American Voters: Biggest Losers

There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.

Letter to Jonathan Jackson (2 October 1780), "The Works of John Adams", vol 9, p. 511

We were friggin' warned about the two party system. And we've ignored the admonition for so long, look at the election it has wrought us.

This Anti-Media.org article from JP Sottile has it nailed in the title: "2016: The Final Season of the United States Reality Show." The article goes on to compare what we are living in as the "Jumping of the Shark" in the show.

Sadly, the truth is there and the reality to show for it: a LITERAL reality show candidate versus a woman who by most accounts has done literally almost ANY thing to be president. It's like selecting a president via Fear Factor.

I have a teenager who just turned voting age in time for this election. Guess what she is going to do (probably): NOT VOTE. And can anyone blame her.

The reason I got the gumption to write this post is because Louis CK, who I normally enjoy, took to late night TV to suggest that those that don't vote are just @-holes.

Dude, clearly you have your preference, but for the rest of us that see that you have two candidates who just kinda stink- this is not an election to berate someone for ONLY seeing two evils.

There are nearly 9 million new voters in that ball park age of my daughter who have to look at the circus this last election has turned into and wonder- "why is voting such a big deal?" They definitely do care more about who is going to win some REALITY show contest much more than this crap-shoot.

But this comes back to a two party system that is more durable than a roach and as insidious as our Founding Fathers imagined. It is the enemy of true democracy. You are seeing more and more talk about two parties killing democracy in the United States.

When are or HOW can we do something about it when it is like a Terminator-esque Hydra that just keeps coming back every 2, 4, and 6 years?

Check out my appearance on the The Toddcast Podcast

Click and watch the podcast recording of my appearance on the Toddcast Podcast Such a fun time!

New Life

It's weird, sad and slightly freeing. I've been headed towards a completely different life for a lot longer than I even knew. It took me a while to catch up to realize it was happening. Thankfully, I was cognizant enough to see it finally and mostly ready for it. It's amazing when you have the rug completely pulled out from underneath you. The adjustments are jarring. I made mistakes, but like most I learned from them, adapted, and tried my best to do better. The reason you see that truck next to a storage place? That's the sum of my life right now. Never take for granted that you will work hard for something or someone, and it will end up meaning very little. You are guaranteed nothing, owed nothing, promised nothing. Anything and everything can be taken away in a heartbeat. I wrote this to my kids a while back: I tried to be the best father I could be based on what I knew when I knew it and how I could. One of the lessons for your life needs to be: you need to b

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Most folk who know me, know I lost my father when I was 14 years old. However, before he passed, he shared a timeless secret with me—a practice that would shape my life in ways I could never have imagined. He didn't teach me meditation in the traditional sense, with incense and crossed legs. Instead, he showed me how to meditate by gazing at a lone light on the ceiling. When I was very young, I had night terrors that would wake me in the middle of the night. I'm sure it was terribly frustrating to calm a child from that. But my father had the way. I never understood how he came to the practice. But over the years, I've come to understand that my father's unique approach to meditation was, in fact, a profound lesson in mindfulness and presence. In a nearly pitch black room, he would tell me to find a speck of light, not unlike a star. Then focus. He would say, "Just watch the light, like you're watching a story unfold. Be the observer, not the thinker." I

Todd Lyden

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