Politics: It’s a subject I rarely discussed with people. Why? I honestly have no clue. Perhaps it’s because of my tendency to be shy. Actually, scratch that. It is because of my shyness. That’s one thing that I wish wasn’t a characteristic of myself. If I wasn’t shy, I would probably be a lot more open in public. I’m generally very open online in places like Twitter and FriendFeed and my blog for that matter, but public speaking has always been one of my great fears.
Well, since I’ve become active on Twitter, I’ve become a lot more vocal in both the online world and the real world (trust me, it’s there; look outside your window). I’m expressing my opinions much more freely, and not afraid to either. One thing I haven’t conquered is speaking in front of peers (strangers I can do, peers… not so much), but that’s for another blog post.
Since I’ve been following folks such as Erin Kotecki Vest (@QueenofSpain), Dana Loesch (@Mamalogues), and others who are extremely involved in politics, I’ve now been discussing them more openly and what better time to start than now? Especially with the elections in two months. Granted, I can’t vote, but I can still debate and express my opinion. That’s why I have a blog; that’s why I have a Twitter; that’s why I speak – to express my opinion.
I am a very open-minded person and try my best to weigh each side’s arguments and choose what is the best in my opinion. Others… Not so much. If I’m not right, I’ll defend myself and my reasoning, but if I see I’m completely wrong, I will admit my mistakes. Any person, let alone a leader, should be able to do that.
Our country is in a desperate need of having things set straight, and this election can either make or break the country. I won’t say I endorse either candidate over another because, to be completely honest, I don’t know who I’m for myself. I probably won’t say I endorse either candidate until a couple weeks before the election. I was an Obama fan, primarily because he came from Illinois and living in Illinois, I want to support the hometown hero, but some of his recent decisions (namely him supporting the FISA act) have made me seriously doubt his leadership skills.
Am I glad this change in me occurred? I can say with complete confidence, yes. It’s opened me up into a totally new field that I rarely got into discussions over. It’s also made me more social and open with others. Granted, I’m not to the point where I can start talking to a random stranger in public, but it’s all about making baby steps, isn’t it?
Well hello there!
Politics is fun; I think the un-fun part can come from knowing that there exist those people who will react violently, in words or actions, to any form of disagreement. That fear suppresses honest debate and we’ll never get anywhere in this country without being able to intelligently – and without emotion, no heart-string reactions – discuss the issues that affect the country.
We all start somewhere!
And in high school, there’s plenty who will react violently. Just trying to talk in class about it gets heated and it gets frustrating to even want to keep a debate going. As much as we all want to live in a perfect world, it’s not going to happen. A shame too; you’d think they would want us to debate in a civil manner in school.