Their Marketing Is Improper, And Thus I Have No Idea What They Are Really Selling

I’ve made comments on politicians. I’ve held my ground in arguments. I’ve been wrong and I’ve been right—and I’m not sure which was which.

And at the end of it, I am less sure of what candidate I support. I am less certain of a villain or a hero. I know people I respect who will talk my ear off about how Donald Trump is the only one worth anything–the only one upfront about things. I’ve heard and read people who believe Hillary is the only option. Who think Trump is the problem.

I’ve also heard people say things about Bernie, about Ted, about Jeb–about all of them.

And still…I have no idea. I hear all about the upcoming election, but hear almost nothing useful. My Facebook is nothing but political ideologies shouted and Pokémon Go jokes and pictures of people I don’t see often.

And you want to know what? That’s the problem. No, not my Facebook. The ideology of it. The rampant ranting of rhetoric and self-righteous biased reasoning.

We’re Marketing Opinions, But So Little Facts

I had to go out of my way, out of my way, to find anything concrete about the actual policies and ideas of the candidates. And I had to have it explained to me by a YouTube video because it’s the only source of information I trust to have a smidgen of bipartisan interest.

I live in the South, so it’s more Republican. I live in Clearwater, so people have their culture and lifestyles affecting their opinions. And I cannot blame them, and I can’t really get mad, but I am mad.

It’s a popularity contest, sure. I understand. I get it’s all about the marketing. But can we please be more about marketing the actual policies? How will politicians affect my taxes? Or the rights of people? Or the actual price of what they say they want to do with our country?

No hypotheticals and false promises. No flat lies. I am part of the group supposed to be the next wave in influencing how our country and world shapes: the next generation.

And it should be easy to know these things. It shouldn’t be rare. It’s a cornerstone of our country’s political process. It’s the policies that matter, and we need to be marketing that fact. Not who or who may not be a jerk.

If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work on The Hive, or at his website: www.coolerbs.com