It Is Okay To Dream
A little over 20 years ago the U.S. began the Gulf War with Iraq. I remember watching the bombs fall and the sky lighting up on TV as Iraqis fired anti-aircraft weapons toward the sky as US fighters flew overhead. I was eleven years old at the time and I remember not being able to distinguish what I was seeing on TV between what I saw in the movies. Meaning, I didn't put together that this was real and people were dying in those explosions. That morning, we read about the war in the papers as it was on all the headlines. I made some comment about how the US was going to "Mop the floor with the Iraqis", a comment I usually used to describe how the North Carolina Tar Heels would play against an opponent. My Dad quickly corrected me, sternly pointing out that this is real and not a game. It became clear suddenly and the imagery of war on TV became more meaningful to me. I grew up in that instance and quickly discovered the line between fanaticism and life and death. It may seem strange but I think a lot of people have problems with that line, even as adults.
I run a message board for ACC fans. I met a group of guys at the Charlotte Observer message board about five years ago. The message boards at The Observer became cluttered with morons and I decided to launch my own board and brought my friends along with me. The message board is a mix of fans. Mostly North Carolina Tar Heel fans but we have a few Duke fans and Virginia Tech fans. Of course the bulk of the tension is between the Duke and UNC fans that share the board. I found myself getting wrapped up in heated discussions, at times losing sleep over arguments. I wanted so bad to defend my opinions, often taking it too far. I would take the opposite stance on a topic just to avoid agreeing with a rival Duke fan. To me that's the definition of fanaticism. You become so enthralled with your passion for your team that you block out all other opinions and become blind to certain truths. I'm constantly pointing out to my fellow message board members that the players we complain about are just kids playing basketball. They put their pants on just like we do and (in most cases) go to class everyday. As a reward to us, they play basketball twice a week for our entertainment.
In my young adult life, I see more partisanship in our country than I can ever remember. We're bombarded daily in the media with opinions and views, arguing back and forth. It seems everyone has an answer for what is politically best for our country. An idea or law is proposed to right some of the wrongs and almost instantly a line is drawn in the sand. You either get on one side or the other. There's no in between. To me the main problem is that people treat the issues of our country and politics in general like they treat their favorite sports team. They see it as wins and losses and they want to "win" at all costs, blinding themselves to the fact that their is more at stake than pride.
There's nothing wrong with having passion for your cause or your country. There's a lot wrong in my opinion in having a fanatical view though. Fanatical behavior in politics has disastrous results and history is littered with examples of this. I was naively fanatical about our military as an eleven year old and quickly realized that they were putting their life on the line for our safety. I try to treat my political views with openness and acceptance. I often times don't take a "line in the sand" approach to them. I try and look at both sides of an issue and realize that their are good arguments on both sides of the line. I don't vote for parties, I vote for people.
One of my politically charged friends, who labeled me as a Republican, asked me how I voted in the last election. I told them I voted about 60/40, Republican to Democrat. They looked shocked and then congratulated me with a, "Way to go Robert!". It really irritated me. I don't cast my votes to get an "adda-boy" and a pat on the back. The fact that they assumed I vote straight Republican made me mad. One of my cousins makes his votes secretive. If you ask him who he votes for, he'll respond with "It's a secret ballot". This is why we have booths to vote in and we all don't all walk up to a wall and write our name for all to see next to a candidates name. To this day I don't know my cousin's political views. There's a lot to be said for that.
I often wonder what would happen if we all treated our politics with reverence and an open mind, where would we be? Fanaticism will always be part of politics though. Doing away with it is a dream that will never be seen but it is a dream and it is okay to dream.
I run a message board for ACC fans. I met a group of guys at the Charlotte Observer message board about five years ago. The message boards at The Observer became cluttered with morons and I decided to launch my own board and brought my friends along with me. The message board is a mix of fans. Mostly North Carolina Tar Heel fans but we have a few Duke fans and Virginia Tech fans. Of course the bulk of the tension is between the Duke and UNC fans that share the board. I found myself getting wrapped up in heated discussions, at times losing sleep over arguments. I wanted so bad to defend my opinions, often taking it too far. I would take the opposite stance on a topic just to avoid agreeing with a rival Duke fan. To me that's the definition of fanaticism. You become so enthralled with your passion for your team that you block out all other opinions and become blind to certain truths. I'm constantly pointing out to my fellow message board members that the players we complain about are just kids playing basketball. They put their pants on just like we do and (in most cases) go to class everyday. As a reward to us, they play basketball twice a week for our entertainment.
In my young adult life, I see more partisanship in our country than I can ever remember. We're bombarded daily in the media with opinions and views, arguing back and forth. It seems everyone has an answer for what is politically best for our country. An idea or law is proposed to right some of the wrongs and almost instantly a line is drawn in the sand. You either get on one side or the other. There's no in between. To me the main problem is that people treat the issues of our country and politics in general like they treat their favorite sports team. They see it as wins and losses and they want to "win" at all costs, blinding themselves to the fact that their is more at stake than pride.
There's nothing wrong with having passion for your cause or your country. There's a lot wrong in my opinion in having a fanatical view though. Fanatical behavior in politics has disastrous results and history is littered with examples of this. I was naively fanatical about our military as an eleven year old and quickly realized that they were putting their life on the line for our safety. I try to treat my political views with openness and acceptance. I often times don't take a "line in the sand" approach to them. I try and look at both sides of an issue and realize that their are good arguments on both sides of the line. I don't vote for parties, I vote for people.
One of my politically charged friends, who labeled me as a Republican, asked me how I voted in the last election. I told them I voted about 60/40, Republican to Democrat. They looked shocked and then congratulated me with a, "Way to go Robert!". It really irritated me. I don't cast my votes to get an "adda-boy" and a pat on the back. The fact that they assumed I vote straight Republican made me mad. One of my cousins makes his votes secretive. If you ask him who he votes for, he'll respond with "It's a secret ballot". This is why we have booths to vote in and we all don't all walk up to a wall and write our name for all to see next to a candidates name. To this day I don't know my cousin's political views. There's a lot to be said for that.
I often wonder what would happen if we all treated our politics with reverence and an open mind, where would we be? Fanaticism will always be part of politics though. Doing away with it is a dream that will never be seen but it is a dream and it is okay to dream.