Here at the close of 2016, we can look back on our year and see the many ups and downs we’ve all experienced. One minute, the greatest movie of the year comes out, and the next minute your favorite actor or actress just passed away. We have had political argument after political argument, with neither side letting up. We have had cities in our own country ransacked, other countries bombed half to hell, and colleges got shot up. We are more divided than ever before. And all the while, here at the end of the year, we wish for this year to end and for a new year to begin. As if the changing of years will wipe the slate clean and we can just start over. But I’m here to tell you that if we don’t do something now to change all this, we will see an even greater degradation in 2017. Here are the three biggest problems that we, as men and women of the United States, need to face as soon as possible:

1. We need to eliminate (or reduce) the perspective of US vs. THEM.

How can we help others if we don’t look at their lives and struggles through their eyes? We all think in terms of our own community. We need to, however, broaden our idea of community and stop thinking of it as the people we just identify with. Yes, I know we aren’t them and we never will be either due to our innate difference. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t try to empathize with them and put ourselves in their shoes in an effort to help. This year, as with many other years, this idea of putting ourselves in other people’s shoes has generated controversy and condemnation. Some factions attack, saying that those that have tried to empathize and use facts to support helpful agendas, couldn’t possibly understand the life they have had to live. While that is true, what other choice do these factions have? The problem is not that people aren’t willing to help, it is that people have become so divided by their differences that they undervalue the help that others can give. I sincerely doubt the correct course of action is to go it alone. People shouldn’t force their ideology and experiences/opinions on others in an effort to end injustice. And if we are truly able to help people by putting ourselves in their shoes, then the best way to go about that is to stop seeing them as different in a person’s worth. At the end of the day, how we see the worth of our life will be different between each faction and people group; some are blessed while others are cursed, and vice versa. No group has all the answers to end inequality right now. Some groups can have most of the answers though when we rely on facts and act in a loving manner. And it really isn’t that hard to be humble on both sides in order to come together for the greater good. Violence and hatred aren’t the forms of communication that we should be relying on to further our own individual/faction’s agenda. We need to value each other in that we are all created equally.

2. Develop some sort of moral compass that has an end result of love.

I am a Christian. Through and through. I constantly question my faith and seek answers. I even doubt it. I find that logic and reason have taught me how important faith can be. Science and reason are the glasses needed to view the world before me and know that God created it all and that He loves us. And love is the key here. I find that this year we have forgotten how to be loving to one another. I don’t give a damn how we as individuals get there. I don’t care if you want to use religion or your own intellectual capacity to figure out your moral compass. But we need to figure it out or remember it again. Otherwise, we will have more than just riots on our hands. The ability to have good, peaceful discourse must be based in love. We need to stop listening to merely respond; we, instead, need to listen to understand others that may not have the same views as we do. We also need to stop surrounding ourselves with people that agree with the same things that we do. The only way to grow is to be uncomfortable, even in thoughts and ideas, and to listen with love. This is closely tied to the first part but I wanted to split these two points up because the second begets the first. These two separate points are the easiest ways to fix this country and actually be truly “conservative” and “progressive”. Respect and Love must be given equally to truly achieve a melting pot nation that is actually going to be in the same pot here and not a total mess.

3. We need to remember that this country was designed to be amazing to live in, both for the people living in it and the people we affect around the world.

It’s not bad to be patriotic. Patriotism has allowed us to focus on the common goal of the betterment of our country. Lately, we have turned patriotism into over-patriotism. In this, we have become so divided and polar opposite in ideas as to how to better the country, and we try to rationalize our actions as meaningful and warranted. This is simply bringing about more hate and discord into the general discussion about the direction of our country. Patriotism is good for multiple reasons but the penultimate one is that it shows passion and dedication to the vision of our forefathers. True Patriotism means that we are capable of all sharing a passion to tie us together for one common purpose. That purpose is the benefit of all those who reside here and abroad. We as Americans are meant to inspire freedom, love, and a general care for our fellow man. At one time, Americans were ambition and never backed down from a challenge. These were inherent qualities of past Americans and we have forgotten that this is what true patriotism actually looks like. This year we should’ve funneled this passion into something worthwhile. Like holding our politicians that represent us accountable and keeping America from being the laughing stock of the world due to multiple faction’s actions. We need to change our view of the country as well. This nation isn’t beyond saving ideologically. We as people can be better, and if that is still true, which I believe it is, then we can make this nation better as well. This doesn’t mean that we should automatically be more tolerant for the sake of tolerance. Also, this doesn’t mean that we should be completely antagonistic to how we treat others, for our own self-interests. At the end of the day, the gray area is something that we must be comfortable with. We should treat things with discretion and on a case by case basis. We must live intellectually and logically, not in condemnation or even subservience. We can root ourselves in facts and constantly be our own checks and balances if we truly care about this country. Ultimately, we must be wise. Wisdom is something hard to come by and it’s been sorely missed this year.

Look, as we begin this year, I see a lot of pain. Men are more comfortable hating each other than they are comfortable loving one another. If there are things that we can do to have a much better year, then these three things are probably the best things we can do. I believe we got this, America. If you want a resolution, now you got one.