dylan bradley/editor-in-chief

People love proving themselves right, but when is it actually worth the fight to prove it?

For instance, when a moron in traffic zips along the shoulder and selfishly cuts me off, I feel indignant. Here I am waiting in line as is right. Why does some idiot get to break all of the rules and rudely get ahead?

But what level of anger is really appropriate for this? At the end of the day, traffic is just traffic, something to endure, not to make a huge statement of right and wrong. The guy driving on the shoulder is actually just digging himself a hole. I don’t need to help him.

Unfortunately, Americans have accepted overreacting to these trivial situations as acceptable. When a customer is yelling at a cashier, insisting he’s right, we smirk, look away or wait for the customer to get combative enough to take out our cellphones and get some video.

But what happens when people are stubborn about being right over bigger things than traffic?

What if it isn’t a moron getting mad because he doesn’t have time for traffic making him late but an educated man getting mad because gay people are getting married?

What if it’s a wealthy person angered that women are allowed to abort their unborn children, so they start funding groups that close abortion clinics? What if that wealthy person doesn’t care that the clinics also provide vital women’s health services?

What if it’s an atheist angry that he’s forced to acknowledge a god he doesn’t believe exists every time he spends a dollar, so he stops holding to the morals that are spearheaded by religion?

In America, we stand and work for what’s right, and anger is a potent emotion that fuels action.

Our politicians “stand up for what’s right” so that voters, however few, will put them in power.

We, as Americans, have gotten lost.

We are so beholden to being right that we lose sight of the amount of damage correction can cause.

People in Hong Kong have been protesting in the streets for weeks because they want the right to vote. Meanwhile, America keeps getting caught up on how other Americans are living.

At least Americans can vote.

So please. Think about the issues that are worth being stubborn over, and stand firm. Otherwise, just get through the traffic and enjoy your destination.