Political discussions generally have little value. In fact, they are usually tiresome. On one side you have knee-jerk Conservative-hating snobs and on the other side you have knee-jerk Liberal-hating flag-wavers. These two sides have more in common than they fully realize, namely they’re both convinced of their own certainty. In the words of Rodney King, “Why can’t we all just get along?”
My view on politics has changed over the years such that I don’t even like talking about it. It makes me instantly uncomfortable. The only thing that matters is what you can change, and that doesn’t mean protesting abortion clinics or Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants. What anyone else “thinks” or “believes” does not matter. It doesn’t matter to me, and it shouldn’t matter to you. Here’s why: Imagine two people in a political discussion, if both people agree then there’s no need for either of them to talk about it. If both people disagree with one another fundamentally, then no amount of argument is going to sway the opposing party. Politics is all about personal world-view. This is why there is so little compromise. Everyone is busying themselves with questions of abstraction and ideology. Questions of responsibility, obligation, rights, fairness, etc. Questions that have no clear objective answers. People see what they want to see, ultimately. This is why some people look at the Katrina disaster and interpret it as George Bush neglecting the poor, largely African-American population, while others look at it and blame the victims for not evacuating. You know what, sometimes bad stuff just happens. Sometimes the government is not as all-powerful as it likes to appear. Likewise, sometimes people can’t evacuate or choose not to for legitimate reasons. But instead of focusing on how to fix all the problems that comprise this new reality, many people just point fingers and throw out their opinions.
This is the main problem with modern political discussion. In this country alone, we have 270 million different and valid points of view. One for each person in this country. We are absolutely paralyzed by cause when we should be worrying about effect. An unending chorus with little to show for it.