Democrats in government hadn't followed through with all of their promised changes. But, once again, look at the alternatives. We may not be thrilled with Democrats in Congress or even with the president himself, but in these past six years, we've: Implemented healthcare reform, removed troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, created millions of jobs, decreased unemployment, increased solar and wind energy, seen positive changes with regard to LGBT rights, and have even started seeing some changes on the medical (even recreational) marijuana front as well. We may not have closed Guantanamo, may have started meddling in some affairs in the Middle East again, and may not have fought as hard for illegal immigration reform as we would have liked, but once again, many positive changes have occurred, and look at our alternative.
As progressives, we may be disappointed with our representatives in not implementing the changes we want as quickly as we'd like, however, if we sit on the sidelines during election day, we're going to see those gradual progressions come to a standstill. We can blame our politicians all we'd like for not quickly fulfilling their promises, but if we don't vote on election day, we only have ourselves to blame for those gradual progressions coming to a complete halt. Shame on us!
This is frustrating on multiple fronts. First off, like many other progressives, I'm often times frustrated by the very slow, gradual pace to some of these wanted changes. However, it may be even more frustrating to see so many progressives give up when these changes don't go into effect as quickly as they'd like, and we wind up having elections as we did on Tuesday.
With politics the way it is today, with the Citizen's United ruling, the Koch Brothers trying to take over the country (if they haven't already), talk radio being the way it is, and the older generation still hanging around being paranoid, it'd be virtually impossible to elect an extremely liberal president, such as Bernie Sanders or even Elizabeth Warren. While I'd personally love to see one of them run for the Oval Office and would vote for them in a heartbeat, I'm also trying to be realistic in knowing that's not going to happen for at least a few years. With each and every generation becoming more diverse, more accepting of the LGBT community, etc., it will become increasingly likely that we'll one day have an extremely progressive country, but unfortunately, we're not there yet. So, we have to make the best hand with the cards we're dealt and with the reality that is this country right here and now.
President Obama hasn't been as progressive as I'd like to see. I personally see him as a center-left president. However, think of our alternative. I also see Hillary Clinton as center-left, but again, come 2016, think of our alternative. The same goes for these midterm elections. So many progressives sat at home, unmotivated to vote, because Democrats in government hadn't followed through with all of their promised changes. But, once again, look at the alternatives. We may not be thrilled with Democrats in Congress or even with the president himself, but in these past six years, we've: Implemented healthcare reform, removed troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, created millions of jobs, decreased unemployment, increased solar and wind energy, seen positive changes with regard to LGBT rights, and have even started seeing some changes on the medical (even recreational) marijuana front as well. We may not have closed Guantanamo, may have started meddling in some affairs in the Middle East again, and may not have fought as hard for illegal immigration reform as we would have liked, but once again, many positive changes have occurred, and look at our alternative.
As progressives, we may be disappointed with our representatives in not implementing the changes we want as quickly as we'd like, however, if we sit on the sidelines during election day, we're going to see those gradual progressions come to a standstill. We can blame our politicians all we'd like for not quickly fulfilling their promises, but if we don't vote on election day, we only have ourselves to blame for those gradual progressions coming to a complete halt. Shame on us!
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