Now that the election is weeks away, everyone is scrambling to find as much information as they can find on different issues so they can pick who they support.
After seeing the debates, I think it’s safe to say that it is up to us, the American people to vote responsibly and educate ourselves to the best of our ability, seeing that we can’t always trust our leaders to be productive, transparent and 100 percent straightforward with us.
Although we have the internet which makes it so easy for us to find information quickly, we can’t always rely on all of the information out there as not all sources are reliable, plus there are oceans-worth of information for us to sift through which makes it an exhausting and overwhelming challenge. Or at least it was but now that A Starting Point has launched it just got a lot easier.
This app changes everything. The creation of this app leaves no room for excuses as to why anyone would be uneducated on the issues and topics that matter in this country at this very moment. A Starting Point is a genius idea and is the first of its kind. A starting point was found by actor Chris Evans, Producer Mark Kassen and technology entrepreneur Joe Kiani. Now I know what you’re thinking, “What does Captain America know about politics?” On the homepage of the app there is a short video that documents the creation of this foundation. In this video Evans explains that he thought about the idea because of the endless amount of information of the internet that often leaves people overwhelmed and not knowing where to begin.
Their official mission statement reads “ASP’s mission is to create a bipartisan channel of communication and connectivity between Americans and their elected officials with the goal of creating a more informed electorate.”
You can think of this app as Instagram specifically for politicians as elected officials can have an account to which they can make posts.
When you open up the app the first thing you will see is the welcome statement and then a section called “starting points.” In this section you find topics such as economy, education, health, government, etc.
You can choose a topic and it will take you to a list of frequently asked questions regarding that topic and there you will find short videos posted by officials themselves sharing their stance and thoughts on the subject.
The next section is “daily points.” In this section, officials can post short videos of themselves talking about issues that are important to them or just their opinions on a topic that is on their mind.
The final section is “counter points.” In this section, two officials from opposite parties can civilly and respectfully debate a topic of their choice. They post videos back and forth responding to each other’s comments and then each give their final thoughts at the end.
You will find that this part of the app is very refreshing to see. Just two people with different opinions having a conversation and politely disagreeing and sometimes excitedly agreeing instead of throwing insults around and empty conversation.
There is a tab called Contributors which is a list of every single member of the Senate, House, and every mayor and governor who is participating on the app. You can even search through them by party as well.
There is also a search bar that allows you to find your representative for your state and if you are registered to vote.
This app is super easy to use and makes research a lot easier. This not only benefits the American people, but also creates a union between our leaders and gives them the opportunity to have real discussions. Perhaps this app will be the path to unity and will encourage actual change to happen. This app is going to make life a lot easier. The A Starting Point app can be downloaded on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. You can also log in on a regular browser.