Bryan W. Alaspa 1The problems with talking about politics
December 1st 2009 21:13
There was a time, not that very long ago, when I was gung-ho about talking about politics here. I enjoyed it. So much was going on and it was fun to take shots at it. Look, when it comes to what I believe in, my beliefs fall on the liberal side. There just isn’t any other way to look at it.
It confuses me when conservatives get so upset about that. I had a conversation via Facebook a while back with a guy I had to remove from my friend’s list. He insisted on arguing on my Facebook wall with me about the differences between being liberal and conservative. When I laid out the reasons I count myself among the liberals, by stating the things I believed in, he felt compelled to give me his counter-list to everything I said. Look, the point was I wanted to give him a list of beliefs I hold dear and have that explain why I am a liberal and that nothing he was going to say was going to change that. He was, apparently, so threatened by that that he had to counter each point. Of course, all of this just served to re-affirm, for me, that my beliefs were the correct ones to start with.
Conservatives seem to me to be like people who are very afraid most of the time. They are afraid of this thing called “socialism” when most of them probably could not explain it. They are afraid of gays being able to marry because they somehow feel it affects their marriage. They are afraid that terrorists lurk around every corner and that this somehow justifies being in some countries we are in. So afraid are they that they believe everyone should be allowed to carry a gun like this is the old west and we don’t have laws in place to protect people these days. They are afraid of other religions. Sure, they want prayer in school, but it had better be prayer to the right GOD and not so that the Muslim child or the Jewish child can say his or her prayers.
However, the problem with getting into discussions with people about this is that no one ever really changes their mind. That was why I had to delete that guy as my friend. In the end the argument would just go on and on and on and doing that on my Facebook profile wall, I felt, was not the place to do that. He was not going to change my mind and I certainly wasn’t going to change his. I was going to still see his beliefs as incorrect and he was still going to see mine the same way.
That’s the problem with talking politics these days. People are so entrenched, myself included, that there is no way to change anyone’s mind. In the end, it just gets exhausting. What’s the point? No one listens to anyone anymore.
As I write this, the President is set to speak about his plans for the war in Afghanistan. To me, that is the only war we should be fighting because that was where the people who attacked us came from. However, we have been there a long time now and nothing much has changed, so who is to say what is the right thing to do? You can’t stop now because the people who attacked us are still there, but you can’t keep sending young people off to die.
In the end, though, what’s the point of arguing it? Conservatives will disagree no matter what. It just makes a man tired.
It confuses me when conservatives get so upset about that. I had a conversation via Facebook a while back with a guy I had to remove from my friend’s list. He insisted on arguing on my Facebook wall with me about the differences between being liberal and conservative. When I laid out the reasons I count myself among the liberals, by stating the things I believed in, he felt compelled to give me his counter-list to everything I said. Look, the point was I wanted to give him a list of beliefs I hold dear and have that explain why I am a liberal and that nothing he was going to say was going to change that. He was, apparently, so threatened by that that he had to counter each point. Of course, all of this just served to re-affirm, for me, that my beliefs were the correct ones to start with.
Conservatives seem to me to be like people who are very afraid most of the time. They are afraid of this thing called “socialism” when most of them probably could not explain it. They are afraid of gays being able to marry because they somehow feel it affects their marriage. They are afraid that terrorists lurk around every corner and that this somehow justifies being in some countries we are in. So afraid are they that they believe everyone should be allowed to carry a gun like this is the old west and we don’t have laws in place to protect people these days. They are afraid of other religions. Sure, they want prayer in school, but it had better be prayer to the right GOD and not so that the Muslim child or the Jewish child can say his or her prayers.
However, the problem with getting into discussions with people about this is that no one ever really changes their mind. That was why I had to delete that guy as my friend. In the end the argument would just go on and on and on and doing that on my Facebook profile wall, I felt, was not the place to do that. He was not going to change my mind and I certainly wasn’t going to change his. I was going to still see his beliefs as incorrect and he was still going to see mine the same way.
That’s the problem with talking politics these days. People are so entrenched, myself included, that there is no way to change anyone’s mind. In the end, it just gets exhausting. What’s the point? No one listens to anyone anymore.
As I write this, the President is set to speak about his plans for the war in Afghanistan. To me, that is the only war we should be fighting because that was where the people who attacked us came from. However, we have been there a long time now and nothing much has changed, so who is to say what is the right thing to do? You can’t stop now because the people who attacked us are still there, but you can’t keep sending young people off to die.
In the end, though, what’s the point of arguing it? Conservatives will disagree no matter what. It just makes a man tired.
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Comment by Schmoozer
Schmoozer
I'm not a Liberal, nor am I a Conservative; I consider myself a moderate Democrat, someone who leans to the left on some issues and to the right on others, but always in moderation, never fanatical.
It troubles me to read about your proposed withdrawal from political discussion just because you can't immediately change things so they represent your way of thinking. I write, in my blog Schmoozer, mostly about politics, and I know I won't be changing anything, but I still enjoy giving my opinions, and I enjoy reading comments from those who disagree with me, as long as they are not disrespectful to me.
I too had to delete several people from my friends list, people who, when I posted notes giving my political opinions would fill my wall with trash and nonsense for weeks. It wasn't enough for them to just leave one comment; they had to leave comment after comment, with all the comments basically saying the same thing. Finally, I got tired of their childishness, and I deleted them.
Hang in there and give your opinions; I know you have things to say. Don't worry about trying to change opinions. Who knows, with a new attitude, your arguments just might move some to think differently.
Mike Kindel
Schmoozer