My dad was more conservative. I see myself as more conservative but I consider myself independent because I listen to both views. This is kind of funny but I follow the saying of Bruce Lee, “ you take in what is good and useful and if it's bad and it is not useful, then get rid of it.” That's how I see things. In the political world, I listen to both views. Is it going to affect me in a good way? Is it going to affect others in a good way? It's not 100% proof. You can't make some odd millions of people happy. You can't do it. It doesn't matter who the president is.
I think a lot of my views are just what's good for me because who's going to look out for me but me? You can't make everybody happy in this country. We just need to respect each other and work together. If we could do that, I would like to say everything would be fine.
JOBS
I think jobs is the most important issue to me as a voter. If the President can provide jobs here in our country, they can solve a lot of problems. I think it can solve a lot of homeless problems too. If there are jobs for everybody, then there will be less unemployment. Where does unemployment get the money from? The government.
How does the government get that money? I think it is from us, the taxes. Right? So, if everybody had a job, then I shouldn't have to pay that many taxes because now everything is evenly distributed. But if there is more unemployment and people are filing unemployment, then they have to get the money from somewhere and the government has to raise the taxes so that doesn't make sense to me. If that's the way it works then I don't like it. I think jobs are really big for me because I can't picture myself not having a job. I really can't. I think jobs, especially if you have a job you really love, are what molds you. It’s what makes you.
I hope that the new President will provide jobs for most people, and I hope he doesn't take the factories or the businesses overseas because that’s going to make a lot of people lose their work. To me that’s bad.
2ND AMMENDMENT
I’m all for it. I believe that each individual American citizen that's able to own a gun, own a weapon, should protect themselves. Those that are doing it legally and legitimately, why can’t they so they can protect the house, protect themselves, and their family? I go everywhere with it. The world nowadays is not safe. I know that there are people that are against it. I understand. I respect it, but you have to respect my views too.
The Second Amendment is where it needs to be. Whoever wants to have a gun, they can have a gun. I know that people are always saying, “if we got rid of all of the guns, there would be less shooting.” But a criminal is going to get a gun no matter what. You can’t stop a criminal from doing what they want to do. If they don’t have a gun, they are going to get a knife. If they don’t have a knife, they’re going to get a baseball bat. If a criminal has a mindset of committing crimes, they're going to do it. It’s their mentality. If that murderer or robber or burglar comes near me or my loved ones, then I’ll have what it takes to protect myself and protect my loved ones. I hope the government doesn't take that away from me. That’s my right, to protect myself. Isn’t that everybody’s right?
LGBTQ+ RIGHTS
I don't understand because my mind is different from those individuals. I’m straight. I'm married to a straight woman. I have a few associates that are gay. I respect them and they respect me. Those that change their identity, change their sex, that's when I say it's too much for me to handle. I don't understand it. I don't understand that I look at myself in the mirror and I see a man, but the other individual is a man and they look at themselves and see a woman. That’s when I say this too much for me to handle and I don’t understand. It’s a different mentality. I don't understand what they see, I only understand what I see. Do I try to understand what they see? I can't because what I see in the mirror is me, a man.
But I would not discriminate against them. I don't discriminate based on color or race. I don't discriminate against the size of people, short, fat, or whatever. Whatever you identify yourself as, as long as you're respectful of me and whoever I’m with, then I’m cool. My whole life is just to respect others. You give me respect, I will give it back to you.
Man in the mirror is one of my favorite songs. The Michael Jackson song. I listen to that song and it’s so true what he says. If you look at yourself in the mirror and you accept who you are and who you are is a kind, respectful person.. then be true to that. If you’re not, try to be that. If we can all look at ourselves in the mirror and treat others how we want to be treated, this world would be a nicer place to live in. I think we just have to treat each other with kindness to move forward. If we can do that, this will be a better place for humanity.
RACIAL MOVEMENTS
I don't know the whole organization behind their stance because right now, as far as I know, BLM only comes out to protest when the cops are involved. As far as I know, that’s the only time they come out. My question is, just like many others, why don't they come out when it's black on black crimes? Why don't they come out when a black father murders his black child, or a black mother murders her black child or a black boyfriend murders his black girlfriend, vice versa? Why don’t they come out? It’s black lives matter.
I understand it as all black lives matter. It doesn’t matter who's involved in the killing. Whether it’s a cop, whether it’s a white bum, or an Asian, or whatever. It doesn’t matter who made the killing. Shouldn’t BLM come out either way?
This is something that I have a hard time understanding. My wife is black and she may understand a bit more. For me, I know the statement, what they stand for, but they only come out when it involves police officers. Why is it only cops? It involves a black life no matter what. I would like to ask someone from BLM that question, so that they can elaborate on that subject.
I don't want to go any further than that because I don't understand. If I don't understand something, I don’t want to go any further into it because it makes an individual look silly. I want to understand it more.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
I know people have different views on this matter, but if you get pulled over by cops - just oblige. Do what they ask. Comply. I don't see anything wrong with complying with authority. If you’re in a household, don't you listen to your parents? Yes. You try to. You should. If cops pull you over and they suspect that you resemble someone then comply. Show them your ID and answer the questions. I don't see anything wrong with that. I really don't. If you don't comply, then stuff happens and then gets blown out of proportion.
I hate to see that. I really do because our country is getting worse and worse and I don't know what the future holds for our country. I hope we can all come together.
IMMIGRATION
Our family immigrated to the United States and it was a struggle. It was a journey. We had green cards and eventually, when I was 19, my dad made us become citizens. To be honest, I was proud. I am still proud to be an American and to have dual citizenship with the U.S. and Cambodia. Do I pick sides? No. They are both my homes. Of course, I am more familiar here in the U.S. I probably consider myself more American than Cambodian. But if you ask me about my culture, of course I am going to say Cambodian. That’s my roots. That’s who I am. That is me.
My dad did what he had to do to have us become a legal citizen. Everyone in our family that works pays taxes. We don't do anything under the table. We don't do anything illegal. But going against that, those that are illegal, I struggle with it. I stand strong that they need to become a citizen. They need to get legalized. They need to have their papers. I stand strong with that because we did it. My father did it. Why can’t others do it?
They should be able to. If there is an obstacle, I'm sure they can find answers to work around it to get help. America is known as a melting pot of all different types of cultures, different types of races, different types of people. I cherish that. I love that about America because I'm here, I’m a different person, from a different culture, a different country and to be here in America, I'm blessed. It’s the land of opportunity. That’s why people from all over come here, to make their lives better, to improve. That’s why we came here.
If you really want to live in America, do it right. Do the right thing. Get your social security card. Pay your taxes. Do what you need to do. For people to come here and then take advantage of the Medicare system, where we pay taxes to help those programs, but they don’t is unfair to me. I work my butt off to save what I can, but everyone needs to do that too. That’s only fair.
We came here and we had sponsors that helped us. They helped us to become independent, not to stay dependent. That's what life is all about. It’s the learning. It’s the journey. It’s that thousand mile journey that begins with one step.
