The Lack of Decency in Leadership

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Let’s demand more from our leaders. It makes little sense that we allow a bunch of people to be in charge of our country, who behave more like little children in desperate need of discipline, than like the responsible leaders they were elected to be. This concept shouldn’t be a radical one.

It became incredibly obvious to me how silly things have gotten in this country after having children. I began to notice that I’m constantly reminding my children to be polite to each other, to respect each other, and to practice sharing. They aren’t allowed to bully each other (or others), they aren’t allowed to name call, they aren’t allowed to lie, steal, or hurt. If they do something wrong, they are taught to take responsibility and apologise. They are taught to cooperate and work together. If they have a disagreement, they are encouraged to work out a compromise themselves. If they refuse or are unable to reach a compromise, both sides end up losing, which has ensured that they really attempt to find a compromise. They also understand that they are each different but no less important than each other and that they can use that to their advantage.  If one is better at something than another, then that one can help teach the other, or they can combine their skills together to more easily accomplish their goal. They know that when they work together they are more likely to get things (like chores) done than when they waste time arguing about it. All of these are lessons that most parents, guardians, caregivers, even teachers are eager for children to learn. Nothing about this is radical.

So if these are all concepts that we try to teach our children in order for them to grow into decent human beings, than why do we expect less from the people we elect as our leaders in this country? The goal for all politicians regardless of political affiliation should be the ability to respectfully work with others to find compromises that benefit the entire country. The name calling and threats, the refusal to compromise, the constant obstruction, it’s all so childish and unnecessary. It makes the actual work so much harder and wastes so much valuable time that could be spent figuring out other amazing things! Gosh, just imagine what other innovations we could have had by now if it wasn’t a constant battle just to get the littlest of things done. Not to mention it would also just be nice to live in a world where people were genuinely respectful of others even if they have completely different opinions. It’s that world that I still hope will be a reality one day. And in the meantime I’ll continue teaching my children how to be decent human beings because regardless, that is what we should all strive to be.