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I don't mind talking about politics with people usually. I'm pretty open with some people about who I plan to and have voted for and I don't feel shame in it at all. Politics are a topic that a lot of people feel they have to approach with care, and that's true. Often politics tie into how we feel about and treat certain people and what we believe to be valuable to the country. 

And just because you and a person identify as the same group -- republican, democrat, or other -- that doesn't guarantee that you have the exact same views about everything. And I am not super fond of labeling myself as one or the other. I feel like the republican party or the democratic party of 1984 is so very different than the parties of today. They are constantly changing, just like mine and your views are.

But I do want to make this declaration about the upcoming 2016 election: you should not vote for Donald Trump. It's not about disliking Donald Trump; it's about understanding that he is using fear tactics in order to gain votes. He does not believe in the equal rights of women. He dislikes all immigrants, people who still believe America to be a land of dreams. Do you know how ISIS is gaining new members? By going home to home and showing people that Americans, supporters of Donald Trump and Trump himself, hate Middle Eastern people and Muslims so much that they wish to ban them from the country. Donald Trump, inadvertently or not, is supporting ISIS in a roundabout way. 

I implore you to look at all candidates, republican and democrat. Educate yourself on the state of our nation. Know that you are not required to feel the same as your parents about all of these issues. Understand that the future of our country does, in a way, rest on your shoulders. Vote responsibly.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting." // Franklin D. Roosevelt