Presidential Campaign 2016

The 2016 Presidential Campaign has fueled the enthusiasm of the masses, demonstrating the frustrations and conflicts Americans are challenged with every day. The gloves are off. The gloves are off- not just off between one political party and the opposing party- but instead, removed between the individual and the government. The gloves were released in response to the anger Americans have seized in search of a better way. They held their tongues; they tried to behave non-violently and keep their hands to themselves. They let the government manage the wars. They allow the government to control the terrorists. They will enable the government to control the corporations and “outsource” American jobs in the name of “peace.” They went along. We went along.

However, the individual is reacting—the individual from all parts of the world, from various societies, cultures, and government systems. From the terrorist to the everyday citizen, people are enraged. The outbursts at campaign events and the recent arrest of a campaign manager reflect the social and political environment in which we live. The frustration felt by Americans, which is currently being demonstrated in both verbal and physical outbursts of emotional and sometimes violent behavior, is possibly more a reaction to the current State of the Union than in response to the words of one presidential candidate. The recent State of the Union is the fuel to the proverbial fire. Whether victim or foe, the natives are restless.

The natives are restless, causing societal and political unrest. Violence is increasing, and governments respond with increased violence, bigger guns, and newer policies to control something or someone. Then, the next day, we read about how “free” we are. We read about our “democracy” while neglecting to mention the mob psychology behind it. In 1907, Jane Addams, Democracy and Social Ethics, argued that “politics is not contained in an airtight compartment, unrelated to the community. Instead, it is one of the modes of expression of the basic moral habits of a group of people.” Men and women observed Addams had “become unhappy regarding their attitude toward the social order itself; toward the dreary round of uninteresting work.

The pleasure narrowed down to appetite, the declining consciousness of brainpower, and the lack of mental food which characterizes the lot of the large proportion of their fellow citizens.” The thoughts and feelings of the men and women in the early 1900s seem to reflect the same views and concerns of the men and women in 2016. Despite great technological advances in information dissemination through telecommunication systems, combined with the speed of social media, little social progress has been achieved during the last 100 years.

Our presidential political campaigns seem to bring out the worst in people. Unfortunately, this season has brought out the worst in the politicians seeking office. The brash insults, counterattacks, computer violations, and occasionally violent behavior have reduced this campaign season to a global exhibit of the immorality of society and the individuals who want to govern it. What is even more insulting is what appears to be a lack of understanding of the true meaning of separation of Church and State. This lack of knowledge is demonstrated by the candidates seeking governmental offices and the individual Americans who seem to have forgotten the many reasons our founding forefathers deserted England and wrote the United States Constitution.

We contradict our stated morals every day in multiple ways. We are counterproductive and contradictory in both thought and deed. We argue and protest over our freedom of speech yet fail to understand what freedom of the press has to do with it. We could not keep the presses running and, thus, went paperless with our newspapers, too. We also lost historical data and a chain of evidence. We let our presidents push the media and then wonder who invaded our electronic inbox, My Latest News.

Addams concludes that the wide difference between politicians and constituents is the difference in their “daily experience.” The “well-to-do” of the community thinks of politics as something off by itself. Addams explains that they may conscientiously recognize political duty as part of good citizenship, “but political effort is not the expression of their moral or social life.” Politicians, it seems, experience a different reality regarding politics than the average citizen.

Thus, the “reform movements,” particularly those started by businessmen and the better element, are almost wholly occupied in the “correction of political machinery” and with a concern for the better method of administration rather than with the ultimate purpose of securing the welfare of the people, concludes Addams. They focus their attention on techniques and, thereby, fail to consider the final aims of city government. Thus, reform movements tend to lose educational value for many people.

This presidential campaign season’s negativity and oppressive nature are burdened with direct aggression and assertive accusations. This is in direct contrast to previous presidential campaigns filled with promises of everlasting hope and goodwill towards men – if elected. Merlene is a researcher, writer, and New Age journalist. Topics of specialization are usually related to human behavior, psychology, criminology, relationships, religion, society, ethics, politics, and more.