I don't pretend that some of my political and religious beliefs are shared by many others. I'm liberal. Really liberal. I'm not a Democrat. I'm an Independent. But it pisses me off that I don't get a real vote in the Primaries because of this (yeah, I'm even annoyed at the fact that we don't get more than 2 choices on the ticket at the end of the day either...grrrrr).
But I absolutely believe in the right, and even duty, of the public to engage in conversations about the issues facing this country - us, as individuals in this country - today. So when someone on my Facebook page says he's going to block posts from anyone who posts anything minutely political, I get annoyed.
Look, there's no question that we're all entitled to have whatever we do or do not want appearing on our homepages. But this person was suggesting that those of us that post our opinions shouldn't do so because our views aren't shared by all - regardless of our political leanings. I couldn't disagree more.
This person also suggested that a forum such as Facebook was inappropriate for such "discussion". Again, I couldn't disagree more. I personally find a place like Facebook to be PRECISELY one of the MOST appropriate forums to generate conversation.
What it comes down to for me is this: The only way for there to ever be change in this country is if we, the People, get involved. Even if it's simply having conversations amongst ourselves - between people who happen to agree, but even more importantly between people who disagree! For how else are the various "sides" going to find common ground except to discuss the issues from all perspectives?
Wouldn't it be nice if Washington could figure out how to do that as well? Then again, if the humble masses are incapable of doing so, why should they?
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I missed whatever led to this post, but I'm guessing that this person has no problem with like-minded people posting such things. I don't mind having discussions, but unfortunately, there are few people that can handle it. And I think we can thank the pundits for that. It doesn't help their shows to be pragmatic; it helps them to be outraged. There are few that actually role model proper discussion so until we change that, real debates will continue to be hard to come by.
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