Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Polarizing Politics

As I watch the news and observe popular opinion I wonder, how did I arrive at the opinions which have made me the alternative thinker I am? My opinions cannot be described as conservative or liberal because really what do those titles mean and who can truly fit into a right wing or left wing mold. Sometimes I feel as if I am living in the Twilight Zone, how did the world become so polarized?

This is how…

It’s hard to find opinions that are independent of a singular ideology or political affiliation and I can only blame this on societies sheep mentality. Somewhere between the news reports, political speeches and the war on terror people gave up on contemplation and subscribed to someone else’s brand of reason. I am not going to be a conspiracy theorist but somehow we have been convinced that there are only two ways of thinking (liberal or conservative) and therefore to identify with one or the other is to take on a whole laundry list of opinions. No one knows what they believe in anymore they look towards their title to decide for them, “oh well I am a Democrat so I guess that means I am pro-choice”.

In the same way we have been cornered into passive support of our leaders and their policies regardless of whose interest they are in. You either follow blindly or get labeled as anti-patriotic and so we sign our lives away in fear of labels. The result is a chain link of opinions-You’re a patriot-You support the administration-You support the war-You hate the French. Huh? How did that happen?

A good friend of mine is the worlds most staunch republican, except that he isn’t exposed to the news and doesn’t care to be. However he believes Regan was God incarnate, thinks George W. Bush is his only begotten son and hates France for reasons he can’t explain. He represents the growing number of Americans who are subscribed to an ideology they don’t understand for reasons they don’t know. These are the same people who bought, “They are jealous of our freedom.”

2 Comments:

At 2:16 AM, Blogger D.B. Shobrawy said...

Magicman, I encourage you to comment more on the page, but goodness sakes man, dumb it down for the audience. I made a bet with my friends that "heterogeneity" wasnt a real word. I lost. Serioulsy though, your message rings true.

 
At 1:21 PM, Blogger Fætter Vims said...

Spot on! too easy to buy hand-me-down opinions. Making up one's own mind can be hard work, but requires one to dig deeper.
Keep up the sane posting.
cheers from Denmark

 

Post a Comment

<< Home