The world today seems absolutely crackers.

If you get this reference, will you be my forever friend? And comment to prove you get the reference, because even forever friends must be accountable.

Have you noticed how people are losing their minds these days about nearly everything? Especially politics? No yeah, it’s happening a lot. Especially on Twitter and Facebook.

Well I’m here to fix it.

First, on political parties.

Guys, the only reason to join a political party is so you can vote in primaries and have your voice heard. This is a temporary state, my friends. Leave the political party immediately thereafter. (Leave all parties immediately and find a good book is actually generally good advice.) Once you find yourself identifying with a party, not people, you’re putting yourself in a dangerous place. And once you start seeing your fellow humans in other political parties as your enemy- simply because they’re in an opposing party (not like Candace’s party on the north end of the cul-de-sac versus Rhonda’s party on the west end. Those were just awesome.)- you are instantly part of the problem.

I mean think about it. Do you agree with one single political party on everything in their platform? If you do..

Are you for reals? Like, for reals reals?

You probably don’t. So don’t affiliate with the party- affiliate with people. Because everyone’s on the same team.

Second- everyone’s on the same team. We HAVE to shove and glue this positivity-attracting attitude into our head. Even though there is a wide variety of political opinion and philosophy– we’re all on the same team. This is because, unless we’re evil, we all want things to get better. We want our families and friends to be free and capable of improving their lives and setting their future generations on the path to happiness.

If you’re evil, please note. Liam Neeson is very scary:

So let’s remember this, okay? If we all just adopt the attitude that we’re all on the same team, we would fix things within a generation, without needing to wait for a big, clunky government to come along and do it for us.

Third, the big clunky government isn’t going to do it for us. To be sure, there are some very needful programs being run by the government (federal and state) to keep people fed and clothed and housed. Plenty of needy people out there. And honestly, some governmental programs have been helpful for needy folks, despite those programs’ massive overspending and unbelievable corruption. And that right there is why the government won’t fix it for us! The government is a thing that wants to always exist, but these programs’ jobs, really, is to work themselves *out* of a job. That’s never going to happen for lots of complex reasons.

So let’s do it ourselves. Let’s be a community. Let’s be good neighbors. Let’s use this wonderful technology we have to make strong connections and watch out for each other. Let’s stop thinking we should do things like disconnect from the internet (honestly, why would we do such a thing?) and instead use the internet as a tool for connection, accountability, and more. Our neighbors and community need this of us. We owe it to them. Frankly, we also owe it to ourselves. Being a good person and considering others is a question of becoming a better individual.

And that’s fourth and last. This life is about becoming better individuals, and the best way to do that is to help other people. But remember it’s about becoming better individuals. Each time we choose to make the world a darker place by speaking angrily to others, or overlooking people, or being obstinate, or not considering the feelings and lives and experiences and needs of those around us– we make ourselves a little uglier. But each time we choose to lift hands that hang low and sit with those who need comfort and companionship and love, and each time we make an effort and inconvenience ourselves for others for reasons both big and small– we bring more light into ourselves and the world around us through increased happiness in others.

I think we would all like to bring more light and happiness into our lives and others’ too. It’s not hard. We say yes to big and small opportunities to help. Guys, even a smile is helping. Even complaining in a civil way is helping. Even a nice ‘good morning’ and not flipping off the person tailgating us is helping.

So to fix it, we start with us. We see each day as a chance to win a bunch of choices and moments.

There, I fixed it.