Political opinion

A few words about politics:

As a young man I learned a long time ago that when your friend is the driver of a car but is drunk or just unstable, you do not get in the car "hoping" he won't kill me. That is just foolish, somewhat ignorant but mostly, false hope.

 As a writer I also learned a long time ago that because someone can write poetry well it does not mean that their talent in that realm can immediately transfer to another realm of writing, such as novels. Talent, such as in business should never be taken for granted that it can easily be transferred elsewhere.

And when anyone speaks as poorly as Trump whose level of vocabulary and shallow understanding of almost everything also tells me that they cannot alter their lifestyle or habits, weaknesses or even strengths simply because circumstances change. The inability to think deeply and find language that showcases intellect, emotional stability and an overview understanding of what is going on reveals emotional weaknesses and fuels a person’s personal “issues”!

I disliked Clinton and agreed she was crooked and manipulative and a liar but I also knew she had a deep understanding of politics and even though I knew she'd make mistakes she would have the ability to be a fair if not great president. I knew she'd read briefs and fully be up-to-date on what was going on everywhere. Knowledge is the only base to work off of.

When you read my poems you know I am saying something, something with depth, with tenderness even if dark, with vision, something that offers insight to the human condition, the world, the truths of life-hopefully it makes my work worth reading. Trump never represented depth, knowledge or vision-he truly never offered anything nor did he really ever say anything other than slogans. That is not knowledge, it is marketing.

For those that wanted him to shake things up; he has but not positively-he was never capable of doing it positively-you have to know what you are doing to be positive and he does not know what he is doing-he has no interest in governing as president-he just likes being president. So, he has produced a nightmare in only 4 months, it must be a record. He is as one should have known him to be, a rather crude, ignorant and not really a very smart man who could only logically produce what he has.

Everyone learns on the job; we all know and have experienced that but generally most people when taking a job want to learn. When you choose to not learn, to not understand, to not be bothered, to delegate and let others do your work for you, you are really saying you do not want the job, certainly not as the job has been outlined to be. As a regular person you have the choice to make those mistakes and act irresponsibly but when you represent hundreds of millions of people, do you really still have the choice to act that way? I think not!

When you meet someone who is crude, ignorant, uses foul language as a manner of regular lifestyle, someone who when speaking speaks with shallowness, is often repetitive, rarely has facts and vision to philosophically support arguments, has a narrow sense of the world and possesses an ideology that is extreme, manufactured to gain attention to be liked but unproven to succeed or be fully encompassing, someone who reveals pretenses and is then supported by those in power who do not like or respect him but are quite happy to use him to fuel their own agendas and you watch these people service one another’s personal and selfish interests you know that the person in question is certainly not anyone you want to know, be a friend of or interact with.

I do not challenge or have issues with anyone who is religious as long as their religious convictions are not used to define and judge others or are used to create an “us vs them” world vision. That is what dictators do to their citizens. That is what society does to the convicted felon. That is what a parent can do to a child and as you can see in certain situations and relations it is correct behavior but in others it is not. When society finds a felon guilty of a crime and proves it with fair justice then society has the right to put that person in prison. When a parent is trying to teach a child to be honest, responsible and learn the differences between right and wrong it is proper parenting. But when a dictator pushes his/her vision of power, government, sense of “justice” in order to be abusive, extremist, maintain power by using fear; power and illegal tactics then you must know it is wrong, evil and a violation of the human condition.

Religion used extremely has brought the world’s history many acts and time periods full of war and inhumane and destructive consequences as any slave or murdered individual refusing to be forced to convert could attest. The Reformation, missionaries trying to convert Indians, the Holy Crusades, etc. have all proven that historically. In America there is supposed to be a separation of church and state and the Founding Fathers knew well whay that should be the case as anyone would know that many world conflicts have been driven by the extreme beliefs in religion which is often what the world is witnessing today.

Every age has offered evolutionary insight to define its time in world history and in today’s world, IT, discoveries in science, a deeper and better understanding of the planet, the human body and innovation in technology are guiding us going forward. We need leadership that has deeper insight and visionary understanding that acknowledges how humans have evolved, what their needs truly are, what the true condition of the planet is, how human relationships have altered and what direction life on earth should go in.

President Trump plays no role in any of this other than the negatives he represents and if there is political leadership that supports him, neither do they. The world can only be as good as the people living in it. A positive future can only be attained with positive thinking that is open, possesses true understanding and has recognition of our failures and needs. At no time in history has anything extreme ever succeeded or taken mankind positively forward. Extremism is a failed position to take. It benefits no one other than extremists preferring to live in a limited and controlled state of life and how does that define happiness or honestly living? Since when has anything closed ever brought happiness?

Steven Pelcman