….. in the upcoming election?

A Citizen Tom blog post titled, What if Hillary Clinton Won the election in 2016, resulted in 116 comments to date. Reading through the comments, I wondered if it is wise to ask a “what if” question about what happened in the past, and what could happen in the future.

Purpose of This Post

To explain why voters should understand the consequences of their votes rather than judge the candidates.

However, before I provide this information.  believe we need to consider the wisdom of King Solomon and modern psychology beliefs about people who look back into the past or portend to know the future.

King Solomon

Ecclesiastes 7:10
For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come? (Ecclesiastes 8:7 NIV) 

The Genius Of Asking ‘What If?’ Questions

“What if?” questions force us to imagine or create, often calling forth strong emotions.(Source HERE)

How to Think Like a Wise Person

  1. Aim to understand, rather than judge. By default, many of us operate like jurors, passing judgment on the actions of others so that we can sort them into categories of good and bad. Wise people resist this impulse, operating more like detectives whose goal is to explain other people’s behaviors. As psychologist Ellen Langer is fond of saying, “Behavior makes sense from the actors’ perspective, or else they wouldn’t do it.” Over time, this emphasis on understanding rather than evaluating yields an advantage in predicting others’ actions, enabling wise people to offer better advice to others and make better choices themselves.(Source HERE)

What’s My Point?

Two Chicago Tribune editorials give advice and reasons why voters should vote Republican in this election, “even if you loathe President Trump, and This Election and Jobs.” (Source Links Below)

Sadly though, many voters will go into the booths this election and vote for various reasons or judgments based on passions or emotions.  Some will vote because of job affiliations, ethnic name recognition on signs or TV paid advertisements which are ad hominem accusations against opponents.

In this election, should we instead “think wise” and consider the possibilities of the outcome of what we “wish for” and the “what ifs” consequences if your candidate wins the election for reasons explained in the answer to the following question.

What does the phrase “be careful what you wish for, it might just come true” mean?

Justin Schwartz, , Lawyer, ex-law professor and -philosophy professor, the refugee from BigLaw, independent scholar, idiosyncratic…

It’s a variation on the old Yiddish curse, May you get what you wish for. The idea is graphically illustrated in WW Jacob’s famous short horror story, The Monkey’s Paw, in which a family whose son has been killed in a work accident wishes for him to come home, and deeply regrets it when he does, because they have failed to specify what condition, alive or dead.

It’s also a theme in various stories about compacts with the devil, who grant your wish, but not exactly the way you want it, because you failed to specify all the conditions. Thus, in the remake of Bedazzled, the main character wishes to be rich and have a beautiful wife. And he wakes up as a powerful narco-traffic ante in Latin America whose rivals are trying to kill him and married to a beautiful woman who hates him.

The idea is that you may not have thought through the consequences of having your wish come true, which may be not so good as you thought.” ( Source HERE)

In My Opinion

We need to understand what the candidates stand for and their proposals of how they will govern on specific issues of interest to you and your communities. Also the consequences of their winning rather than voting for them based on advertisements, style, ethnicity, love or hatred, etc. etc.

You Decide

Do you understand what your candidate proposes to do if elected,

Are you going to vote on understanding or judging the issues?

Are you making judgments based on issues or personalities?

Have you thought through the consequences of having your wish come true, which may be not so good as you thought?

Regards and good will blogging.

 Source Links

Citizen Tom


Chicago Tribune