A Reasonable Challenge

They say the two things you should never argue with anyone are religion and politics. These are said to be the two topics most likely to cause strife amongst otherwise friendly individuals, because in most cases the person has already made up their mind. But why would you make up your mind about something before you've even heard all the facts? And why bother even making up your mind in the first place, when new information could always come up?

The world is a complicated place, and it is often difficult to arrive at the truth. So, most people prefer to have the truth told to them. They latch on to the first person or group that seems to know what's going on and they parrot that entity's opinions as their own. And the worst thing is, everyone alive today has likely done this at one point or another.

Which isn't to say borrowing an opinion or two is a bad thing, far from it. There's a good chance that if you have any opinion on anything, there's going to be a decent number of people who share it with you. Hell, it's pretty likely that you'll find some people that agree with a lot of your opinions, which is fine, the problem is when you take it to the extreme.

The problem is compounded when we decide to make compromises. Maybe your affiliated political party takes a stance on social issues that you strongly agree with, and though you disagree with their economic stances you still support them because of how strongly you feel about their social agenda. Listen to me, you don't have to do this! Supporting the lesser of two evils only perpetuates more evil, it makes it easier for the evil to slip in. We've lost ourselves so much in the process of governing, and all the posturing that goes with it, that we've forgotten that it's supposed to be about results. We are no longer a government by, for, and of the people, but by the people, for the majority, and of the status quo. This is not how civilizations advance, this is not how we forge new truths about ourselves and our world. But we can get back on track, if we follow some simple steps.

First off, we need to forget the phrase, "I can't make a difference, I'm only one person." This is the rallying cry of the anti-revolutionaries, the banner of the banal, the perpetuator of the pragmatic. This is the reason we have two big political parties who justify their existence mainly as an attempt to piss off the other one. These people are so concerned with garnering votes and perpetuating their public selves that they no longer have any souls. They make all their decisions based on being as inoffensive as possible, and to get your vote they will lie straight to your face. And if you're casting your vote based on who is more likely to win, then guess what, you're one of them. Besides, if you believe your vote is just a drop in the sea anyway, then it doesn't matter where you put your drop, right? Better to vote for what you believe in, and wait for the world to do the same.

But what do you believe in now? Not so easy now that you're thinking on your own, is it? Well, don't sweat it too much, just do what you should do in any difficult situation, start small. Pick any single, specific issue, and just research the fuck out of it. Read the arguments of both sides, and read the rebuttals to those arguments. Try to search out anything you can find on it, no matter how small, no matter how crazy the opinions you find. Just bury yourself in information about this one thing, and eventually things will start to look clear. Don't worry, you don't have to do this every time, because eventually you'll start to see patterns. You'll recognize phrases that should raise a red flag, or you'll discover what kind of wording someone will use when they're trying to hide something. And it will get easier and easier to craft an informed opinion.

Now, as I mentioned up front, the hardest thing to do in the world is to change a person's mind once they've already made it up, so I'm not deluded enough to think that I'm going to make much of a difference here. In fact, there's a very good chance I'm simply shouting into the dark. But here I am, because even if I can't solve the problem, at least I don't have to be a part of it. If I can get through to even one person, that's fantastic, but even if not, I can rest easy tonight knowing that at least I tried.