Politics won’t mend our world, but mending ourselves has power

As the November elections get closer, I feel as though I’m living in a place waiting to get slammed by a destructive hurricane.

Anxious and angry people all around me are preparing for the onslaught of pent-up political energy. Most people fall into one of two camps. Those in one group are eager to stick it to a politician they hate. Those of the other group hate that first group.

All of them are completely sure that the bigger evil is on the other side.

I’m one of the few who is only mildly interested in the approaching hurricane — because I know it won’t matter which side wins. Not in the long run.

I say this as a political expert, but not the kind of “expert” who gets quoted on television or in newspaper stories. It’s true that I worked for 20 years as a political consultant, so I could give you a pretty realistic analysis of what’s going to happen in the congressional elections in about six weeks.

But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m not going to tell you who’s going to win or how it’s going to affect U.S. politics between now and the 2028 presidential campaign. I’m going to predict something far more certain.

Nothing that happens in the November elections will fix the world around us, no matter what happens.

I can tell you with certainty that our lives will be changed immeasurably more by the decisions we make about ourselves than by the number of congressional seats each party wins.

Every time a presidential election or a mid-term election rolls around, we hear someone tell us that this is the most important election of our lifetimes. Some of them say this just to get you involved on their side; some of them say it because they’re delusional and haven’t paid attention to what really happens as the elections roll past.

Let me tell you what’s going to happen.

The U.S. government debt will keep growing no matter who wins. Some people will talk about “paying off the debt,” but nobody means it. Everybody who can do math knows that isn’t possible. So the people in power will push the problem into the future and the people out of power will scream about how they would fix the debt.

The U.S. government is going to keep getting bigger. It doesn’t matter which party wins. One party will talk a lot about shrinking the size of government, but it won’t do that, even if it wins. Both parties will talk about efficient and effective government, but nothing will get better.

Your money will buy less every year, no matter who wins. Inflation of the money supply by the Federal Reserve will shrink your buying power. Government spending will make it worse. More of your tax revenue will go toward interest on the debt. The bottom line is that the money in your pocket will buy less and less — no matter who wins.

The U.S. government is going to keep killing people around the world — in your name — who you have no quarrel with. It doesn’t matter which party is in power. Both are going to find excuses to kill people who the people in power don’t like. This is going to continue to create new enemies to hate you and me. This vicious cycle will continue — no matter who wins.

Your rights will continue to shrink. Politicians and bureaucrats will continue to grab more power. Courts will find more and more reasons to justify those power grabs, despite those things being completely unconstitutional by the plain language of the document the politicians swear to uphold.

A few things will change, but the balance of power between the parties will ebb and flow. One side will pass a bunch of legislation that we’re told will fix everything.

Then the other side will gain enough power to pass a bunch of legislation for the opposite things and claim their changes will fix everything.

Neither side’s changes will fix things. The ugly downward spiral will continue.

Since the political hurricanes and tornadoes every two years don’t fix things, why do you care so much about them? I used to care — quite a bit — so I understand. But it’s ultimately a massive power game.

And it’s a game you and I are never going to win. Never.

They are fighting over who gets to control the machinery of power and control. Wiser people are asking what sort of human beings we should become.

The only thing that’s ultimately going to change your life is changing yourself. The things that matter are about fixing yourself — and about interacting with the world in different ways — not the party labels of men and women in Washington.

Changing your heart can change everything for you.

Changing the way you treat other people can make far more difference than you realize.

Improving your mind and elevating your character in fundamental ways will change your understanding of the world and change the way you see yourself.

Stop paying attention to politics. It’s a sideshow that you can’t control. It’s likely to keep your angry and feeling hateful about other people. It’s likely a stumbling block for your ability to love your enemies.

I can assure you — without fear of contradiction — that nothing in our world is going to be fixed because one party or the other wins an election.

I can also assure you that the decisions you make about your own values and your own character and your own actions will change the world around you.