Over the last few years I’ve seen many people delve into the idea of politics, but I could never get on that same train. I’d always had my own ideas and they’ve definitely changed over the past few years, but never so dramatically. And now over the past few weeks I’ve seen many people gain more and more “far corner” views. One specific example happened a few days ago when I came out of my room to get a snack after playing Black Ops Zombies with a friend. I had said something (completely not political) to my sister and my mother and aunt both said “Ugh don’t say that you sound like a Republican.” Now I don't consider myself a centrist, but hearing that kinda made me a bit mad. Not because they said I sounded like a Republican, but because they took a singular sentence and linked it with an entire political party and said “They’re disgusting” after I asked what would be wrong even if I were a Republican. I tried to explain to them that by doing that they are contributing to the divide in our country because they see one side as “disgusting” and linking a sentence to a side of the political spectrum. As well I tried to explain that what they were doing is a type of radicalism. Now I see how I could have come across as pretentious during this entire ordeal, but the fact that they were talking about how our country is so divided the day before made me think I could get through to them. Either way they chalked it up to “mansplaining,” and completely dismissed my argument. This is the perfect example as to why I intensely dislike politics in our day. There’s no room for civil discourse between moderates… because moderates are a dying breed. And no matter what you say to people who are so set in their ways, they always find a way to devalue what they say. I can no longer have an open minded conversation in my house because they are so set in their party’s ways, rather than their own beliefs. And that scares me, the fact that people follow a group more than they follow themselves. It scares me because what if the trend continues? What if this trend continues?
Hi Jacob. I can relate to suddenly having different/new political views. I don't think I had much of a political opinion (at least a vocal one) until about a couple years ago. Part of the reason was probably because of my fear in getting in conflicts with others, as you described in your post. I agree with you that it's very difficult to have civil political conversations nowadays. People are so quick to throw out insults or fake information, and it's unfortunate. I hope that we can all grow as a society, become more united, and learn how to have more respectful, beneficial discussions.
ReplyDeleteHi Jacob. I'm very passionate about my political views and although i try to stay open-minded but it's become very difficult lately. For me, most things that come from the "other side" sound like complete bogus in my opinion. I think having only 2 main political parties isn't really the right way to go anymore just because they're too different and will never agree on anything. I believe you're allowed to have your own beliefs and opinions that may be different than mine, but not when it comes to civil rights or someone's actual right to exist.
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