I think it’s time I brush up on political history. There are a lot of things happening right now in politics that leave me baffled and angry. And as an informed and voting citizen, I’m going to take it upon myself to do a little research. Research on American politics. Candidates. Races. Campaigns. I’ve never been a fan of political books, but this is a perfect time to start.
Do you have any particular political topic you’ve been interested in reading about? I think I’ll mostly concern myself with some history on the two parties at this point.
Johnny Reads 
I read all these in school (https://newrepublic.com/article/116042/looking-backward-my-top-ten-american-history-books), but my fave is still Shirer’s Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which told me a lot about why Mr. Trump is popular. I first read it 30 or so years ago.
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Ooh. An interesting list. I might have to check some of them out if I can find them. But I’m definitely interested in reading about the Third Reich. Not only be cause of what’s happening today, but because I’m sure there’s lots for me to learn.
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Prior races are quickly becoming an interest of mine, as well (and I’m someone who has never once been interested in the political process until this season). While we haven’t seen a race quite like this one in our lifetime, this sort of thing has apparently happened before–perhaps not with the same topics of discussion, but topics equally as divisive at the time. Our threshold for what sets us off as a people has either evolved into topics which are more serious (and, arguably, immediate), or our tolerance for the discussion of ideas concerning such serious topics has taken a massive dive.
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I’ve been interested in the political process since I was maybe 16. 2012 was the first several election I was able to vote in, and I did. I voted in the Texas primary for the first time this year. And I usually try my best to know what’s on the ballot before I get into the voting booth. I’m really concerned with local school bonds and construction things that people may not even be aware of before going to vote, and then either skip it or make a quick decision before moving on to the next item. I don’t want to do that. As for this year’s race, I only know of one that was similar to what we’re seeing now. Teddy Roosevelt divided his party. He ran as a third party candidate and handed the election to Wilson. I’ll have to get some reading done to find other similar races.
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You might want to check out CNN’ s new series “Race For the White House” which is taking a look back at past elections. Last week they focused on Nixon and Kennedy which was very interesting.
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Yep. Already did. I missed the second episode, but I watched the first. There wasn’t too much new information revealed, bit still interesting to watch.
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more people should read a little about politics. I feel sorry for some of the elderly people who watch cable news. I was asked who I would vote for the other day and this poor ol’ lady repeated what she she was told by these news hacks. She said the key words they like to throw around and I knew there was nothing to gain from the conversation.
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I just hope she didn’t say to vote Trump.
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she did 😦
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Well that’s disappointing.
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As others have said, previous races interest me. Previous Presidents especially, that were before our lifetime. I would say if anyone is going to research anything political, they should start with the Constitution. It is the foundation for our nation, and knowing it front to back will really help you outsmart politicians as soon as they open their mouths.
I find the policies of Europe and other “Western” countries somewhat fascinating to research as well. I don’t agree with some of them, and research often solidifies, with real reasons beyond my own worldview, why they wouldn’t work in America. But then you have things like Instant Runoff Voting, which could be cool to do here…except you’d have to change the Constitution in order to do it. For something like that, I wouldn’t personally mind a new Amendment, but at least one should be aware when policies don’t already jive with our laws.
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You are absolutely right. That would be the perfect place to start. I also have read just a little about other policies (mostly western European) that people argue about implementing them over here. Yesterday during my lunch break I was able to have a good 45 minute discussion about things like that. Though we mostly focused on Mexico. But I’ve had discussions with people about other policies that seem to work elsewhere that aren’t implemented here. It’s always a good discussion. But I think I’ll see if we have any copies of the Constitution so I can read it through for the first time in forever.
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