Okay, so maybe it's no secret who I happen to be voting for in the upcoming election. This doesn't mean I'm not open to discussion, and if you aren't voting for this guy, you shouldn't be, either.
Now, if you're not voting, I don't think I'm in a place to discuss anything with you until you change your mind. I simply have no tolerance for that stance.
Oregon's pretty much already decided - we're a blue state through and through. So when I was cut off today by a pickup truck with a "McCain/Palin" sticker prominently displayed in the back window, my reactions were "Hey!" and, almost immediately, "Ew!!"
It's a knee-jerk reaction. I learned it from my parents, whose philosophy is, "If you ever vote for a Republican, just please don't tell us."
And then I began to feel bad that I reacted that way. Here's a fella - a Joe Six Pack, if you will - who I didn't even know. I wrapped up all his philosophies and ideals in one little glance made after the frustration of slamming on my brakes. It's not like I'VE never cut anyone off before, and it's not like I don't know what his frustration must feel like right now. After all, I was living in Colorado for the 2000 election. And heck, I may have run into him through my new exciting hobby of political blog reading. He could very well be this guy.
We live in a culture where it's considered impolite to talk about politics in normal conversation with people we don't know very well. I've never understood that part of our society. Isn't it far more inefficient to NOT talk about it? How can we ever get things done? In fact, I've always suspected that it's not actually impolite, so much that one American doesn't want to look another American they're kind of fond of in the face and tell them they think everything they stand for is wrong. So we've come up with these labels of Republicans and Democrats to swiftly stop a conversation before it starts. To identify as one is supposed to tell anyone and everyone everything they need to know about where you stand. As if opinions and rational thought aren't fluid things that are SUPPOSED to change and be thought through. Or is that just my Left Wing Rationalism talking??
The age of blogging is an age of change, and I'm so happy. Because, much like breaking up with someone, it's so easy to put your political discussions in written form and leave it out for someone to read than to actually seek out a person-to-person conversation and debate face-to-face. And that's good enough for me.
It's a hot topic. And I'm excited to discuss it with anyone who's willing. Including that pickup truck driver.
1 comment:
I agree with you, it says something about you if you're not willing to have a conversation with someone else about what you believe. Either it means you are not secure enough in your beliefs to hear another viewpoint, or you cannot trust yourself to keep the conversation civil. Still, I think these things have a tendency to get carried away. When you care about something, and believe in something so much you can certainly come across as narrow-minded, condescending, combative, arrogant or all of the above. These are seriously dangerous waters, and it takes more than an opinion to tread into them.
For my part, I typically wont talk about things because I feel as though it is... for the most part... a waste of everyone's time. If we're honest with ourselves, we know that more than 50% of us have already decided who we were going to vote for before any one of these candidates announced running. Another 30 to 40 percent of us were leaning one way or the other with an unlikely chance we would be changing our minds. That leaves the rest of us, the 10 to 20 percent who aren't necessarily represented by our government, wondering where to go, who to talk to and share ideas with, and how we can have any influence over how our government works.
With such a small ratio of people to connect with, it's easy to feel as though there's no one to talk to at all. For someone who is supporting Obama for example, you've got a really good shot, I would say 5 out of 10 people will be on your side of the aisle, and republican supporters have an equally good shot at connecting. Someone like myself however has a 1 in 10 shot at best, and that's not mentioning those who end up being wackos, nazis, conspiracy theorists, etc. When you factor all of them in, finding a group of people to speak with about politics with me is... difficult. Unless that is I wish to try talking with people in one of the two traditional camps.
Here's the problem with that though: because these two sides are constantly bickering with one another, it's very easy to end up on the wrong side of everyone. In america, we have a very "If you're not with me you're against me" attitude when it comes to things like religion and especially politics. I guess what I'm saying is that most often when I've tried to have a conversation about politics with someone, the minute I disagree with something fundamental in that person's party ideology, I'm immediately labeled the opposite, and thus I find myself on the defensive end of the discussion, which at that point typically becomes an argument. Regardless, it's not worth anyone's time at that point.
Which brings me to my point, and it's that while what you say is true, something like politics is something that we should embrace talking about, it's not something we do, because we as a species are not yet mature enough to cope with it. Just like although everyone knows that killing people is wrong, we still do it in staggering numbers. We use economics, and patriotism and religion and mental disease and what-have-you to justify it, why? Because we are not yet evolved enough, as a society to behave up to the level of our beliefs.
Still, there are people who have transcended that evolutionary barrier, and thus help shine a light to guide the way to that better understanding of who we are, and who we one day might be. People like yourself, writing words like these, which one day will reshape the world.
For the record, I have decided I cannot morally justify voting for either B-rock or Popeye in this election and, if you are interested, I would be happy to discuss why, but perhaps that is a discussion which would be better conducted with live response.
Hope you are well, much love to you and thank you again for all that you do.
Michael
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