Sometime between my years in college and now, which is a span of about 7 years, I've become a news junkie of sorts. I get my daily fix by opening up the paper over a turkey sandwich during lunch. I turn to the Op-Ed pages and pour through different columns and reader opinions. A person learns and is able to develop their own opinion by listening to others. I guess that's why I read so many of these articles. I soak them in and let them marinate, all the while wanting to discuss my feelings on the latest newsworthy issue of the week. Lately these newsworthy issues have been centered on the Presidential campaigns. While I'd love to talk about what candidate I'm more supportive of and what issues concern me the most, I will not do that here. The point of this blog is to explain exactly why I won't be doing that here. More so than religion, I've discovered why you just can't talk about politics.
This has been somewhat hard for me because I love to talk. I love to discuss issues that are hot on American minds. I get a lot of enjoyment out of conversing about religion or social justice or energy independence or the local government. I don't have many new ideas on these subjects, just what I've heard and read in magazines and the newspaper. For some reason, though, politics draw such an ugly, black line that I choose to distance myself from it. People seem to be either hard right, hard left, or undecided. It's easy to be undecided because no single candidate has all the right answers for our country. Sometimes people will choose to support a candidate based on their position of one or two issues. I don't think that's healthy, either. Another situation that upsets me - when a person votes Republican or Democrat because their parents vote that way or because they've always considered themselves 'liberal' or 'conservative.' In fact, I will applaud anyone, no matter who they want to vote for, so long as they've researched and are educated on the candidate. We should vote based on a candidate's position on key issues, not because of the color of their party.
It's more important to be united as a country. Politics and party lines divide, but at least we live in a democracy. Along with that, it's important to avoid the subject of politics if it divides, which it usually does. Most minds aren't going to be swayed by my reasoning, so why fan the flames of contention? What's the point? It's better to find common ground with your fellow man than to be right simply for the sake of being right. What good is being right if you're the only one who believes you're right? Another way to look at it is this: we all have different opinions and no two people will agree on everything. To accept this and find a common ground is the key.
So the next time politics come up, mum's the word from me. If you're looking for a more in-depth opinion on key issues, I'll be the guy in the lunchroom with his head buried in the editorial pages and duct tape over his mouth.
