I was curious your thoughts as you were outside the US for so long and absent the political bickering.
I think arguing about US politics is a waste of time.
Myself I have some vies on how to structure this and that in society, what things should be done differently than they are done now in order to produce a better outcome. However, my confidence in my views is about 52% for the strongly held ones, and the others I'm very open to hearing different opinions.
But few people are able to discuss the topic objectively without getting emotional, so I've found discussing political topics - particularly the topics discussed in the media - to be a waste of time.
Take abortion. I think a person should be able to have an abortion if they want to. However, if a state has a majority of voters who want to ban abortions should be allowed to ban abortion, even though I'm pro-choice, what should happen if my view is in the minority......well, I'm not sure. I'd be interested to discuss it with a pro-life person. But the conversation is seldom logical, peaceful and enjoyable, usually the other person goes nuts and assumes I am similar to the right wing loonies depicted in the media. And my view on that question - "Should the SC be able to compel society to allow abortions in states where the majority of voters want it banned?" - isn't well developed, and I don't live in a state that might ban abortions, so I'll let others discuss the topic. Not that either side actually discusses it, they just say the other side is crazy and insane.
And in the end I'm much more interested in MY LIFE and it's surroundings than the big political topics of the day. Border controls, criminal prosecution policies, disparities in outcomes between the races, the federal and state budget deficits, whether Georgia voters should be allowed to ban abortion, or not, etc etc they don't really affect my life (as far as I can tell), so ...... I leave those policy questions up to the rest of the world to figure out. There are LOADS of people that want to focus on the big picture societal questions, and have those discussions with the rest of us, so go ahead, let them work on them, myself I'm focused on bringing my family to see A Christmas Carol at Walnut Creek's Civic Arts Theatre tonight, and where to park, and how to dress for the cold (we're not used to it after living for 20 years in the Philippines and the Middle East), where to eat dinner beforehand (home, or outside near the theatre, this is a big question for my family!) and I don't really care to discuss the big political topics that the TV tells me are really really really really really really important.
If I don't let the media tell me these topics are important, it turns out I don't care about them one bit. |
