For some reason 2017 has been the year of being absolutely rude or politically correct. I suppose after the election, people assumed it was okay to go about their day insulting each other and just being downright nasty.

I see it all the time on campus, especially in student organizations. When you give someone a position of power you are expecting them to carry out their duties in a respectable manner. You are not expecting gossip, ridicule, or attitude.

It makes me wonder, what are the dangers of giving the wrong people power? What can we do once the bed has been made and we now watch everything crumble in front of us? Does power act like a drug, altering the personalities of the ones who achieve it?

The biggest issue I see facing many of today's society is communication.

Not only should you pay attention to what you say, but how you say it.

If you want respect, you must respect others. Tone is very specific to how someone interprets what you are saying. You are not going to be respected if you talk down to people. That signals that you don't care about what they have to say and believe only what you say matters and trust me, life doesn't work that way.

People want to be respected whether you are in power or if you are simply a human being.

I fear for what our world is becoming.

It takes very little to be nice to someone.

I do it every day and it makes me feel good knowing that I could help put a smile on someone's face. But what really gets me are the people who actively try to tear other people down. Those are the kinds of people who get elected for various positions. What does that say about our society?

We don't respect nice people, instead, we strive for people who are ruthless and that's just sad.