I feel like I am part of a massive conspiracy on the part of our government to keep all of us fighting amongst ourselves so that we can’t see what is really happening. Democrats believe that their way is best. Republicans believe they have the upper hand. We all argue back and forth on social media, the news, and in blog posts, and I don’t understand what the fight is about or what we think we are going to accomplish.

None of this makes sense to me and watching the politicians makes me realize that the only way they can continue to get away with their total lack of leadership is to cause the people to fight amongst themselves. Every single day on the news or on Facebook I see posts bashing liberals and conservatives and graphs and charts that prove that one side is better than the other. The side that you are on is of course the side that is right. What if we took the argument deeper? Republicans and Democrats aren’t that far apart if you sit down and start having conversations. People are complex and see the world differently but I think we all could try to agree on some basic ideas to help end the useless fighting:

1) Living in the United States should allow you to be free. As long as you aren’t breaking the law, you should be allowed to live your life the way you see fit. That means you can live where you want, drive what you want, work where you want, date who you want, and yep, here it comes, marry whomever you want (and don’t be crazy people I’m just talking about humans marrying humans). We should all be able to agree that law abiding citizens should be rewarded with freedom of choice.

2) You should be able to choose what works best for you and your family in terms of spirituality or religion. The point is to be a good person and treat everyone you meet with kindness. None of us require a book to tell us that but some of us might want it and should feel free to attend church. We should also agree that if you don’t go to church it doesn’t make you a bad person nor does it take away your ability to be ethical.

3) Fiscal responsibility is important for every single person in this country and every single business (that counts the government). The more people that learn to only spend what they have, the better for others. This means that we all have to work unless we are plainly just too sick to work. This means we all have to pay taxes. This means we all have to be responsible for our lives and any children we bring into the world. If we don’t want the big corporations to make so much money then we all have to stop buying their products (yep, there goes your Grande Java Chip Frappuccino).

4) Everyone should have a right to see a doctor when they are sick. We need to work together to make these costs affordable and provide insurance to the people that want it. This is going to require us to stop fighting and start educating people how to use the health care system most efficiently. Whether you agree with it or not, we have a law that needs some revisions or it is going to fail and then we have even bigger problems. We have to work together to get those revisions in place. Start with the things we all agree on and compromise through the rest.

5) There are always going to be people that are down on their luck or need a helping hand. We should provide that helping hand along with education and tools to help them back up so that they can feel good as a contributing member of society. We can’t make this help endless to able bodied people.

6) Having a child is a personal decision. It is not the government’s decision. There are excellent ways to prevent pregnancy and they should be used if you don’t want a child. If you screw this one up (which you shouldn’t), you have to decide what to do next. You have three options. All of them take careful consideration and none of them are easy. If you don’t want to take the risk of getting pregnant, I think you know what not to do.

7) If you have that child, make sure to remember discipline. They need rules, boundaries, structure, and respect for authority. Don’t be afraid to make sure they behave. This doesn’t require beating them but it does require your time. So put down your phone or your wine glass and take care of your children. Please don’t expect teachers or coaches to raise your children. That’s not their job. You children need to be home. With you. Lots.

If we all could agree on some basic principles, it seems like it would be easy to elect leaders that will be ethical and responsible. We need to understand that many of our current leaders are bought and paid for no matter what party they say they are representing. The whole system is broken and until we stand up as Americans and stop fighting each other and demand change, we are stuck with a country that is slowly but surely losing everything it once stood for. We need men and women who understand budgeting and how taxes work. We need accountants and scientists and teachers and stay at home Mom’s to go and run the country. We don’t need any more lawyers or lobbyists in Washington. We need to stop picking sides because the answer is right in the middle staring at all of us. Do your homework, research the candidates, and maybe this time vote for a name you don’t recognize. If we just keep picking the same leaders and get the same lousy results, haven’t we proven that we support insanity?