*This post is not about A$AP Rocky

Below I've shared some comments I made on a friend's Facebook post regarding the election and whoever votes for Romney is this that and the other.  As a semi-engaged person I'm genuinely interested in some of the finer details of the candidates policies and by no means do I discount anyone for making their decisions because of one candidates platform or the other. But the polices come from somewhere, and that's what I wanted to illuminate.

Having had some pretty levelheaded conversations with young conservatives, it breaks down to a matter of life philosophy and economics. I can understand how a white middle class guy, or any middle class guy that started a business can see Romney as an option based solely on the fact that Romney is 'pro-business' and Obama is 'anti-business'. It's all about framing. Most people's philosophies don't take into account other people beyond themselves and their immediate family and community thus creating a vacum where someone who is ACTUALLY worldly and has seen and experienced the plight of others can be seen as a threat to their "values" and "way of life".

That extends to their religious beliefs which most people have built those philosophies on. You can't fault people for being average, but you can fault people for not wanting to engage with the world. 

And the economics part just boils down to what people have to gain (in the pockets). I find it hard to believe that most educated conservatives, constitutionalists, republicans etc who have an honest and solid moral grounding would vote for Romney blindly. Are you more socially motivated or economically motivated? That's how people vote. Some people's values are influenced by the dollar, some are influenced by their hearts. 

And then someone interjects with that oso common idea that "we're screwed either way." And then they followed up with nods at the lack of jobs, broken promises of the first four years, and how Obama's healthcare policy woud do more damage than good.  Areas in which I am in no way prepared to debate someone on nor did I feel it necessary.  And this person cited the need of a third party candidate to break the chains of the dollar and represent "WE THE PEOPLE" So I responded with this:

Their inlies the problem, say you're right, what would that third party candidate have to do? Shake up the goddamn foundation and in turn fuck up a lot of people's money. Forget the economics for a second, what's a better investment, a dollar or an idea? That's where we're at right now as people, we have to choose between a dollar or an opportunity. There needs to be a philosophical change before there can be an [long lasting] economic one.

And there's my point, we the people, need to change the way we approach our lives and the way we treat others. Maybe then we'll produce a viable candidate that truly represents we the people. If we are morally corrupt, we will produce morally corrupt candidates.  If we are healthy, spiritual and empathetic  people, we will produce a candidate of the same ilk.

We are afforded as human beings with the ability to believe and think what we want and behave accordingly. Before nature was our sole moral check (who's hungry, who's cold, etc) but for a large number of us (in this country at least) a lot of those needs are taken care of by the institutions of industry and government.

Now our morals are more free to roam than ever, that's why we have institutional moral checks like (TEACHERS) schools, religious organizations, our cookie cutter development housing (PROJECTS FOR RICH PEOPLE, a post for another time), PARENTS, our jobs, law enforcement, and yup, you guessed it, GOVERNMENT.

We vote because we want to keep all of that. And for better or worse we all may believe we can get there differently, but if you're drinking at Starbucks and a baby on the other side of town dosen't have milk, is it the baby's fault? And their parent didn't have milk either, and their parent didn't have milk and their parent fought with your grandparents in WWII? Is it the baby on the other side of town's fault?

We are all human, and thanks to modern technology, and more importantly the fact that we don't have to kill each other to eat, we should vote with others in mind.  There are kids in bad schools, single mothers with two and three jobs, and they're just fighting to survive in a world where Lady Gaga gets a jet for wearing food (think about that).

If you're still with me, I'll leave you with my last thought of that exchange:

None of our heroes have ever perished fighting for a dollar.

***Full disclosure: I made some small edits for grammar and context. 

Update: the friend has since deleted the post. Glad I grabbed it! 

Also - this is dope as hell: