October 6th, 2020

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I still find myself taking pride in being a political moderate but it’s increasingly lonely. Maybe depressing is more apt. I suspect there are quite a few more people who classify themselves as I do but have kept quiet like me because they are beyond exhausted at the thought of engaging with a member of the increasingly far right or far left. The lack of logic, the tribalism, the deliberate attempts to misinform – its no wonder so many folks disengage completely. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I’m not programmed to be able to look away. 

I created this little speck of dust in the internet universe to unload my frustrations, observations, regrets and occasional suggestions about our current state of political and social being. A proverbial void in the darkness into which I can scream.

One of the most regrettable things I’ve seen come out of the past few years is our lack of willingness to talk to each other about anything political unless we know the other person almost completely agrees with us. If we do have a conversation with someone on the other end of the political spectrum, the rules of decorum go out the window. Restoring our ability to talk to those with opposing opinions is high on my fix it list. Engaging in debate is healthy and helps us learn about the other. I can’t tell you how often I get an idea from someone I disagree with simply because they think and approach things differently than I do. In the current landscape these conversations are shut down too quickly or, even worse, not having them at all is a detriment. 

I’m a huge comedy fan. One bit that seems even more relevant now than it was in 2004 is from Chris Rock’s Never Scared stand up special: “The whole country’s got a fucked up mentality, man. We all got a gang mentality. Republicans are fucking idiots, the Democrats are fucking idiots, conservatives are idiots and liberals are idiots. Anyone that makes up they mind before they hear the issue is a fucking fool, OK? Everybody… No, everybody’s so busy wanting to be down with a gang – “I’m a conservative, I’m a liberal.” It’s bullshit. Be a fucking person. Listen. Let it swirl around yo head. Then form yo opinion. No normal, decent person is one thing, OK?”

That ladies and gents, sums up the sentiment of this website. I honestly don’t care if you call yourself Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative or any of the other political parties out there. I’m asking for people to use their own brain to mull over any and all ideas. Then form an opinion of your own and be ready to defend it with reasoning. At that point we can have an honest discussion. There’s a good chance we may not end up agreeing but at least we’ll have understood how we got there (and maybe even introduce a new perspective). In 2020, too often an exchange of ideas is nothing more than two people regurgitating their preferred tweet or cable news headline. We can do better.