lets talk about politics

Who likes to talk about politics?... I'm not referring to politicians or news anchors, I’m talking about yall, anyone reading this, do you actually enjoy having controversial political conversations with friends and family? For me, it’s a yes and no type of answer. My problem comes up because it seems that every time that issue begins in conversation its usually following someone’s meaningless, undirected comment… "we're only in this damn war for oil!" and to top it off, these statements, at least in my "crowd", are often carried out along with excessive amounts of alcohol. I guess this could be another reason I’m prone to stay away. You see, I didn’t become a political science major because I want to go to law school or represent the great state of Georgia in congress, in fact I don’t really have any idea what I want to do once I leave this school. I choose this field of study because I am interested in being more educated about ongoing events and the issues affecting these global events so that I can understand how the worlds many different cultures work together, in some sort of way. So I guess it may be confusing why someone who voluntarily decided to study the subject without any goal in mind besides personal education wouldn’t like to talk about it in random circles. Well, the reason is this, it just amazes me how many people out there are absolutely and completely blind to some of the intricacies of politics, both domestic and internationally. To sum up one of the most controversial wars our country has ever been through in a statement which squeezes the multitude of obvious factors out of the equation and decidedly states that this entire war was simply a scheme to take the worlds eyes off of the truth, that we were going to Iraq for oil and nothing else, after oil prices have soared to new heights due to the effects of this conflict just astounds me to the point of silence. Instead of wanting to continue a conversation to help educate this poor, critical-thinking-deficient soul, I just want to turn and walk away looking for someone else to spend my brain cells on. (And by the way this isn’t a fictional example, I actually heard that statement and turned and walked away). I think what really pushes me out of those conversations is that I know that no matter what you do, 95% of the time any political argument isn’t going to solve anything, or change ANYONES point of view. No one wants to learn, they only want to throw out the last statistic they heard on CNN while they were in the kitchen cooking breakfast before heading out to the voting booths. I cant tell you how many times I have attempted to talk with friends about left v right, war v. peace or pro-life v. pro choice and ended up either in a debate that’s so heated that it ends up in a fury of very non-political talk or, even worse, that I end up hearing a plethora of complete non-sense in an attempt to back up my opponents side with facts and once again find myself astounded at the utter stupidity of the persons critical thinking skills, to the point where I have had to stop and ask them, “wait, please tell me you don’t actually think that what you just said is true, or even possible”.
Now please don’t think that I’m trying to say that I know it all, or that my views are always correct, I don’t and I have no problem admitting that. It’s the reason I want to learn more, but I am smart enough to see through the theoretical BS that people actually come up with, these conspiracy theories like: the bush family planned for years to attack the twin towers, to then start an unneeded war and get rich on the oil they are able to suck out of the ground while no one watches and then raise oil prices to cover it up… now they’re not all that crazy, but that is the type of logic I have encountered and it makes me wonder, it is the media what causes this overabundance of disconcerted views? Are there really that many people that have absolutely no idea what’s really going on in the world, and what’s most scary, was I ever one of them? I always hear that people from Europe despise the American people because of their narrow, hardheaded views and I don’t blame them. Now don’t get me wrong, I love this country, and I would go anywhere else but there is definitely something wrong when the majority of people who want to debate politics know nothing about the background of the issues their ranting about and believe 100% that they have the answer when experts, who get paid to solve issues haven’t been able to. Maybe it’s the oversimplification we get from media channels that like to sum up a 1000 year ethnic conflict that spans across 40% of the global mainland in a 15 second spot with a background picture of a guy in a turban holding a bomb, or maybe it’s the deep seeded bipartisan mantra which we have all learned to pick a side and sing for but something needs to be done to help spread the knowledge.
I read a bumper sticker that read “why do those with closed minds always open their mouths”, and another saying something along the lines of “I don’t trust people who decide their stance on an issue before they even know what it is”, obviously pointing to bipartisan mechanics where people simply put their heart and soul into whatever belief that’s been decided by party leaders and tweaked by late night crossfire debates. I think that together these two bumper stickers say it better than I have in this whole blog. Many of us pick a side and follow the decisions of that side without question, and proceed to debate it passionately without truly understanding anything about the issue and its embarrassing.
I may not have a full point here, maybe I’m just ranting and possibly showing my own faults through these words but, it was on my mind and I’d like to know what’s on yours so…. Type away.