Left to Right: Assassination of Julius Ceasar, Beheading of Marie Antionette, Washigton Crossing the Patomic

We live in a seemingly polarizing and volatile political climate. There are those that believe and proclaim we are genuinely observing the second coming of Hitler, and those who think President Trump is going to bring about a new American Golden Age, if only given the opportunity. The arguments on both sides of the isle are intense and heated; everyone knows they are right and few are willing to compromise. In an age of unprecedented communication and technology it is easy to feel overwhelmed with the excess of opinions and think pieces flooding the internet and television.

Where do we go from here? What do you do when you realize everyone does have a voice, and that voice is often contrary and sometimes opposed to beliefs you hold dear.

Force those who disagree to conform?

Turn a blind eye and just “give up” on the dialogue?

While both of those options can be appealing, I believe there is a third option, and a good way to frame it starts with a simple question:

How is your life different now then it was in 2015, and does that difference have anything to do with Donald Trump being the President?

Your life may be different (it probably is, for lives rarely “stay the same”), but I would wager that it has more to do with other events in your life rather than what a businessman turned politician is doing hundreds of miles away. Throughout human history politics have rarely been neat and tidy, but that hasn’t prevented progress from occuring, and it certainly won’t now.

Lets take a brief look at how politics were often conducted throughout Western History: during the Roman Republic politicians were routinely assassinated in the streets, Emperors were murdered in the Senate, and slaves were commonplace.

Since the collapse of the Roman Empire: bloody revolutions have started in countless countries (France, America, Russia etc.), Kings have been beheaded, and innocent civilians have paid the price for the negligence of their leaders. Despite these attrocites humans have made progress to the point where it is easy to forget, and hard to imagine, the millions of lives that were destroyed and lost in order to make ours possible. Compared to historical events, sometimes those are are frigtenigly recent, the current political climate is frankly rather tame. It often seems like a lot of bark, and little to no bite.

Perspective: LIfe in the Russian Gulag; the life of millions

America has a constitution prioritizing personal rights and freedoms for a reason. No president or congress can reasonably change its core tenets, even if they wanted to. As a country, I believe it is time for many Americans to take a step back, take a deep breath, and relax. Tomorrow when you wake the world around you will be the same as it was when you went to sleep the night before, and if it is different, it likely won’t have anything to do what is going on in Washington D.C. Presidents will come and go, but as long as Americans have trust in the system they created (and each other), progress will continue to be made. 2018 is a time of unprecidented techonology and personal freedoms, don’t let politics and petty disgreements between your peers distract you from the life you can be living.

When proven, corruption should always be called out and condemned, and our politicians should always be held accountable by their fellow countrymen, but I would encourage anyone who is physically or mentally upset over the current state of our politics to realize this is all part of the process. Everything will “be okay” and We the People can, and will, ensure that we create a better tomrrow regardless of the turmoil of today.