I'll Drink to That
One topic of particular interest as 2008 begins is the wide world of politics. On January 3, I could not escape the coverage of the Iowa caucuses. Nor did I want to. I had been trained well by the media to be come a politics junkie.
Well, I shouldn't really claim to be a junkie. I occasionally get excited and passionate about politics, but not as much as some - even those within my own age group. While I do like to keep up with current events, such as the latest Virginia Tech football player to have a run-in with the law, I rarely follow every detail about politics. I guess part of my lack of enthusiasm stems from a belief that not much hope is present in the political realm. No matter who's in office, history suggests they're doing a horrible job. Maybe part of it is a desire to find the nonexistent middle ground for which so few people are willing to search. A friend of mine is a strong supporter of the ideological middle, but so few politicians are on his side. Funny, since it's not really a side at all. It's more like the fulcrum of a see-saw with two ugly kids on either side.
These two sentiments - hopelessness and the alienation of sensible compromise - are shared by a lot of people. Either the system does not work or it's so absurd and polarized that common sense can't help you. If this sounds similar to recent lines of your own thinking, then might I suggest a reevaluation of your perspective? After all, we tend to get to engrossed in our pessimism when watching the news on television. I get particularly pessimistic whenever I go home and am inevitably forced to watch Fox News. Hey, it's my grandfather's remote control, not mine. Anyway, back to gaining a fresh perspective. It's really just a two step process:
Step 1. Leave the country. Ideally, you already have a passport and a few thousand dollars, so this should be a piece of cake. I'd recommend visiting Europe. Many people will look past the fact that you're American and instead love using you as a tool to practice their English. People helping people.
Step 2. Drink alcohol with a bunch of foreigners. Odds are they'll pity you rather than hate you for being American if you can somehow show that you've got an open mind. If you can't think of anything original, just say that you hate George Bush. That usually works.
It sounds simple - since there are only two steps - but it works. When I was in Ireland, I met a very nice guy from Iran. Tensions were (and remain) high between our respective governments, but he and I got along perfectly. Politics came up more than once, but rather than get into a heated conflict, we both offered observations about our governments from a citizen's point of view. I think it really helped that we both hated our elected representatives. The point is, it was friendly discourse rather than some political fistfight. It really began to teach me that the global community is really just a huge collective group of different people. It doesn't really matter where you're from or what religion you are. We'll probably still be able to enjoy a beer downtown.
Speaking of which, that friend I mentioned before had a similar experience. He was out drinking with a bunch of students from a number of countries formerly of the Soviet Union, as well as a guy who had grown up in East Germany. A mere fifteen years prior, that likely would have been impossible. I guess the moral of his story is that though it rarely seems like it, we are occasionally making progress towards realizing that we're all not that different. We all share the same Earth. We all wish to see peace prevail. We all like beer.
Well, I shouldn't really claim to be a junkie. I occasionally get excited and passionate about politics, but not as much as some - even those within my own age group. While I do like to keep up with current events, such as the latest Virginia Tech football player to have a run-in with the law, I rarely follow every detail about politics. I guess part of my lack of enthusiasm stems from a belief that not much hope is present in the political realm. No matter who's in office, history suggests they're doing a horrible job. Maybe part of it is a desire to find the nonexistent middle ground for which so few people are willing to search. A friend of mine is a strong supporter of the ideological middle, but so few politicians are on his side. Funny, since it's not really a side at all. It's more like the fulcrum of a see-saw with two ugly kids on either side.
These two sentiments - hopelessness and the alienation of sensible compromise - are shared by a lot of people. Either the system does not work or it's so absurd and polarized that common sense can't help you. If this sounds similar to recent lines of your own thinking, then might I suggest a reevaluation of your perspective? After all, we tend to get to engrossed in our pessimism when watching the news on television. I get particularly pessimistic whenever I go home and am inevitably forced to watch Fox News. Hey, it's my grandfather's remote control, not mine. Anyway, back to gaining a fresh perspective. It's really just a two step process:
Step 1. Leave the country. Ideally, you already have a passport and a few thousand dollars, so this should be a piece of cake. I'd recommend visiting Europe. Many people will look past the fact that you're American and instead love using you as a tool to practice their English. People helping people.
Step 2. Drink alcohol with a bunch of foreigners. Odds are they'll pity you rather than hate you for being American if you can somehow show that you've got an open mind. If you can't think of anything original, just say that you hate George Bush. That usually works.
It sounds simple - since there are only two steps - but it works. When I was in Ireland, I met a very nice guy from Iran. Tensions were (and remain) high between our respective governments, but he and I got along perfectly. Politics came up more than once, but rather than get into a heated conflict, we both offered observations about our governments from a citizen's point of view. I think it really helped that we both hated our elected representatives. The point is, it was friendly discourse rather than some political fistfight. It really began to teach me that the global community is really just a huge collective group of different people. It doesn't really matter where you're from or what religion you are. We'll probably still be able to enjoy a beer downtown.
Speaking of which, that friend I mentioned before had a similar experience. He was out drinking with a bunch of students from a number of countries formerly of the Soviet Union, as well as a guy who had grown up in East Germany. A mere fifteen years prior, that likely would have been impossible. I guess the moral of his story is that though it rarely seems like it, we are occasionally making progress towards realizing that we're all not that different. We all share the same Earth. We all wish to see peace prevail. We all like beer.
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