marshmallows.

In the very well known experiment kids are given two options: you can have one marshmallow now or you can two marshmallows if you wait 15 minutes. The theory was, after tracking those students, that those that were able to delay gratification were more successful. 

As with most studies, the marshmallow experiment has recently come under fire, not because the premise is necessarily false but because there are all kinds of other factors that play into success and whether or not a kid even has the capacity to delay gratification - like poverty, etc.. Sometimes a kid in poverty needs that marshmallow - they don't know if there will be a tomorrow.

For my purpose, I'll say the study holds up. 

We currently have one political party that can only see the 1 marshmallow right now. In fact, the President - a member of that party - often tweets about how great the marshmallow is.

And there are all kinds of factors that play into why some people like that party and philosophy and many of them are beyond their control and some are within their control. 

There is another perspective (and I would say party at its most ideal) that looks down the road at the 2 or 3 or, even 5, marshmallows. This party always has a tough sell to people who want 1 marshmallow now because they are, essentially, asking people to wait with nothing to get something better later. 

Ironically, the party that now insists on marshmallows now, really only insists on giving those marshmallows to people who already have quite a few and ignoring those who don't have any (who actually do need a marshmallow right now) but this, of course, is ruining any chances of thousands of marshmallows down the road for those who have them and those who don't because, once again, it only cares about the marshmallow, right now, even if that marshmallow isn't even an actual marshmallow but just words about one. 

Yeah probably too simplistic.   

Yeah, all I see every day are all the marshmallows we're losing 5, 10, 20 years from now.

Instead of arguing about climate change, Korea, taxes, universal health care, tariffs, equality, budgets, start seeing if you can talk to people about marshmallows: now vs later. Delayed gratification.

See if it's a better conversation.