Consider The Tradeoffs Before Voting

When I taught intro to technology classes at a local college, the first concept I would teach the kids was the word 'tradeoff.' The word means that with each set of benefits a proposal promises, there are costs that will be incurred and downsides to experience. The example I gave was that of a sports car I bought one time. The price of the sports car was very reasonable and it was fun to drive. But unknown to me when I bought the car was that the tires for the car lasted around 25k miles and cost much more than the tires I had to buy for my other cars. No one told me that was going to happen. And since, because of work, I was driving close to 25k miles a year, that meant that I had to pay a lot of money just to keep tires on my car.

The word 'tradeoff' is not just applicable to technology, it is an important word in many areas of life. And during this election year, the meaning of the word becomes a survival skill in determining who to vote for. 

 We don't have a good array of Presidential candidates to choose from. In one corner, we have the reigning champion who promises a return to a good economy and a return of America's greatness. In the other corner, we have the challenger who promises to restore America to what it was during the Obama Presidency. And for all of the promises made by each candidate, there are costs to be incurred and negatives to experience. For example, some of the costs of returning back to the height of the Trump economy before the pandemic includes out of control deficit spending, the release of more greenhouse gases into the air, and the release of more pollution, some of it toxic, into our air and waterways. Those are just some of the costs from having the economy Trump was so proud of.

 And what about Biden? What will be the costs of his healthcare plan? Will it contain the same weaknesses that Obamacare had? What will be the cost of not increasing taxes on those making less than 400k per year? Will it cause our deficit to grow too much. Will the direction Biden takes the nation hurt the nation?

One thing is for sure, neither Presidential candidate will tell us about the costs of the promises they are making. And because of that, both Presidential candidates resemble used car salesmen. 

And because our Presidential candidates resemble used car salemen, they refuse to tell us the downside of what they plan to do, it is up to us voters to be the adults in the room by researching, examining, and thinking through the promises made by each candidate so that we can determine their costs. And there can be no room for party or ideological loyalty when when doing these things.