What I Learned on Vacation

1st and foremost, I was reminded how nice people in this country are to strangers.  Even in tourist towns, people respond to curiosity and share their lives, while trying to be helpful to those in need of information.

The 2nd thing I learned is how when it comes to politics we are on multiple different planets.  There are four planets in the U.S. political universe at present.  2 on the left: (i) Traditional centrist Democrats who range from conservative to liberal and (ii) ultra-liberal who want their way now and are not necessarily acknowledging of practical realities.  The first support Clinton and the second support the Green Party, which is what the Ralph Nadar movement has become.  There are also 2 on the right.  Practical Republicans, who somewhere in their brain understand that compromise is a necessary part of politics, and are really really scared of Donald Trump getting his brain in control of the nuclear codes.  Meanwhile, they abhor Hillary Clinton but they are between a rock and a hard place and may support the Libertarian Johnson and Weld team if they ever get what they stand for out there.  And then there are the Angry Republicans, who support Trump.

Their anger has many sources, some of which may be the responsibility of the Democratic Party, some of which is the responsibility of the GOP establishment.  That shared responsibility of both parties is the failure of the economy to work for all.  More on this in the next paragraph.  Some of it is the direction society has gone in on any number of issues regarding personal behaviors.  Some of it is access to abortion and I do believe, no matter how much I disagree with their conclusion that women should not control their decision to be mothers, that people who support the rights of the unborn over the rights of the living are heartfelt in that belief and they cannot vote for a Democrat if they make that their number one political issue.  Obviously, for some wackos, the NRA is the only issue that matters.  The problem for me is this last wing is the source of domestic terrorism.  There are probably more single issue sources of anger, but I cannot list everyone.

As for economic anger, as I have written before, there are no easy solutions for the economic angst that technology and globalization cause.  I just know that tax cuts for the rich and not doing anything is not the answer.  But I also know that helping people develop and maintain a sense of personal responsibility is the key.  But for that they need guidance within their family and the members of the family need hope.

We will see which planet has the most voters across the most states in 12 weeks or so. I am pretty sure the winner will not get 50% of the vote, and where policy goes will depend upon the Congressional elections.

The following opinion column in the Washington Post helped bring my vacation thoughts together.

Link to a Hillbillies view on America