Of all the things that humans have created since the beginning of the industrial age, the least beneficial has turned out to be Social Media.  It didn’t have to turn out that way but unfortunately it has.  Now there are those who would argue that social media has given a voice to the voiceless.  To that I would say, nonsense.  What the voiceless need is education and job opportunities, not a platform for giving uninformed, uneducated and often hateful opinions.  Useless rhetoric is just that.  It means nothing and serves no purpose other than to make those who are upset with the current state of affairs, and their own lives, feel better.  It’s also another way that those who would be industrious regardless of social media, create more wealth.  To everyone else, it’s a sounding board.  Does anyone really care about other people’s opinions unless they can show some measure of why they deserve a platform?  Although I dislike motivational speakers intensely, (just a money-making venture for people who speak well in public), I can understand why, people who are searching, would listen to them, assuming they have the credentials.  But it’s important to recognize that at the end of the day, its only about the money.  It’s always about the money.

Let’s examine this silly push for Amendment 25.  It’s never going to happen and it’s a waste of time, but it makes everyone who can’t accept the current president and his shenanigans feel better.  Who cares if it’s trending?  Only the person who coined the phrase.  What people should be focusing on are the 2018 and 2020 elections.   Even if Donald Trump was to be impeached, VP Mike Pence is even more conservative, a true conservative.  And behind him, on double-deck, is equally conservative Rex Tillerson.  So those on the left who spend the better part of their day tweeting and crying, ranting and raving about this President better wake up and understand that for them, it could get a lot worse if they fail to put on their big boy pants and start figuring out a strategy for how to win back the minds and hearts of those who cost them the election in the first place.

Social media should be about free-flowing ideas, suggestions and challenges, not a platform for bullying. However that is exactly what it has become and on both sides of the political spectrum.  Neither side is completely right and neither side is completely wrong.  But of course each side believes it is completely right.  The last thing anyone should want is to censor legitimate and cogent arguments and discussions but unfortunately there are fewer and fewer of those.  Both sides of the discourse need to learn how to put their emotions on the back burner so that real dialogue can take place.  This is the same problem with the United States Congress, which has caused that body to get very little bi-partisan legislation passed in recent years.  Unless we learn to speak to each other and not at each other, this very real problem will only deteriorate further.  Social media didn’t create this, but it has helped to weaken what was already a crumbling foundation.  Unless this changes, the phrase” one nation” may simply be two meaningless words in a very meaningful pledge.