It is finally here. Politico's nationwide woke up wide eyed and charged with adrenaline, like the proverbial kid on Christmas morning, but instead of visions of sugar plums, they nestled into their beds tonight with visions of pie charts, red state vs. blue state maps, and state by state analysis of electoral college votes. Just like every other year, this presidential election is being touted as a crucial turning point in the history of our nation, and penultimate moment when the people will decide if our nation rises to eternal glory or fades into the annals of history. Of course the truth presents something far more complex than a simple "black or white" dichotomy. Yes, this is an election between two leaders with vastly different social and economic views, but in reality many of the issues facing our economy and many Americans have little to do with the commander in chief. Do not get me wrong, billions of dollars of debt and a needlessly complicated tax code have had a tremendous impact on our economic health, but it is time to sit down and take a hard look at the 600lb gorilla who has been casually lounging in the corner of the room - we buy a plethora of s#@t that we simply do not need.
In many families gone are the day when, brace yourselves, two kids would actually share the same bedroom. The sheer unmitigated horror, expecting brothers or sisters to share a bedroom. Now a family of three feels they need a 5 bedroom house - after all you must have the home office (even if you never actually work at home) and the guest room (for the people who never actually visit). The 40 inch television goes in the bedroom and we buy a $4,000 entertainment system that gets paid over the course of 1 or 2 years. Is it okay to purchase these thing if you can comfortably afford it, but the truth is most people cannot. People have convinced themselves that when their candidate of choice comes to power that all of their woes will magically disappear as the president waves their magic pen and signs bills that will alleviate all of their self-created financial distress.
Are there really steps that government can take to help improve the job market? Yes...but it will not be the magic bullet many expect it to be. Far too many eager young graduates are fighting for jobs in industries that are already flooded. This will work itself out as more and more baby boomers begin to retire from those industries. Another group of struggling graduates are those who have had training in very narrow industries - crime scene technician is one of those fields that has become very popular on college campuses. Working in CSI has a certain sexy appeal, and lets face it, crime is not something that is going to stop happening anytime soon. But, I have a feeling that if you looked into the sheer number of students enrolled in these programs they probably far outnumber the actual positions that are available in those fields. Of course there are those skilled professionals who lost their jobs and have to take a pay cut in order to get a new job, but some of those in this category simply refuse to scale down their lifestyle until they can get a job at the salary they desire. As with the financial issues, nothing the president or congress does will magically solve all of these job problems, especially the self-created ones.
There is no question that our government (local, state, and federal) play a major role in our lives and the well-being of our nation. Who takes the reins of power does matter, but let us not forget that the most important aspect of our country is that much of your destiny is in your own hands. There is a reason that people who voted for Bush in '04 turned around and voted for Obama in '08 and are now going back and voting for Romney. These people have a "pie in the sky" view of the presidency and they have convinced themselves that for a president to be successful, at no point during the four year term should there be any mistakes. They fully expect that the individual they have graced with their vote will make all of the issues in their life magically disappear. If you live your life expecting perfection from elected officials, or anyone for that matter, you will always be disappointed.
Go out and vote in every election. It is a crucial part of our democracy. Before blaming the government for everything, ask yourself on a daily basis - what can I do to improve my situation.
