upworthy

barack obama

Politics

Folks on 'left' and 'right' share one thing they respect about one another. It's giving hope.

As one person wrote, "This is the most mature comment section I’ve seen."

Courtesy of Ashley Rankin @gynaminte_/TikTok

Looking at the positives of the other side makes it a lot harder to hate.

The United States feels on edge right now, with passions running high and partisanized rhetoric ramping up in the days following Charlie Kirk's assassination in Utah. For non-extremists, it's disheartening to see people on both "the left" and "the right" being painted in sweeping brush strokes filled with vitriol.

Most of us don't live like this in our everyday lives. Most of us don't live at extremes and are capable of nuanced thought. We acknowledge that the world's problems are complex and know that we aren't always going to agree on every solution. While we may disagree, sometimes vehemently, we don't paint half of our fellow Americans as the enemy.

america, united states, polarization, political division, partisanship Political polarization is out of control. It doesn't have to be this way. Photo credit: Canva

A woman in Utah, Ashley Rankin, was feeling overwhelmed and confused about the state of the country when she decided to make a video plea for compassion and understanding. "While recording, I zoned out for a second and my face perfectly captured how I felt in that moment," she tells Upworthy. "I dropped the words and thought, rather than telling people to spread love, hope, and compassion, I want to see what they will do, when presented with the opportunity."

So she overlayed her few-second video with "If you lean left, tell me something you respect about the right. If you lean right, tell me something you respect about the left," adding, "Let's spread hope." She asked viewers to fill her comments with positivity, and in a miraculous flip of the script we so often see online, people delivered exactly what she asked for.

@gynamite_

Please fill my comments with positivity! I live in Utah and things feel heavy here. #bridgingthedivide #HopeInHumanity #BetterTogether #UtahCommunity #positive

The comments filled up with people leaning one way or the other—sometimes even pretty far to the left or right—expressing their respect and admiration for various characteristics and beliefs of the "other side." It's truly a beautiful outpouring that demonstrates how much closer we are than we think:

"I am conservative, but I appreciate the left's fight for free lunches and universal healthcare. I don't believe anyone should starve or be denied medical care because they can't afford it."

"Left here: I respect how the right heavily advocates for the farm and rural communities. We really do need to send more resources out to them and respect our farmers more."

"Lean right - love the passion of the left and how they always want to speak up for the smallest person in the room."

"Straight blue voter here. I do appreciate the conservative principle of fiscal responsibility for the govt. We may disagree how our tax dollars are spent, but I don’t disagree that govt is wasteful."

Season 19 Episode 10 GIF by The Simpsons Giphy

"More conservative, but I love how the left advocates for preserving our earth, mental health, and resources for those who NEED them."

"As a Democrat I appreciate republicans patriotism and love for country and support for our troops and veterans. I just wish their representatives would vote to support those things that most of their constituents want to support."

"I’m more right than left, but I respect the left for their belief that you don’t have to be a traditional family to have family values. I actually agree with that."

"Leftist here 🤘🏼 I live in a deeply conservative, rural area. Whenever I’m in need, there’s help. Fresh baked bread randomly, the mechanic giving me free advice/discounts, fresh farm eggs cheaper than the store🥹"

"I’m mostly conservative. I appreciated the level of anger and ongoing fight regarding the undoing of roe v wade."

"Extremely left here, I appreciate how fiercely the right stands up for the working people; farmers, etc. I also am with them on getting violent criminals off the streets."

farmer, conservatives, liberals, right and left, politics People on the right tend to support rural life.Photo credit: Canva

"I’m conservative. I do truly respect that the people on the left wanting gun control have good hearts and genuinely want the gun violence to end."

"Dear Left-leaning people, Thank you for your fight for immigration rights. I may not 100% agree with how we get there, but, everyone deserves the right to come into the country and to have a chance for a better life."

"By far the BEST comment section I've ever seen. I lean left heavily but I've always admired how persistent Republicans are at pushing legislation and the change they want to see."

Perhaps surprisingly, perhaps not, there was a ton of love for John McCain and Barack Obama coming from opposite sides of the aisle in the comments.

"My family was always conservative, but everyone voted for Obama twice. Sometimes we have to accept that labels are for soup cans and vote for the person better qualified to lead."

"I’m a lifelong Democrat. I really loved John McCain! I thought he was such a well-rounded example of a true American patriot!"

"I lean more right, but Obama was the last president I felt like we all respected."

"I don’t 'lean' left: I am left. However, I think John McCain also conducted himself with so much integrity. I think he tried to do a good job and actually cared about the people in this country."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

"I am very Liberal and Canadian BUT when John McCain defended Obama against Muslim/ Arab attacks at his town halls…. I literally cried."

"I lean right, but I think the last time we had any dignity in politics, and I felt secure as a nation was when President Obama was in office. I think he’s an incredible leader, and he was the last time I trusted the person in power."

"I respect how John McCain stood up for Obama at one of his rallies and how he silenced the boos during his concession speech. Truly miss that kind of politics. Where we could disagree on issues but didn’t tear other down."

Mostly, though, people were just relieved and delighted to see how genuinely kind and heartfelt the comments were.

"This comment section glued a tiny piece of my heart back together."

"These comments are not what I expected to see. It gives me hope that we are not as divided as politicians and media wants us to believe."

"Reading all these comments makes me realize that we should be fighting extremists (both left and right) instead of each other."

"This is the most mature comment section I’ve seen. This is the dialogue I want to see. It’s easy to speak to each other when we do it in a respectful way rather than resorting to name-calling and oppressing others."

We really do have more in common than the online discourse and political rhetoric from many politicians would have us believe. Social media algorithms may reward extremism, but videos like this and the responses they're receiving are far more indicative of the reality most of us live in. Rankin's video has accumulated over 10,000 comments and they are overwhelmingly positive.

"I posted the short video hoping a few people would have genuine and respectful words, but was not expecting much," Rankin says. "I had NO idea the impact it would have on me and so many others. The comments were exactly what my weary heart needed. I'm finally proud to be an American again."

From Your Site Articles
hope
PoliticsDemocracy
Education

'Get stuff done': President Obama shares why his simple career advice for young people works

"Whoever is running that organization will notice. I promise.”

via Anthony Quintano/Flickr

Former president barack Obama walking down the street with his coat over his shoulder.

If you’re looking for career advice, there are few better people to ask than former President Barack Obama. After all, he got the most prestigious job in the world after only spending four years in the U.S. Senate and seven in the Illinois State Senate.

Obama clearly knows how to work his way up in the world.

Now, he’s investigating what it means to have “good” work in his new Netflix show, “Working: What We Do All Day.” According to Netflix, the show explores compelling ideas and issues about labor and work, while focusing on the lives of individuals in various professions.

Obama sat down with LinkedIn Editor-in-Chief Daniel Roth to talk about employment-related topics, including the role of work in our lives, disruptions in the workplace in the new Millenium, and the coming AI revolution. During the 15-minute conversation, Obama shared his most important career advice for young people, and it was simple, especially for such a thoughtful, well-spoken man. The former president said, “Get stuff done. Just learn how to get stuff done.”

He then unpacked what he meant by his simple motto.

“I've seen at every level people who are very good at describing problems, people who are very sophisticated in explaining why something went wrong or why something can't get fixed, but what I'm always looking for is, no matter how small the problem or how big it is, somebody who says, 'Let me take care of that,'” Obama said.

“If you project an attitude of, whatever it is that's needed, I can handle it and I can do it, then whoever is running that organization will notice. I promise.”

Obama is spot-on with his analysis. You can talk about things all day, but what really matters is taking action and making things happen. Maybe that’s why his campaign slogan in 2008 was a simple three-word phrase about taking care of business, “Yes, we can.”

"The best way to get attention is, whatever is assigned to you, you are just nailing. You're killing it. Because people will notice, that's someone who can get something done," Obama continued.

As someone who has managed people at the top levels of government, Obama has a rare understanding of the importance of relying on people to carry out essential orders and knowing who to trust to get it done efficiently and correctly. When you’re president of the United States, you must have complete trust in the people you delegate work to because thousands or even millions of lives could be at risk.

Obama also added that young people shouldn’t focus on a specific job title but on things that interest them. "The people that I find are the most successful are the people who say, 'I'm really interested in computers and figuring this stuff out,' and they end up being a Bill Gates," he said.

People will be happier with careers that are rooted in their interests because they’re doing what they love. We only get 24 hours in a day. Most people sleep eight, work eight and enjoy eight for themselves. Everyone loves sleeping and time off, but you can be happy 24 hours a day when you love your job.

From Your Site Articles
barack obama
EducationLearning
Democracy

Barack Obama had a funny response to a woman who said he's 'still fine' at a campaign rally

'I'm not gonna tell Michelle you said that.'

via Wikimedia Commons

Barack Obama at his Chicago home.

Former president Barack Obama reminded everyone of his off-the-cuff sense of humor at a campaign rally for Democratic voters in Detroit on Saturday, October 29. Nearly six years after leaving the White House, the 61-year-old lamented that it was more challenging for him to be out on the campaign trail than it used to be.

“I have to admit that sometimes going out on the campaign trail feels a little harder than it used to,” the 44th president said to the crowd. “Not just because I’m older and grayer…”


A woman behind Obama responded by screaming that he’s still “finer than a mug,” using what sounds like a euphemism for a much stronger phrase. Although, she may have used the whole term. The funny thing is that after she made the bold proclamation, she had no interest in backing down. She stayed strong, nodding affirmatively and twirling her finger in the air as Obama laughed on the stage.

The moment was a refreshing flashback for many who cherish the years when the young, charismatic politician was in office.

Warning: Contains explicit language.

The audience and Obama thought the outburst was funny. “She said I was still fine,” Obama told the crowd with a grin. “I’m not gonna tell Michelle you said that, although Michelle does agree. She knows,” he said.

Obama’s appearance was part of a five-state tour to support Democrats in the midterm elections. The elections are an uphill battle for Democrats who face the headwinds of inflation, economic uncertainty and history. In modern elections, the president’s party has traditionally lost seats in Congress in the midterms.

From Your Site Articles
barack obama
DemocracyPolitics
Culture

Barack Obama explains how society will change if/when we learn that aliens exist

via the Late Late Show and Department of Defense

As if the strange times we've been living through couldn't get any weirder, the Pentagon is set to release a report on UFO sightings later this month. The report is the result of a program designed to record and investigate sightings by the U.S. military.

The highly-anticipated report comes on the heels of three mysterious videos of "unexplained aerial phenomena" declassified by the Defense Department and released last year.

One video taken in 2004 and two subsequent in 2015, show objects flying at high speeds in Earth's atmosphere, accompanied by a conversation between astonished Navy pilots.

"There's a whole fleet of them … My gosh, they're all going against the wind, the wind is 120 knots to the west. Look at that thing dude!" a pilot exclaims in one of the videos.

Watch the Pentagon's three declassified UFO videos taken by U.S. Navy pilotswww.youtube.com

Defense officials and lawmakers have been pushing for the report's release and one of the most vocal is Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"We cannot allow the stigma of UFOs to keep us from seriously investigating this. The forthcoming report is one step in that process, but it will not be the last," he said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times.

Former President Barack Obama has recently weighed in on the upcoming report and he shared his experiences with UFOs while in the Oval Office.

(Well, he shared what he's allowed to share.)

"When it comes to aliens, there are some things I just can't tell you on air," he told Reggie Watts, bandleader of the Late Late Show. "The truth is that when I came into the office, I asked. I was like, 'Is there a lab somewhere where we're keeping the alien specimens and space ships?'"

"They did a little bit of research and the answer was no," he said.

"But what is true, and I'm actually being serious here... there's footage and records of objects in the skies that we don't know exactly what they are, we can't explain how they moved, their trajectory," Obama said. "They did not have an easily explainable pattern."

Reggie Watts to Barack Obama: What's w/ Dem Aliens?www.youtube.com

This week, Obama went deeper on the subject with Ezra Klein on his podcast. Klein asked how his politics would change if he found out that aliens exist.

"It's interesting. It wouldn't change my politics at all. Because my entire politics is premised on the fact that we are these tiny organisms on this little speck floating in the middle of space," he said.

Obama wouldn't be too surprised if there were life on other planets, given the vastness of the universe.

"When we were going through tough political times, and I'd try to cheer my staff up, I'd tell them a statistic that John Holdren, my science adviser, told me, which was that there are more stars in the known universe than there are grains of sand on the planet Earth," he said.

"Well, sometimes it cheered them up; sometimes they'd just roll their eyes and say, oh, there he goes again," he added.

Obama hopes that if alien life were discovered, it would remind Americans of their common humanity.

"We're just a bunch of humans with doubts and confusion," he said. "We do the best we can. And the best thing we can do is treat each other better because we're all we've got. And so I would hope that the knowledge that there were aliens out there would solidify people's sense that what we have in common is a little more important."

But he also fears the discovery could also lead to further discord.

"But no doubt there would be immediate arguments like, well, we need to spend a lot more money on weapons systems to defend ourselves," he said. "New religions would pop up. And who knows what kind of arguments we get into. We're good at manufacturing arguments for each other."

So, at his core, it appears Obama believes that human nature is so deeply ingrained that even if we learned of life on other planets, it wouldn't fundamentally change who we are.

Sorry aliens, humans are gonna human. Plan accordingly. But if you do land on Earth and ask to be taken to our leader, you're in good hands if the people send you to Obama.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
barack obama
CulturePlanet
Trending Stories