Just Remember - These Are Real People and So is That Hatred You're Feeling

This summer I was talking to the nephew of a former premier of a major Canadian province (equivalent to the governor of a state). His uncle had been in the news quite a lot back in the 1980s, even here in the States, and, as a fiscal conservative governing over a recession, he made a number of painful cuts to the budget. He was vilified for his actions.

The premier died a couple of years ago and his mind had started to slip in his last years. Towards the very end of his life, he was re-living the trauma of the attacks on him by the press and political opponents. Of all the great things he accomplished, his power and fame, what shaped his last days was the struggle of his worst days. So powerful were those memories that they slipped from memory into what he was actually experiencing. All over again.

It's worth remembering that these are real people in office or running for it. You don't have to hate them to decide not to vote for them. And it's not just that they are real people. That hate that could so easily consume you is a real emotion.