Simplistic Politics is for Simpletons
Here's what I mean by that. It often seems that many people form their general political positions based on one or two issues that directly affect them. Each of us has limited exposure to the vast array of political decisions that are made each year. Or so we often think.
The reality is that our society is vastly more complex than most of us realize, unless we take the time to examine it beyond our own connection to it. Each of us has only a few aspects of the society overall that have a direct impact on our lives. For example, if you're a college student pursuing a degree, concerns over your next exam period and your growing student loan debt may seem to be the most important things in the world. Someone else, however, may not be concerned with those things at all. For another person, the risk of the corporation for which they work deciding to lay off employees after being absorbed by another corporation may be the featured worry.
And so it goes. Medical costs, low-paying employment or even a broken refrigerator may be the chief issues at any given time for anyone. And yet, in each case, those issues are only a tiny fraction of the issues the people we elect must decide on while in office.
For others, larger global issues may take a prominent position in their minds. Climate change, overpopulation, international trade agreements, the growing ineffectiveness of antibiotics or war in remote places might be their primary issues.
They're all important issues. How important they are to an individual voter, though, is a personal matter. We all see the world through a very narrow, very dirty window. It's pretty much impossible to stand far enough back to look at everything at once. Impossible, really. So, what do we do about politics?
I use history as my guide. In general, in my 71 years, I've observed that things seem to go better when Democrats are in power. Which Democrats? It doesn't really seem to make that much difference. It's a matter of general philosophy about issues and decisions. It's not so much about details as a broad perspective. When Republicans are in power, the reverse appears to be true, it seems to me.
It's 2016. We're about to elect another group of people to office. They'll make myriad decisions about a bewildering list of things that need to be decided. I want Democrats making those decisions. I get to vote for a President, one House member for my district and a couple of state legislators, along with a few local officials. I don't get to choose who the candidates for those offices will be on an individual basis, although I do participate in local politics. I do get to vote.
I'm a simpleton, I guess. I will vote for the Democrat for each of those offices. My real-world politics are simplistic. Since we do better, generally, with Democrats in power, I vote for them. I might not agree with each of them on every individual issue that affects me, but I agree with the principle that we do better with Democrats in power.
So, I vote for Democrats. I encourage others to vote for Democrats. It's what I can do. It's what I will do. When Democrats win majorities in legislatures, better things happen than when Republicans do. When we have Democratic Presidents and Governors, things seem to end up better, too, in general and over time.
Please vote for every Democrat on your ballot in November. Help us all do better. It won't be perfect, but it will help.
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proud to be a Californian - especially in 2010 when the country went insane and allowed Republicans to sweep into power even the most progressive States - with only California and another State (can't remember which one) sweeping in Democrats and giving them the majorities in our Assembly and Senate. That's when things turned around and we paid off a $42B deficit, ending with an $11B surplus today. 
