In this post, I want to explore two topics:

• Wasting the third party vote
• My impact on the 2020 election

My reasons for becoming a Libertarian are a little out of scope for this article but after spending time on the campaign trail for the 2020 US Senate for the state of North Carolina election, one of the most common statements I heard while meeting people across North Carolina included the following:

• I really want to vote for you, but I don’t want to waste my vote.
• I believe you are the right person for the job BUT I don’t want to waste my vote.
• I would vote for you if you were a Democrat.
• I would vote for you if you were a Republican.
• If you are not a Republican or Democrat, you can’t win. Why wastes your time?

These questions or statements are not crazy. Depending on your experience or where you live; these are quite valid. In truth, ever since the Clinton administration (IMHO), politics have become more like Super Bowl contents as opposed to making informed decisions, people pick their team whether they agree with most of the platform or not. See my previous post on the affects of social media and gun violence and you can probably use the same argument for any number of topics.

So let's get into it .....

I have something I want you to consider. After every mass shooting, people cry out for gun control. For weeks or months, gun control is all you hear and then it goes silent. There are many people who believe that the availability of weapons is why we have mass or school shootings. The thought is that if you take the guns away from everyone, these types of events would not happen. If we just pass a few more gun laws, we will save our children.

There comes a time when we need to find the core of the issues and not just slap band-aids on everything. Everything in our community has become fuel for our cancel culture; if someone does not like it, they want it gone for everyone, but that is a topic for another day. For the sake of this article, let us call the band-aid gun control and let us consider the core of the issue: social media. No doubt you already knew where I was going with this since the title states it clearly but let me make my point and offer you several references so that you can come to your own conclusion. First, I will highlight the growth of social media. Second, I will present data that will show social media links to depression and anxiety. Third, we will discuss the characteristics of people who commit these crimes. And finally, I will offer various approaches that will help mitigate these issues and explain why Congress is unable to address the problems by simply passing a bill.