The past couple of years in United States history have seen some of the biggest highs and lows in the political world. From the passage of same-sex marriage to intense race riots, the new generation has seen it all. Even with the highs, the political world is filled with issues that both parties, and all people are responsible for.

Both Republicans and Democrats have lost touch with the general public.

The parties have become so extreme that they no longer represent the views of moderate Americans. Most Americans would identify as independent or moderate, but the candidates available only represent the extremes. Candidates and members of both parties have put more of a focus on getting into, and staying in office, than creating fair policies while there. They believe that the only way to get elected is to take extreme stances on issues in order to stand out, rather than finding solutions that are beneficial for mass amounts of people.

Religion has become too big of a factor in politics and policy.

This state was founded on the basis of religious freedom for all people, that should include Muslims and atheists, as well as any other faith people wish to practice. The problem is when politicians begin to form policies based on their religious ideology. Those in the political world have an us-versus-them mindset, which is not beneficial for anybody. The idea of banning abortions because “the baby is God’s creation” goes against the fundamental ideas of a secular nation. Also, just because somebody identities as Republican does not mean they agree with the extreme right’s religious policies. And with that, just because somebody has a liberal ideology does not make them an atheist. The basis of policy should be rooted in public opinion rather than religious principles.

People in this country have become too soft.

You cannot say or do anything in this country without your words or actions offending somebody. Sometimes hard issues come up that need to be addressed, but politicians are too concerned with being politically correct. They are too concerned with their reelection to do something that may offend somebody. Now I’m not saying that there should be a free-for-all of saying and doing whatever you want, but the American people need to understand the difference between somebody attempting to discuss issues and somebody just being an a**hole.

Everybody has a sense of entitlement.

People, mostly those in the younger generations, have the mentality of 2 year olds. If they don’t get what they want, they throw a temper tantrum. We no longer believe in the idea of hard work. Just because you go to college does not mean you are going to make $100,000 a year. Hard work gets you to that point. The entire basis of the free college argument is that we are entitled to higher education. Guess what, we are not entitled to sh*t in this country. You have the natural born human rights to food, shelter, and basic necessities of life, the rest comes with hard work. Hard work will get you to and through college. Hard work will get you more than sitting on your a** and waiting for everything to be handed to you.

Not everything is about race.

In relation to people being soft, people are too quick to turn every little situation into an issue of race. It’s 2015. Race should not matter anymore. We are all people; we are all naturally equal. Not all issues are an attack on your race, whether you are white, black, Arab, whatever. We need to stop marginalizing races and realize that we are one people. The longer we focus on the differences, the more we will see riots and other circumstances that pit us against one another. This applies to every race.

The government has gotten too big for its own good.

The government has moved beyond a protective unit to attempting to control aspects of daily life. The federal government should not have the ability to determine who can get married whether or not you can get an abortion. The current government has far too much power over the American people, and it is only going to continue to grow.

Generally, I choose to be an optimist in life. Now I look at the current state of affairs and I am genuinely concerned for our future. We focus too much on issues that should not be important, rather than on issues that are a concern to our daily lives. Our generation has a chance to change the status quo in America, we just have to get off of our lazy, entitled asses to do so.