The World in Shades of Grey
Here's the problem with political debate, I'm discovering. The problem is that most people start out with the idea that they need to somehow change my mind, in order to have a positive result.
Some people will also try this tact with conversations about religion, but it's even more intense with politics, and this is my highly unscientific theory. Politics affects us all and it affects us immediately. Healthcare reform would impact everyone, gun policy affects everyone, as does drugs, foreign relations, taxes, the economy... Religion has that quality of being ephemeral, and far more philosophical, that makes it easier to dismiss someone out of hand.
Here's the problem. Everyone I've encountered lately that has disagreed with me has to be convinced to imagine the issue complexly, to be convinced to try and understand where I'm, or the opposition to their opinion, coming from. Very rarely in life are there absolute blacks and whites.
Take, for instance, healthcare reform, the hot topic of the day. There are downsides and upsides to every plan proposed (of the thousands and thousands proposed), and we're all shouting at each other without discussing the true issues -- or even stopping to imagine why someone might think the way they do.
There's a lot of LOLObama.... and LOLRushLimbaugh and not a lot of "Why do liberals think the way they do, and why do conservatives think the way they do?" Let's get back to the basics of political philosophy. Whether you're conservative or liberal should have nothing to do about which side of the aisle you stand on about abortion, or gun rights, or animal rights... it should be about how you think the world functions best.
If we take a moment, and we examine both sides, and we try to understand why someone might believe, for instance, that life begins at conception, or that animals have rights, by virtue of being alive, or that the "right to bear arms" is an antiquated idea in the world of today, then suddenly the discussion becomes not a shouting match, but a quest to understand another person's worldview -- and understanding, based on knowledge, not fear or irrational hate, is how we change the world.
Anyway, that's my opinion, thrown out to the world, without it being asked for, because I've been peeved about political discourse lately.
Some people will also try this tact with conversations about religion, but it's even more intense with politics, and this is my highly unscientific theory. Politics affects us all and it affects us immediately. Healthcare reform would impact everyone, gun policy affects everyone, as does drugs, foreign relations, taxes, the economy... Religion has that quality of being ephemeral, and far more philosophical, that makes it easier to dismiss someone out of hand.
Here's the problem. Everyone I've encountered lately that has disagreed with me has to be convinced to imagine the issue complexly, to be convinced to try and understand where I'm, or the opposition to their opinion, coming from. Very rarely in life are there absolute blacks and whites.
Take, for instance, healthcare reform, the hot topic of the day. There are downsides and upsides to every plan proposed (of the thousands and thousands proposed), and we're all shouting at each other without discussing the true issues -- or even stopping to imagine why someone might think the way they do.
There's a lot of LOLObama.... and LOLRushLimbaugh and not a lot of "Why do liberals think the way they do, and why do conservatives think the way they do?" Let's get back to the basics of political philosophy. Whether you're conservative or liberal should have nothing to do about which side of the aisle you stand on about abortion, or gun rights, or animal rights... it should be about how you think the world functions best.
If we take a moment, and we examine both sides, and we try to understand why someone might believe, for instance, that life begins at conception, or that animals have rights, by virtue of being alive, or that the "right to bear arms" is an antiquated idea in the world of today, then suddenly the discussion becomes not a shouting match, but a quest to understand another person's worldview -- and understanding, based on knowledge, not fear or irrational hate, is how we change the world.
Anyway, that's my opinion, thrown out to the world, without it being asked for, because I've been peeved about political discourse lately.