In a recent article in Time Magazine, entitled “How They Failed Us,” by Michael Grunwuld, the currently non-accepted bail-out plan is discussed as well as the recurring loss of trust in the American government over the past few years. Again and again Grunwuld mentions the many ways in which the promises from certain governmental figures have not been carried out, and the citizens of this country have been forced to throw their trust in our government out the window. His writing truly portrayed the American people choosing to place their future in their own hands rather than trust the “leaders” of our country and their continually broken promises.
While I was reading this article, I couldn’t help but flash back to one of my favorite experiences from the Presidential Debate. While working for NBC during the Presidential Debate here in Oxford, I got to have a little debate of my own with one of the reporters working for NBC. We had just watched the debate on one of the tvs in the media room, and he looked over at me and another boy in my group and began to ask us who we favored in the election. As we were told to remain bipartisan during our internship for the debate, we attempted to continue to do so while we talked to the reporter. He, being an Obama fan, began to give a laundry list of all the reasons why Obama is the man for the job. We then commenced into a heated discussion on issues such as abortion and the current climate crisis. From these discussions, the reporter managed to discover which way we were currently leaning, which would conveniently be the opposite of his views. After he realized this, he concluded our conversation by saying, “I respect your opinions, but it’s your future, not mine.”
This one-liner has stuck with me ever since and really racked my brain. This debate determines so much of our future: our future economic situation, our future safety as a country, our future laws that govern our way of life, and basically our future lives in general. I have never really grasped the full concept of the phrase, “You hold your future in the palm of your hand,” but on the day we vote in this election we truly are making steps in the direction we wish our future to be in.