Life Liberty Happiness

Life Liberty Happiness
Life Liberty Happiness

 

The United States presidential election was yesterday.  In the U.S. there are elections throughout the year within individual states.  People vote on policies of state and local governments. Every 4 years, the people of the United States elect a President.  Few countries in the world have a system of government whereby the head of the country can change every 4 years.  It is one of the beauties of the system in the United States.

However, this system is not without its problems.  This year in particular has been extremely divisive between supporters of Presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.  There were others who were vying for the position, too.  We elect many things in life.  Some seem rather trivial, but are part of a selection process nonetheless.  What preferences do people hold that cause them to elect one thing over another?  What life experiences and beliefs make some choices better than others for people?

 The saddest part about this election is the hateful and hurtful things that people say and write to people who do no share their point of view.  Our founding fathers believed in Life, Liberty, Happiness–things defined differently by different people. While truth exists, in opinion there is no right or wrong.  The majority of democratic governments in the world shift from one side of the political spectrum to the other whenever a new leader is elected.  This is how the “balance” is maintained.  On one side we have socialism.  On the other conservatism. This is the pattern the United States leadership has taken in my lifetime:
  • 2008-2016 8 years Democrats
  • 2000-2008 8 years Republicans
  • 1992-2000 8 years Democrats
  • 1980-1992 12 years Republicans
  • 1976-1980 4 years Democrats
  • 1968-1976 8 years Republicans

The shift we saw last night is the correction our system is built around.

 Both candidates, like all of us, were and are flawed individuals.  No one on this planet holds up to the scrutiny of campaigning for office in this country.  But, our past doesn’t dictate our future.  As a Life Coach I would fail, if I didn’t believe it possible that people could change.  Life, Liberty and Happiness.  We can still have these things, because they are not tied to who is in power.