Every couple of years when election time rolls around I find myself disappointed in what comes out of the woodwork. I've always maintained my stance that people can be friends with wildly different beliefs but for some reason it always surprises me how people share those beliefs on Facebook and my response to it.
Firstly, it should be known that I love FB! It helps to connect people, I can share photos and thoughts and I can keep tabs on friends without having to get on the phone. I know, it's terrible but it's also in keeping with the age. The age of not wanting to talk so much on the phone but rather sending a text or email or FB update. While I want to hold on to the good old days of sending letters and cards by mail, I do find that I am increasingly using online media to connect with people. And if I don't connect over the phone, I'd rather just ask a friend out for a face to face drink or coffee or something.
FB is annoying for the same reasons that it is great. People are not bothering to connect outside of their computer (guilty), and it makes sharing thoughts and beliefs and having a rant that much easier. Because of online media, people don't have to be as accountable for what they say and do. People don't have to actually back up hurtful or charged statements. People have lost self control.
When election time roles around, I find myself getting swept up into people's blanket statements about opposing parties and their inability to think through the things they are posting. My initial instinct is to write a heated response because I am so appalled that my friend would actually believe what they just posted! Thank god for the Backspace. For me, Backspace equals self-control. For me, Facebook isn't a place to tell everyone that I am an agnostic social democrat with judgement issues - that's why I write this blog. Did I just label myself? Well, now you know.
I guess what I am most surprised at is my reaction to political issues and my own judgmental nature. So what that someone I respect posts that they like Mitt Romney? So what that someone just posted a sign saying "Get Rid of Obamacare"? And it's not just those that take a stand, it's also those who just say screw it all and just push any old button in that voting booth. What's that all about?
I don't like talking about politics because of this reaction. I want so badly to understand others and to accept their views on politics, but instead I get an immediate feeling of "what is wrong with you!" The truth is, nothing. There is nothing wrong with others' standing up for what they believe in and there is nothing wrong with telling everyone about it. There is something wrong with making political statements (and any statement for that matter) without backing it up with a well-though-out reason. Maybe I wouldn't feel so disappointed in the viewpoints of others if I actually knew why they had those views? I don't know all there is to know about anything really, especially politics. But I do know that if I choose to be bold enough to come out with some kind of political statement, I will be ready with adequate backup to my comments.
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