I keep hearing that certain Democratic members of Congress are boycotting Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech tonight, but they’re way behind me. I’ve been boycotting all presidential speeches for a couple of decades now — no matter who’s president.
I strongly recommend you turn your television off tonight and do something that matters. Find something productive to do. Call someone you love and connect with him or her. Go right on with your life as though the spectacle of hatred in Washington, D.C., doesn’t exist.
Nothing that’s said there will matter. None of the praise or vitriol in the social media commentary will help you. There is absolutely nothing you can do about the insane partisan fighting there.
So I urge you to get on with your life and remind yourself what it’s like to live outside of that bubble of political hatred.
When I was younger, I never missed any presidential speech. As a child, I thought there was nobody more important than a U.S. president. I thought every informed person should watch and have opinions about what was said. I carried that notion with me into my early adult life.
And then I realized how much time and mental energy I was wasting. Slowly — over a long period of time — I broke myself of this insane habit of paying attention to these monsters. I’m a lot more peaceful and happy since I ignore them today. If you could ever understand how little effect you can have on them, I suspect you would find the same to be true for yourself.
We are brainwashed by our education system to believe responsible people express their views and change their world through electoral politics. This is a lie. The partisan political system is about nothing more than determining which violent mob will seize enough power to force its will on everybody.
You have a natural right to live your life as you please. You have a natural right to keep the money you earn and to spend it as you please. The more you get sucked in to the partisan political system, the more you believe the lie that one side or the other has a moral right to impose its will on you — to make up rules for you to follow and to spend your money as they see fit.
Partisan politics is based on hatred. You might not realize it, but most people hate their political enemies far more than they admire the people they claim to love and support. Most people vote and pursue political activity to avoid the people they hate having power over them.
Isn’t it time to accept that this is a morally bankrupt idea?
Until enough people reject the politicians, they’re going to keep forcing their will on us. It is immoral to be part of that system — in any way — in the meantime.
You can’t stop them from doing what they’re going to do. You can’t make a difference in whether they steal from you or not. Any time you invest in their political cesspool is time you are taking away from the people you love and from the life you claim to care about.
Ignore Donald Trump’s speech tonight. Ignore what pundits say about it. Spend your time focusing on things that matter to you. And if you honestly think the political system matters to you, I strongly suggest you rethink your priorities.
Ignore Trump — and ignore the next president and the one after him. And the one after him.
Invest your time and energy in people and places where you can have a positive impact. Choose to love those who need and deserve your love instead of wasting your emotional energy on political hatred. You will be a happier and healthier person.