Laying It Out There

I don’t do politics. I just don’t. And for one time and one time only, I will explain why.

Me not talking about politics does not mean I don’t have strong feelings one way or the other about some topics, it just means that I don’t want to talk about them with you. You see, my thoughts are my thoughts. My feelings are my feelings. They could be right, and they could be wrong. They could be based on facts or they could be based on “facts” that I’ve been presented with and chosen to believe because they fit my narrative. They could agree with yours or they could be in direct contrast to yours. They could make me friends or create new enemies. They could distance me from those that I love or bring me closer to others. I think my views are in the best interest of society and I think some of yours are the antithesis of those. You probably think the same. And, whether I like it or not, I accept that.

I also accept the feeling that some have that if we (collectively) don’t talk about these things plaguing our nation then nothing will change. I do agree with that sentiment - to a point. We SHOULD talk about the big issues facing this country, but we should be well informed prior to doing so. Debates should not be based on feelings as no one will ever win those heartfelt battles. Debates should be based on facts and, to be honest, I’m not sure any of us is getting actual facts these days. What we get are pointed fingers, skewed statistics, excuses, blame, and in some cases flat out lies.

I can almost guarantee you that at my most informed I don’t know 70% of the truth. I know what our politicians tell me. I know how the media will splice and dice those words for that perfect sound bite to either lift up or shoot down the speaker whose lips the bite came from. And, regardless of where you get your “news” from, those bites can raise a person to the highest office in the land or potentially destroy their career forever. It’s a slippery slope and no side is better than the other when it comes to the constant fearmongering, hate-spewing, character-assassinating bullshit that spills from their ratings-hungry mouths on a daily basis. And if you think your choice of information is factual while the other sides’ information are all lies then I’ve got some news for you. Yet, we all watch our cable “news”, read our newspapers, listen to our podcasts, and visit our favorite websites because we feel the need to stay informed. Honestly, we do it to ourselves.

Which is exactly what they want.

We, as a people, agree on more than we do not. We generally like each other yet we allow those feeding us information to divide us. They tell us that if someone believes the opposite of you that they’re not a true American. That they’re not patriotic. That they’re a horrible person and that if you agree with anything they say you’re just as bad as they are. I’m here to tell you that that’s bullshit. Utter. Fucking. Bullshit.

We’re better people, as a whole, than to fall into that trap yet here we are again in another never-ending election cycle telling the other half of the country that they’re wrong for believing in what they believe. We’re telling the other half that they’re wrong for feeling what they feel. We allow ourselves to demonize other people who are simply trying to make it through another day by attacking and degrading the manner in which they do it. We play the game by their rules rather than just accepting that people, no matter their race, sexual preference, gender identity, religion, etc. really present no direct attack on anything going on in our everyday lives. We allow ourselves to be told that the government is coming for our guns or we’re turning into a dictatorship. We allow ourselves to be told that giving people their rights as human beings will somehow lessen our rights. We allow ourselves to be told that because someone made a mistake in judgment years ago that all the good they’ve done in the interim is null and void. Yes, there are exceptions to these things but those are MY personal exceptions as to what I find acceptable or not. Yours are probably different. And that’s okay. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.

I guess what I’m getting at is this: I don’t do politics because I think we’re all being led by shameless shepherds who will say and/or do anything to get us to like them. Whether that’s giving them votes or giving them ratings, we’re following them like the sheep they want us to be. And the more we allow ourselves to be ignited with every incendiary opinion they have the more they will add fuel to that fire to keep our personal biases warm. I can’t allow myself to believe what they say and I don’t feel comfortable using anything they feed me as a fact. As a result, I feel I go into battle unarmed as my lack of confidence in the “truths” I’m told will never be able to match up with the conviction of one who chooses to believe the “truths” that they’re told.  That doesn’t mean I think I’m smarter than anyone as I’m not. It also doesn’t mean anyone is smarter than me. It just means that I’m not playing the game. I’m not going to debate and/or argue with family and friends about things out of our control. Instead, I will choose kindness. I will choose love.  I will choose to lift you up rather than put you down. I will choose to support differences rather than be threatened by them. I will choose to be a fellow human being. I will choose to be the best husband, father, son, brother, nephew, cousin, uncle, in-law, friend, customer, and co-worker that I can be.

Cause it is a choice, friends. 

It’s all a choice.

I’m betting that if each one of us just turned off the “news” every night and chose kindness this world would change a whole lot quicker than with all the hate we’ve been enduring for what seems like forever. We have that power.

THAT is a fact I believe in.

Thanks for reading