(This is a copy of an email response to a conservative/Republican/religious family member who sent me an article by Thomas Sowell denouncing Obama.)

There’s no way to convince you or you to convince me that one is right over the other. I like Barack Obama, can’t stand your guy (or your guy before him). It’s a very visceral thing, almost to the point I despise them, and will be hard pressed to change that because it’s a natural reaction to the fact that I don’t like the way they act, conduct themselves, or the things they believe in. The important thing to me is that I came to this decision on my own, and I have no forces influencing me to feel this way. Of course I reserve the right to change my opinion, but I can’t imagine what would cause me to do so at this point.

Such is politics, and it’s why the system is broken. When you have a wealth divide, when you have religious morals intermingled with law, when you have an electoral method and governmental structure that encourages people to achieve and stay in office at any cost, you have natural corruptors that prevent governing a nation of millions of unique individuals in any meaningful fashion.

Such is the way it has been since recorded time began, and it’s likely to stay the same way until someone figures out a better option. The only way to change things is to gain momentum and effect change; if you’re wrong, you’re wrong, but if you never try, you’ll never have a chance to succeed. What is being offered here is a very literal comparison between a group of people who think things are fine, and don’t want them altered, and a group of people who think that to change is the only way that things will improve. Someone who is happy with the state of things will trend to the former, and someone who is not will trend to the latter. It’s such a fundamental divide that it’s no surprise there’s almost a 50/50 split.

It’s times like these you do need a “rock star”…. The government isn’t made of one man, it’s made of lots of people that, by and large, are thoughtful, caring, intelligent people that want to do the right thing for the country and the world. But if you don’t have someone that has the affections of the people, and someone that can gather throngs in his favor to lead on initiatives of immediacy and change, then what good is the toil of the working government?

No matter how “well” the other side can argue that things are going, I think any reasonable person would be hard pressed to argue that we have achieved a new utopia; to pursue an existence that does other than strive for that end goal represents a failure in leader ship to me.

But that’s just how I feel.