I do not understand the opposition to political correctness. This ridiculous idea that being sensitive to people is slowly stripping our rights to free thought is completely unfounded, and dangerous. In fact the idea that we should get to say whatever we want, whenever we want is precisely the cause of our current political environment. The people who feel this way, if they said what they really felt at their place of work or online (publicly) would lose their jobs, and rightly so. They put their faith in a candidate whom they feel will speak their minds with impunity. There should be no place in society for incivility. You have the right to say it, but there are consequences. And while it is true that you will always offend someone, it is our job as a citizens to do our best not to. It's hard, and it should be. Our country, our world is evolving and we need to evolve with it. Whether it is making sure transgendered Americans are referred to with their pronoun of choice, that women are treated equally in the workplace, or that the concerns of minorities are listened to and not dismissed out of hand. It's part of the job. There will be times that too much will be asked of us out of concern to political correctness. It will be our job in those times to listen and reason, not to summarily dismiss claims based on a perception of privilege.
This election is about who we want to be. A nation that relishes in the schadenfreude of reality television on a national stage without reverence to people, research, and facts, or one that respects all of its citizens and acts as though everyone matters.
The thing that makes me the most disheartened, is that this election is perhaps most effectively being fought online with memes. Pictures with text written on it. People are so lazy, they will not type in two or three of the words from that picture to verify its authenticity. However, what’s worse is that when presented with information from multiple cross referenced sources, that information is treated as a media conspiracy. I cannot approach these individuals with facts, they do not understand what they are anymore. A fact to them is something repeated many times amongst their favorite news sources, a zone of comfort they do not like to stray from. Both Democratic and Republican members are guilty of this. I myself have done a fair bit of research on confirmation bias, and I will acknowledge that I experience a fair bit of this at first glance of any article. It is my job as an American to push past that bias and to study the information as best as I possibly can. I do not feel that enough people are doing this. For many this is Red vs Blue.
Don't vote your heart. Don't even vote your conscience. Go to websites like https://www.isidewith.com/ and research candidates by entering your values. Make sure that regardless of what you feel, that you are voting for your interests and the interests of your children. Go to http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/en/propositions/ (for Californians) and read each of the propositions without propaganda telling you to vote for or against. Research your local city council’s measures. It's homework, and at times it’s boring.
I sit here with the shame of not participating in the political process for the majority of my adult life. I had the stunning realization that I complained about the world around me and shunned every opportunity to shape it. A ballot is power and an educated citizen will always make the right choice.
I will be proud of you even if I don't agree with your choices.