I’m not going to waste my time contributing to the stack of articles out there waiting to motivate you to vote during the 2018 midterm elections this Tuesday, Nov. 6 because you already know what to do. You’ve seen the ads. You’re grown-ish. You know what’s up. So instead, I’m diving straight into what this article is about which is the topic of virtues. Plus, a list.
But the list can wait because I’m curious. Do you have any? Personal virtues that is?
I’m really confused with some people in my social circles. They seem to be really nice people. They talk to me just fine. We grab lunch and went to haunted house excursions at Bonnie Springs seasonally known as Bonnie Screams. We joke around, talk about our love lives or lack thereof (the typical millennial woes), on occasion we support the local bar with a rum-infused cocktail at the Tiki Room (my hiding place to write and to meet the occasional odd tourist), and overall they get along with everyone just fine with no visible prejudice or bigot signs, but their political views don’t add up.
Please refer to figure 1.2 this guy I once knew. He was funny, friendly as hell, treated everyone nicely, had black and brown friends who he grabbed lunch with, had gay friends who he also grabbed drinks with, but voted for Trump as his president. When I asked him why when his walking life reflected a more progressive ethos, he literally asked if I could drop it because I was confusing him aka I was making him realize that he wasn’t a Republican.
Figure 2.1 is about a friend whose best friend is half Asian and half white, and a vocal liberal who has publicly (on her Facebook wall) endorsed democratic candidates. Her mother is a Chinese immigrant. My friend has slept over this family’s house for years for sleepovers with her best friend yet she too voted for Trump.
Figure 3.5 is a rather close friend of mine who was once a Bernie Sanders stan and recently I found out during an intoxicated chilly Vegas night at the Tiki Room I told you about that she “loves Trump” because “he gets shit done.” When I asked her, respectfully as one civilized person does, after sobering her up with Del Taco why the 360 she answered rather restless as if almost thrown off that I even asked, “I figured if you can’t beat them, join them.”
I’m pretty sure she’s voting blue in the 2018 Nevada midterm election, though, so don’t come for her head just yet.
This entire dance just made me really dizzy and concerned that people literally, without a hint of doubt, are unconscious of their personal virtues and worst are not making decisions based off of them when it’s clear that their actions say who they are and what they truly underneath everyone else’s opinions. Bravery and individualism is not for the faint of heart.
Aristotle said:
“Virtue means doing the right thing, in relation to the right person, at the right time, to the right extent, in the right manner, and for the right purpose. Thus, to give money away is quite a simple task, but for the act to be virtuous, the donor must give to the right person, for the right purpose, in the right amount, in the right manner, and at the right time.”
It got me thinking about how someone’s character is formed and shaped. And if when the moment arises, will their morals seize the day and lead the way to doing the right thing, for the right person(s), at the right time, in the right manner, and for the right purpose? Or, will they be aware of this and take the same defeatist attitude as my friend of “if you can’t beat them, join them?” Can you blame her? It’s exhausting and it’s the type of thing that makes you want to give up.
And because character says more about a person than even a person claims to know about themselves, I started thinking about how we as a society are acting more and more without virtue; the very foundational trait that deems one as conducting oneself and holding oneself to a higher moral standard.
This article is not intended to scare you into voting. This article is also not going to drag other politicians even if the tea is exceptionally good. This article is not a paid editorial either.
Merely see this as your journey to wokedom and the tool you need in order to protect yourself from the foe disguised as a friend who nods at your concerns, smiles in your face, ask for your votes (and money) only to steer to the shitty product you’re about to buy. You know the one. The one that breaks apart after one use (re: no warranty included).
Anyone, anything that acts with such low moral standards and regard for their brethren is the exact opposite (by the study of moral philosophies) of virtue to its conniving sibling known as vice.
More importantly, I leave you with another quote by Aristotle because if you remember what I said earlier, this article is not about pursuing you to vote, or to drag other politicians, and this is most certainty is not a paid editorial (but CARRA is gladly and publicly endorsing the list of Nevada candidates for the 2018 midterm elections that follows). This article, if you also remeber, is about virtues.
“Be a free thinker and don’t accept everything you hear as truth. Be critical and evaluate what you believe in,” said Aristotle.
Question even me. Because liberalism, of all the virtues, despite what you’ve heard by emotional charged rhetoric, is the only school of thought that revolves around the rejection of power politics as the only outcome for international relations; questions security and warfare principles of realism; and supports your freedom of speech, religion, press, civil rights, gender equality, and to act and think independently.
—- Endorsement Section —-
If you don't know where your voting poll is for Tuesday, Nov. 6 and need help with that, Nevada Dems can help.
CARRA proudly endorses the following Nevada state and local candidates for this upcoming 2018 midterm election:
Governor: Steve Sisolak
U.S. Senate: Jacky Rosen
Representative In Congress District 1: Dina Titus
Representative In Congress District 3: Susie Lee
Representative In Congress District 4: Steven Horsford
Secretary of State: Nelson Araujo
Attorney General: Aaron Ford
Governor Lieutenant: Kate Marshall
State Treasurer: Zach Conine
State Controller: Catherine Byrne
District Attorney: Steve Wolfson
County Assessor: Briana Johnson
County Clerk: Lynn Marie Goya
County Recorder: Debbie Conway
County Treasurer: Laura Fitzpatrick
Public Administrator: Robert Telles
Justice of the Supreme Court Seat C: Elissa Cadish
Justice of the Supreme Court Seat F: Abbi Silver
Justice of the Supreme Court Seat G: Lidia Stiglich
District Court Judge Department 10: Tierra Jones
District Court Judge Department 18: Mary Kay Holthus
District Court Judge Department 29: David M. Jones
Trustee Clark County School District G: Linda Cavazos
Justice of the Peace Las Vegas Township Dept. 1: Elana Lee Graham
