Hey America, guess what?
It’s election time…Yee-haw!
That’s right, the 2016 presidential election has descended upon us, and I for one, couldn’t be happier to see it come. I’ll be more than happy to see it go, however.
This has been one of the craziest, most insane election cycles that I have ever witnessed in my time here on the Earth. What I find even more insane, are the many people who are so hell-bent on sticking to their political and religious ideologies, that they don’t use any common sense.
Both of these two major political party candidates are flawed and come with a tremendous amount of baggage. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has been plagued with scandals surrounding her emails and many other things. And of course, Clinton has not been an overwhelming fan favorite amongst many Democratic voters, who believe the Democratic Party strong-armed them and rigged the Democratic Primary election in favor of Clinton, and against their candidate of choice, the popular Bernie Sanders.
Then you have Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump. I mean, do I even have to spend any time explaining to any of you, just how bad of a candidate this guy has been. He has single-handedly destroyed the Republican Party as we know it, and quite honestly, the Republican Party leadership has no one else to blame, but themselves for what has happened.
Albert Einstein had a famous quote about the word “insanity.” Einstein said that “insanity” was “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
After listening to many people still profess to vote for Trump, even after witnessing many of his outlandish actions and hearing his incendiary rhetoric, it lets me know that America has a serious problem amongst its people. We have many Americans who have become what I call “political zombies” and they are a danger to the country.
I really believe it’s time for me to kick-off an official nationwide campaign to eradicate “insanity” and deal with these “political zombies” before they destroy others and spread this plague to other unsuspecting and naïve individuals.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a zombie is a “will-less and speechless human that resembles the so-called walking dead.”
Well seeing that one of my favorite television shows on right now is called “The Walking Dead,” I can say that I somewhat understand more of how a TV show mirrors real life. I just caught the season premiere this past Sunday, and it left me numb. One of the things about the show that stands out to me, is the plot, and the fact that you have these walking dead humans (otherwise known as ‘walkers’) who are oblivious to what is really going on in the real world.
The only thing that these ‘walkers’ are focused on is feeding on things that are living. They are immune to other ‘walkers’, and are not interested in attacking or feeding on the other ‘walkers’.
They only want to feed on living things. That is so like what we are experiencing in this country, especially during this 2016 presidential election cycle. You have many ‘walkers’, who are immune to the other ignorant people they congregate with, and the only thing they want to do is spread their hate and evil intentions on other unsuspecting and naïve individuals.
When it comes to getting engaged and involved in the political process, it’s as if many of the Americans voting in this year’s election have come out of hiding and are just merely walking dead; unaware that their actions are hurting those who are alive and fully aware of what is going on in the real world. The world that many of these dangerous individuals operate in is one of selfishness and a lack of total awareness. Sadly, like the TV show, the only way to stop these “political zombies” is the same way that the ‘walkers’ are stopped on the TV show – by penetrating the brain. Yes! Those of us who are alive and awake, must penetrate the brains of those who are walking around brain dead, and ensure they have the right information to make informed decisions about what America’s future looks like.
The Bible says in the Book of Hosea 4: 6 (KJV), “My people perish from a lack of knowledge.”
It amazes me how folks are so easily deceived. Folks believe stuff that is so far from the truth that it makes my head spin. I have been hearing stuff from folks who I thought were extremely intelligent, but the more they have spoken, the more I realize they are just a “political zombie” and walking brain dead.
It saddens me to see how many people are constantly hoodwinked and bamboozled, because they didn’t read or research things for themselves. The majority of people in this country who are married to a political party or religious ideology, are accustomed to being told what to do, where to go and why they should do it. That’s pure laziness, and exactly why our country is in the state it is in right now. Most people rely on TV stations that run on a 24-hour news cycle to get their news and information, and there are some select news outlets that some people are so addicted to, that they treat everything they hear and see as the gospel.
The media can be a powerful tool and manipulative weapon for those who are “political zombies” and are extremely gullible. It is no surprise how the media can shape people’s thoughts, opinions and actions. Political ads, especially in a Presidential election year, help news and media outlets make record profits and help them with sustainability until the next major election. If we are informed and educated, coupled with having a conviction about the things we have learned and what you know, how can anyone sway us from that?
It’s time for us in America to wake up out of our “political zombie” state, and stop taking what anyone else says at simple face-value. Go after knowledge and information for yourself. I want all of us to be educated, equipped and empowered in order to deal with every aspect of politics, and more importantly to educate others who may not be as knowledgeable about things as you are. Remember, as the United Negro College Fund has told us for many years, a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Let’s make sure that we don’t waste ours on being a “political zombie” who walks around aimlessly and unaware of what’s really going on in this world.
Jeffrey L. Boney serves as Associate Editor and is an award-winning journalist for the Houston Forward Times newspaper. Jeffrey has been a frequent contributor on the Nancy Grace Show and Primetime Justice with Ashleigh Banfield. Jeffrey has a national daily radio talk show called Real Talk with Jeffrey L. Boney, and is a dynamic, international speaker, experienced entrepreneur, business development strategist and Founder/CEO of the Texas Business Alliance. If you would like to request Jeffrey as a speaker, you can reach him at jboney1@forwardtimes.com