Politics -a repost

I have never gotten involved in politics. But, I listen to people make little political references and am ashamed to hear them mistaking generalizing-jokes and propaganda catch-phrases for philosophy or reason. Conservatives write off the opinion of a liberal because he is a liberal. Likewise, a liberal rolls his eyes at the view of a conservative.

I sat at my dining room table a few months back and listened to my 11-year old niece talk for some time (parents: try it, you might learn something). After a lengthy dissertation on the evolution of ancient Egyptian religious icons and how each varying incarnation of the same gods reflected the social and economic climate at the time, somehow she got onto the topic of politics. She was talking about how aggravating it was that kids her age simply hated various figureheads of political movements and such, and how they evaluated presidential candidates and political speakers entirely by their parents reaction to them, rather than thinking for themselves. She complained that if they were democrat, they avidly insisted any republican was a fool, but if you asked them why they had no better reason than that they were republican. The same would be true for the republican assessment of a democrat, of course. She said they don’t even know why they are republican or democrat.

What could I tell her? That most children her age haven’t begun to build their own set of beliefs yet, but are still just adopting what is fed to them? Perhaps that is true, but not entirely, as it contains some insinuation that people will mature in their ability to evaluate thoughts and opinions. It has been my experience that most people never do.

I hate politics and I hate to talk about politics, but I find myself with the desire to better educate myself on the subject just so I know the details with which to slap general reason across the faces of people sleep-walking in their comfortable, ignorant haze.
I can respect a wide variety of highly contrasting opinions if they are founded in some reason, but clinging to team colors as if they are valid ideologies disgusts me. Substituting partisan bias for thought is to shove away from the table of understanding. If you want not understanding, as it tastes too much like brussle sprouts to your twinkie-loving tongue, then do not presume to denounce other’s thoughts. Do not spout off at all if, instead of perspective, you can offer only a regurgitation of pre-processed fast-food philosophy.