#voting #voters #elections #economics #politics #jobs #FinancialWellBeing Voters feel as if they’ve lost control of their lives, and no politician(s) are going to be able to give it back to them. That point was made during a discussion among Katy Tur, Catherine Rampell and Mark McKinnon on Tur’s show “The Moment” on MSNOW Sept. 22, 2026. Rampell, an economics commentator on MSNOW, and McKinnon, a political consultant, were discussing how voters may react in the upcoming midterm elections. The Republicans this cycle have made promises, but didn’t keep them. In past cycles, Democrats did the same. With gasoline, grocery, housing and health-care prices skyrocketing, with employment prospects uncertain as artificial intelligence comes to the fore, it’s no wonder people are feeling as if they have no control over their lives. In more cases, young people feel destined not to do as well as their parents financially. In past decades, the opposite was true in most cases. When you have to buy clothes for work, gas up your car to get you to work etc., it may cost some people more to go to work than to stay home, if they work for low pay. For these folks, hope isn’t going to cut it. Tomorrow will be a better day rings hollow. Becoming better off over time is, well, a fallacy – or, perhaps, fantasy. Still, when evaluating whom to vote for, one has to rely on promises. When politicians break those promises, regardless of party affiliation, voters get discouraged. When they get discouraged, a gut reaction is to not vote for anyone. But, almost every time, when one doesn’t vote, the result is disappointing at best, disastrous at worst. Voting is an act of faith. Therefore, when voting, one has to assess the person’s record, affiliations and overall personality. As with many life choices, one has to choose something. Making the best choice sometimes is hard, but making a choice often is bold. Avoiding a choice is, well, chickening out. All decisions have consequences. If no decision is a decision, it WILL have consequences. If you can stop the immediate bleeding by making a decision, that is bold. Sometimes, voting decisions are based on having nothing left to lose. Though it may be tempting to make an emotional decision in the voting booth, it’s best to go into the booth armed with real evidence. A good rule of thumb on which to base one’s voting decision: look at who is most benefiting from the status quo, and who is not. If you are not benefiting from the status quo, vote for change. Certainly, if change comes, it may not be everything you want. But, if the status quo is not giving you much of what you want, change can be better. The 1940s and 1950s are viewed by many as the best years for America. It’s impossible to go backward. It’s inevitable to move forward. If whom to vote for is not a cut and dried decision for you, make the best decision possible. If it is cut and dried – at least in your mind – think about why that is. To borrow from a Lee Ann Womack lyric, if you have the choice to sit it out or vote, I hope you vote. Make a plan to vote, based on the rules in your jurisdiction. But, please vote. Don’t sit this one out. Peter
#crazy #sanity #government #elections #politics #IsCrazyWorking “We’ve tried sanity for a long time, and it hasn’t worked. Why not try crazy?” That was a sentiment expressed a few years ago, as presidential administrations changed. Given the enhanced polarization that produced, do you think “crazy” is working? Politics never used to ruin family relationships. It never used to ruin friendships. Today, by many accounts, it has done both. If’ you’ve experienced lost friendships and family relationships, do you think “crazy” is working? We never saw people in high places dehumanize others, regardless of their inner personal opinions. Now, we see people in high places advocating violence against those who disagree with them. If’ you’ve witnessed that, do you think “crazy” is working? If you’ve seen prices for goods and services rise, making your life more difficult, while those who are already well off receive even better treatment financially, do you think “crazy” is working? If you’ve seen someone start a war, and now finding few ways to get out of it, do you still think “crazy” is working? It must be said that before “crazy,” not everyone got to where he or she wanted. No system gives everyone everything. There was always government overreach, the rich always seemed to get richer etc. But at least those in power talked about real fairness. To be sure, real fairness for everyone at all times may be impossible to achieve. But, before “crazy,” we had a sense that people in power, for the most part, had their hearts in the right place. We saw people win and lose elections with some degree of decorum and grace. The loser always congratulated the winner. Since “crazy,” that’s not always the case. Do you want your children to grow up under “crazy?” What could they learn as they observe not only the behavior of those in power, but also the response from their parents to “crazy?” What do your children learn when they see adult relationships and friendships dissolve over “crazy?” Does it make them want to establish good relationships in social, family, work and worship settings? There is much to think about here, and very little time to think about it. You may be wise the next time you vote – if you are eligible, PLEASE VOTE – you may not want to choose “crazy.” Instead, you may want to choose those candidates who will stand in the way of “crazy.” You may want to choose candidates who will undo all the “crazy.” If you still think “crazy” is working, talk to as many others as possible to see whether they agree with you. Peter
#GenZ #HavingChildren #WhenToHaveChildren #ConcernAboutTheFuture #men #women How do you define success? If you are between 18 and 29 years old, depending on whether you are a man or a woman, you may view success differently, according to a recent NBC News poll, conducted with Survey Monkey. Both men and women all ranked having a fulfilling job, having money to do the things they want to do and achieving financial independence highly, the poll says. About 25 percent of those polled say they are worried about their future. But a remarkable percentage of Gen Z men ranked having children as their top characteristic of success. Women ranked having children closer to the bottom of their priorities, the poll said. Today’s politics is filled with notions of women concentrating more on motherhood than careers. But, with this generation having a more difficult time than their parents did in making a life, the idea of having children may be a low priority for many women. In decades past, it was easier for women to stay at home while men went to work. Today, with prices of necessities soaring, it’s almost impossible to live on one salary. It’s no wonder this generation is feeling anxious about the future. Politicians like to carve out dream scenarios. Often, they are just dreams untethered to reality. Even with both men and women in the same household working, making ends meet – let alone saving for a house or retirement – is much more difficult. They can only look at their parents and grandparents and wonder how they could build the equity they had built. Inheritance may be their only hope. Not only is it financially difficult to have children, it’s can be financially difficult to get married. Some data indicates that many first-time home buyers are in their 40s, when it’s supposed to be the prime of your earning years. Their parents and grandparents may have gotten married fairly young, bought a small house fairly early into their marriage and traded up to better housing over the years to accommodate their families. Many of those parents or grandparents have adult children living with them, because, even with a job, they can’t live on their own, let alone start a family. If young men see success in having children, how are they going to do that? If such young men still live with mom and dad, they are already starting from behind. With unaffordable rents, and salaries and job opportunities not commensurate with those rents, they can’t start building a life outside of mom and dad’s house. Having children may be great, but one has to be able to afford them. Having children you can’t afford will only put those kids behind in many ways. The same politicians encouraging young people to have children are the same ones who refuse to help provide for those children once they are born. So, if you are young today, make the best choices you can. Don’t let anyone bully you into a life you can’t handle. Remember: Step 1 is finding a reasonably good paying job. Step 2 is moving out of mom and dad’s house. Step 3 is finding a good, responsible life partner. Once you’ve done those things, you can think about when to have a family. Peter
#blame #solutions #politics #DifferencesOfOpinion #CultureWar “Most Americans could … be considered pragmatic moderates on the majority of political issues. While research (shows) some polarization has increases, it appears to have been exaggerated.” So writes Gail Sahar, professor of psychology at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. An article, adapted from her book “Blame and Political Attitudes:The Psychology of America’s Culture War,” was published June 21, 2023, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Sahar believes that the basis for democracy assumes people can reason. When we underestimate the American public’s ability to rationally consider issues, we undermine our nation’s foundation, she writes. “The current focus on blame has emerged as the missing link connecting ideology to attitude across a range of issues,” she writes. In current political discourse, people not only want everyone to follow what THEY believe in, but also want to blame someone else when things go wrong. To paraphrase the late U.S. President Ronald Reagan, the U.S. Congress would get more done if they cared less about who gets the credit. The converse is also true. If nothing gets done, the other guy is to blame. This culture of blame, as Sahar calls it, may arouse strong feelings on both sides of an issue. But, we always find an excuse to blame the other guy. Therefore, nothing of consequence gets done. What if we all, regardless of core beliefs, focused on what we can accomplish, instead of what points we can score against the other guy? The result would be incremental action toward the common good. Incremental actions, when added up, can yield real accomplishments. What would help this process is everyone agreeing on facts. When one side doesn’t get its way, it can tend to say the other side was wrong, or fraudulent, and can tend to invent its own set of facts. Then, to emphasize the point, they keep spouting this set of “facts” as if it were true, thinking enough people will believe them. In most instances, there is one truth. Anything to the contrary is, at best, “spin,” or, at worst, false. Once the actual truth is discerned, we can come closer to agreement on what to do, or not do. Facts can certainly get in the way of a good narrative, or a good conspiracy theory. Although some in power fit the category of wanting to screw, or blame, the other guy, most people want to know the truth, find ways to apply that truth to the problems at hand and find solutions. Complete solutions may be elusive on first pass. Therefore, incremental solutions tend to produce more agreement. Most successful people believe in the phrase, “Go big, or go home.” In today’s discourse, that may be a pipe dream. We will get more done amid differences of opinions and worldviews if we start small. Then, after a time, we can go on to the next small thing. The toe-in-the-water approach may seem pointless to some. But, it may be the best way to arbitrate differences and get to real solutions. There are big differences of opinion in as diverse a country as ours. It’s difficult to celebrate differences. It may be better to acknowledge them, find points of agreement – or, at least, compromise – and move toward solutions. The journey toward solutions may be long. But, those who are successful in whatever they do usually find the journey more worthwhile than the destination. Peter
