Professor Enns and several Rose House residents brought up some important points concerning current discontent with the American government. I have been alarmed by the rate at which President Trump has been issuing executive orders creating dramatic changes, but this type of rapid, drastic change is exactly what the public asked for when it voted him into office. After Barack Obama’s “Change We Can Believe In” never quite materialized, Americans wanted someone who would actually use their executive power to enact tangible changes immediately. One reason for Obama’s failure to produce some of the “change” he promised is the slow bureaucratic processes required of the United States’ federal government. Getting anything done in such a large government takes so much time because it involves many different people with competing agendas. The polarization of the political parties in the United States has only worsened government gridlock.

The fact that increasingly polarized parties have in part contributed to this recent barrage of executive orders has forced me to reflect upon my own political leanings. Have I been ascribing to certain beliefs simply because people who share my views on other unrelated issues hold those beliefs? Recently, I volunteered to usher for All Governments Lie, a political documentary shown at the Cornell Cinema. The film featured a host of reputable journalists and scholars whose views on the mainstream media and President Obama were very different from my own, and whose stances were extremely well researched and supported by their own investigations. Viewing this film made me realize that I should make sure to diversify my political news sources and ensure that I hear many different opinions on the same topic. Hopefully this will help me develop more informed opinions on various political issues, instead of blindly adhering to the position of my party.