Some people are eager to give advice. It must make them feel like they're being helpful. Such advise usually isn't much help. Recently, after getting lots of advice about what to do and where to go for a job, my husband heard a third party to the phone conversation, say in the background, "tell him to "ask Obama for money." How this comment was helpful is beyond me.
Comments like these seem to betray a significant level of ignorance regarding the way our political system works or at least how it's supposed to work. Would they have recommended that we ask Bush for money? I think his pockets were deeper.
A two-party democratic system was envisioned to provide a healthy tension or dialectic between differing philosophies regarding the governance of the United States. All too often people seem to completely miss the point and engage in a lot of nasty name calling. The drive to discredit the opponent becomes the focus and the issue itself is often lost in a lot of emotional rhetoric. Such arguments are primitive pleas to our baser motives. Citizens become reactionary. We all suffer. Ignorance about the issues is common place. The solid facts that would help us decide wisely are surprisingly difficult to obtain.
Too many people want to proclaim that "they know how things should be." They make comments based on their impressions. Looking for the truth doesn't seem to enter into their thinking. It's easier to allow someone else to tell them what the truth is. Ok, so I'm going to admit this for all the world to read: most of the time, I've got no idea what's really at stake. Life is very complicated, especially when you layer the bureaucracy of government on social issues. There are few easy answers. Yet, a whole lot of folks seem to want to believe there are. It's simpler that way. They don't have to assume personal responsibility. They don't have to question, read, research and listen to opposing viewpoints. They can sit on their version of the "truth" as if truth were a silly commodity that only some people are entitled to.
Some years ago, in a minor dispute with some neighborhood "Christmas vigilantes"who wanted me to believe that if we were told we "had to decorate for Christmas" we had some legal obligation to do so used this "logic" as an argument" "If the President of the United States told you to do something you would have to do it"
They said this in all earnestness. I wondered what country they lived in. It wasn't the same one I did. That was pre-9/11. Citizens had more civil liberties then. There was and usually still is, a political process that had to be followed to make something into law. . .a law like having to decorate for Christmas.
I've heard some Catholics make the same argument for the pope's statement. Apparently, they've never heard about the "ex cathedra" statements versus the rest of the things the pope might say or recommend. I try to listen politely and nod my head in the right places without seeming too committed to what they are saying. Usually, I just quickly change the subject and try to get away from the precipice of their ignorance as I teeter on its edge. I sometimes wonder what swallowed their souls.
Over the years, I've discovered that a lot of people, sometimes the most vocal people really have no idea what they are talking about. Knowing how things are supposed to be has gotten much more important than admitting one doesn't know. Doesn't anyone ask for more information any more? What is being passed off as truth or the "right way" is often just an opinion.
For the record, it's really ok for some one to have a different opinion. It's a healthy thing in a system that has more than one political party. It was intended to be the way to ensure that the differing points of view would "rub against" each other and "refine" a solution that would be in the best interests of all.
The last time I checked we still had the freedom to make up our own minds. I'm starting to wonder if that is still true. There are a lot of good people who have very different political views than I do. Some of them I even love. I usually avoid talk of politics and religion as if it carried a deadly and highly contagious toxin but today I'm coming out of the closet.
Here goes:
1.) I'm a democrat and a rather liberal one. I've got a strong tree-hugger side. I'm fond of owls and protecting their habitat. I believe in social programs. I believe that the way we treat the poor in our country is appalling. Corporations, money and power control the government more and more while the actual citizens, "the huddled masses yearning to breathe free" are still yearning.
2.) Most of the time, I don't know what the real issues are and what is true. I am convinced that big business and the corporate power structure needs to be held accountable. I'm even more convinced that we need to demand more information before making up our minds about anything. I believe we have a moral obligation to take care of each other and work toward providing everyone enough food and the ability to earn a living wage.
3.) I have a lot of strong opinions that I usually keep to myself for the sake of harmony. But, once in a while, I just get tired. When opinions lack substance, when they lack facts and when they are used as "personal advice meant as humor" I'll hold up a weary hand and say, "Here's a hand to tell it to!"
You don't have to agree with me, nor I with you. I'm a "free" human being with a mind of my own. As I struggle to respect opposing viewpoints, I expect the same courtesy from others.
Today, I exercise my right to believe what I want, to want more information, to say enough with the cracks about Obama or Bush or Clinton. . . Those guys give us lots to talk about but they're only part of the government. Each of us bears responsibility, as citizens of the United States and of the world. We need to open our minds and embrace the desire to know more and then decide what's best for all. Peace out! I'm leaving the building.
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