The Merit of the Majority

We need a leader who does not hold all perspectives and opinions as equal. While I believe in open discussion and acknowledgement and understanding of all sides of an argument, I also believe that not all ideas carry equal merit. The problem with this election cycle is that we have democratic candidates intent on unifying the diverse views in the country. Obama notes that “There (are) a set of things that I can do that no other candidate can do. I can bring the country together around a working majority for change in a way that Sen. Clinton, for example, cannot." But Hillary Clinton is no better. She is so tainted by politicking that she cannot commit to a position on anything, for fear of alienating some base. While she does not profess to be a candidate who unites, her actions show that she is reluctant to exclude anyone except the most fiscally and socially conservative, voters from her platform.

The problem with such a strategy is that this country’s problems should not, cannot, and will not be solved by more conservative methods. It’s not to say that the more conservative answers to our problems didn’t work at some point in our country’s history. They did and they were very effective; that is why they have remained so popular for so long. But times have changed, the world continues to progress, and the conservative response has become outdated and ineffective. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines progress as a “forward or onward movement.” It is not a recycling of used ideas, it is not a return to traditional plans and morals, and it is not a continued reliance on tried and true methods. Progress requires innovation, invention, and creativity. Innovators, inventors, and creators usually do it. And those people, the truly successful, truly brilliant who push our world to change are rarely obsessed with pleasing others. Indeed, those presidents who drastically altered the direction of our country were not making decisions based on popular opinion. They were taking risks and pursuing a vision, at most costs. (Of course, this can also be applied to our currently unpopular President, George W. Bush, undeniably he has wrought significant change, but change does not equal progress).