Lately - everyone wants to talk, but nobody wants to listen. For some reason, politics have become more divisive than ever. It's seemingly very important to have two distinct categories of people - liberal and conservative.
Instead of engaging in meaningful conversation - discussion even - we are at odds in a way that lends itself to fierce battle. If someone disagrees with you, there's a heated back and forth until someone finally gives up, shoots a hateful retort and leaves the conversation. Ultimately this leads to one person accusing the other of being unable to accept anyone who isn't like them. and the other person accusing that first person of being hateful and ignorant. And so the cycle continues.
Some things we all need to understand to create an environment conducive to change:
- There is ONE side here, it's humanity. We all live here, we all have to find a way to make it work or shit's about to get really unsafe for us all.
- We all have to give up some pride and be willing to truly listen and be open to a middle ground
- Not one person EVER needs to accept hate, ignorance, or bigotry into their world. If you are engaging with someone who simply does not understand they are speaking from a place of privilege, racism, sexism - remove yourself from that situation. That's not refusing to accept a different opinion, that's refusing to accept we have to continue the cycle we are currently in.
- Time is up. We don't have anymore time to keep fighting each other. Compromises have to be made and action has to be taken. NOW
I'm going to keep it 100 - I threw up in my purse hungover less than six months ago, so relying on me for all of the answers, that's probably not how we should save the world. But I think we can look to me for some guidance on how to start engaging in a better way. And even if we can't, I'm going to try.
- Communicate: Talk with others, not to them. It's respectable to stand by your opinion, but sometimes it's important to understand when your opinion isn't relevant, respectful, or productive. Stop already crafting a response to someone's opinion before you've even heard what they have to say. Everyone wants to peak but nobody wants to listen. For example. Gun policy. I don't really care if you think we need them or should ban them all - we have to all understand what we have right now is not working. So let's all be open to finding out what will work, getting research and facts around that and then committing to something that works.
- Educate: Everyone is an expert. Everyone has facts. Realistically, we are all probably mostly wrong or relying on the wrong sources. Educate yourself. Find legitimate sources for your news and facts. To be very clear, there is no doubt Fox News is incredibly bias so lets all stop kidding ourselves there. Understand where studies are funded when you quote their facts.
- Equality: At the end of the day, everyone is deserving of equality so if that's not something you're willing to accept or engage with, you've got to understand we are leaving you behind in this discussion. If you accept racism, sexism, hate, bigotry as existing in your world - if you refuse to acknowledge we have a problem with privilege and racism - we have to drop you off here because the future deserve better.
I see a lot of people in the world engaging with other people in the ugliest way. I've been accused of being hateful and not open to other opinions myself - and while that's extremely misguided (and often from the people who don't understand racism or privilege) - I think it would be ignorant of me not to pause and review what I say when that does occur. Not one of us is perfect, and we all have moments that we get too heated. So if you have the opportunity to reflect and improve - do so - if only to help produce a more efficient future. And ultimately, if you find yourself engaging with someone who truly isn't open to change - its important for your sanity - and for the sake of productivity - to simply wish them well and remove them from your world. There's enough well meaning people out there - on both "sides" that we can create a better future for ourselves and generations to come.