RED or BLUE?

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Tree of Life

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As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace, and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect.

    I moved from the U. K. when I was 18 years old. At this age just barely stepping in to what was known as a young adult, and also acquiring the percieved privileges that arrive with this life milestone. One of which, is the ability to vote. I remember my parents going to the voting station to vote, but as for me I never got the chance to participate in British democracy, and even now with my immigrant status in Canada of 20 / 21 years.  Whilst of course one should be aware of the surroundings, and what is happening at the political level, again I have not had the chance to participate in the act of voting. So to sum up you can simply say that I have never voted, not once ever in all the years that I have been eligible to vote. However, this does not mean to say that I'm not conscious, or aware of what takes place within politics. Part or if not most of the work involved in education, whatever subject that is desired, the higher the level, the more you realize the influence of politics, and how politics and Government influences activity at the national and international level. And also how major events affect academic participation, and thought. 

     This is exactly what I thought with regards to the recent mass shooting in Pittsburgh, USA; that happened whilst the baseball World Series final games were taking place. I thought about the team colours of red and blue, and how these colours also convey meaning at the political level. 

     We can also think about the terms used as red states for Republican, and blue states for democratic. So while baseball is a sport, I think there could have been political influence of support, and support at the political level. Of course we did see the President swaying in his thoughts via twitter, but it is this idea of colour and the preference of colour that could also intersect with political support. Of course this is an assumption / opinion, but the intersection of the mass shootings, or terrorism occurring within a nation allows us to contemplate. Whilst the game of baseball is also tied to a particular state, at the level of politics we can think, question, and wonder about the influence or meanings associated with the colour red or blue.

Should politics be entrenched to enforce and reinforce dichotomies? Where there should be no immersion of opinion or thought. 

     We can take the example of the border wall. While of course we know that there must be effective solutions for illegal immigrants, drugs, cartels crossing over the border, or gang members. Solutions such as immigration reform. The political vote or passing of any type of immigration reform is halted by President Trump, because he is also asking for the funding of the border wall. So whilst one does desire to identify with a particular political affiliation, we can see the consequence of the inability to work with one another. Each party creates back and forth exchanges, where there is no room for creating negotiation.

Recommendations:
Below I have created 2 diagrams.
*Figure 1. reveals the current back and forth exchanges between Republican, and Democratic parties.
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​*Figure 2. reveals an ideal scenario, where each political party is willing to walk towards a space of negotiating with one another, where space is created for negotiation. 

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Personal Note:
So whilst I have never voted in my entire life, I think about my involvement in politics, political thought, and opinion. While there is no formal vote, it is difficult to think about current events, or the process of my own learning, without the involvement of politics, or political thought. Today I decided to wear red and blue to illustrate the idea of negotiation between political parties.

Congratulations!!
So whilst we congratulate the Boston Red Sox with the title of the 2018 MLB World Series championships, lets hope that this win is embraced as a win, and is not a source to create further divisions and tension. Lets keep the spirt of sports and sportsman/woman-ship alive!! 

My thoughts to share with love & kindness! :) 

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand written on October 29th, 2018.
Image 1 - Web Link
​Image 2 - Web Link
Image 3 - Personal Creation
Image 4 - Personal Creation
Image 5 - Personal Photograph
​Image 6 - Web Link