Do social issues matter in politics anymore?

Sean W. Cooper | Contributing Writer | @moviefreakblog

When we discuss politics we face two sad realities. One, all of us are in a quandary as we decide whom to vote for on Nov. 8. We essentially have to choose whether we would rather face death by poison or death by stabbing, and then we have to make the even more difficult choice of determining which candidate is poison and which candidate is stabbing.

The other sad reality is one that is discussed far less, but I would like to do everything that I can to bring it into political conversation. The sad reality that we face is when deciding which party we align with or which candidate we choose to vote for, we still place great importance on social issues.

Let me say two words that you will only hear more often in an improving, developing political world: Who cares?

Allow me to give an example of what I mean by that. You have probably asked yourself at one point or another, “Am I pro-life or am I pro-choice?” I ask you to pose another question to yourself, and that is, “Does it matter if I am pro-life or pro-choice?”

The answer is no, it does not. The Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade nearly 44 years ago, just two days after Richard Nixon’s re-inauguration. In other words, we have spent the last 44 trips around the sun debating whether abortion should be legal or not, when it is already legal.

Christians and conservatives have argued a moral objection to abortions, and that is fine. But moral objection should not always mean legal action. Everybody’s morals are different, from person to person and from generation to generation. These moral objections are warranted, but at the end of the day they should be fine as long as they are not the ones who are receiving an abortion.

Another example of a social issue that should not matter at all is same-sex marriage. Speaking as a mostly conservative Republican, I find it difficult to comprehend how the Republican Party can claim to favor personal liberty when its social policies often attempt to force every American to conform to its vision of morality.

Passing legislation to try and limit one person’s ability to marry the person he or she loves is a waste of time and space, particularly when legal marriage for all has been the law of the land for more than two years.

I now reiterate that no one is required to agree with gay marriage, but to pass laws to force every American onto a single bandwagon is damaging to personal freedom. You do not have to be gay, you do not have to marry someone of your gender, you do not have to associate with gay people, and quite frankly, you do not have to accept that they exist if you prefer — but you have no right to keep any human from marrying the person he or she loves.

Sometimes inaction is not the best course of action, though, and that becomes especially true in a discussion of the role of drug abuse in politics and criminal law. Unlike abortions and gay marriage, drug use is not 100 percent legal. The Drug Enforcement Administration has categorized all known drugs into five different “schedules” and allowed the government, whether at the federal level or at the state level, to determine what penalties to inflict for each schedule.

What we fail to realize here in America is that drug addiction is a disease, not a crime, and yet we treat it as the opposite. A small issue in the ‘War on Drugs’ is the fact that we should not be prosecuting first-time drug users. If a young person snorts powder cocaine at a party, he or she has not affected anyone and he or she should not be charged for committing a crime.

But if that same young person continually uses powder cocaine, he or she begins to rely on it and has begun to affect him or herself. Under the current system, the person, if caught, will be arrested and brought up on charges, and frankly, spending time in jail will not make them any less reliant on drugs; if anything, it will cause them to become more reliant on the drugs. Under an ideal system, that person would be treated for their addiction and allowed to return to a normal life free of drugs.

These are the things we should consider when we register to vote and when we go out and vote. First, we should ask ourselves how many social policies truly matter to us? Do we even care if abortion is legal, if gay marriage is legal or if drug addicts are receiving treatment?

Then we must ask ourselves, “How do we change this?” Should we choose legislators who shape policy based on what fits our personal beliefs, or based on what benefits a more peaceful and happy society?

Ideally, we would choose the latter.