The Idealistic Voter

Upon waking up this morning, I realize a new dawn has come over America. I also realize that the dawn which gives way to the day will eventually end in darkness.

I'm not morbid. I'm realistic as opposed to idealistic.

I've watched and read stories about the ground swell of youth who supported Obama. Good for them to believe in something. However, the idealistic views of youth are usually more liberal in nature. They have yet to experience life and don't have a full grasp of all the gray areas in life.

While it sounds great to say "We'll change the world," it's quite another to do it. It's quite possible the changes won't correlate with idealistic views of the young voters. Who will they blame? Will they be able to sit back and analyze what went wrong? Will they realize they were seduced?

Idealism in its base form is the view of how things ought to be, rather than how they are. Sure, some of the idealistic thoughts of the president elect are catchy. But where is the reality? How much can one man really do? Do you really think he can only raise taxes on those who make whatever his magic number really is? It keeps changing and it just keeps getting smaller. Hence, all our taxes will most likely be raised.

Over the last few days, many of my friends have commented that the many young supporters of Obama haven't lived enough to make an informed decision. Did they make an informed decision or were they just going against the voice of reason that experience usually brings?

We, as parents, must celebrate the idealism of youth. However, we should also be able to teach our youth about life. We should teach our youth about family values. We should make sure our youth earn the privileges given them.

Wait. I just made some idealistic statements. Hmm. Guess I'm realistic to know that there are some idealistic hangovers from my youth.