| Politics Is Frustrating |
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| Written by Alberto Pareja-Lecaros | ||||||||
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Taken from www.juniorpolitics.com When was the last time that you got annoyed or upset because someone had a different political belief than you? If you are into politics and keep up with it, or discuss it on a regular basis, then probably fairly recently. Today while listening to The Inner Loop, I quickly noticed that two of the hosts, David Burd and Jessica Doyle, had been replaced by Jim Bohannon. I later found out that Burd and Doyle are on vacation for the week. Now, how is this relevant at all? I'm getting to that. I tune in to the radio listening to a fierce debate between Stephanie Miller and Jim about what kind of supporters Obama has. The conversation gets even more heated when the it starts to move on to other issues such as oil and the war. Stephanie comments about how she's now annoyed, which brings on some laughter from both ends, and the conversation ends. All this while I'm going wow, now I wish I could have that every day. Jim, being a Republican, and Stephanie, being a Democrat, both have strong opinions about these issues, and because they are both well-informed, the discussion was rich in content and I thought it was much better than listening to three people mostly agree. That's not to say I don't want David and Jessica back, but I wish there were a program that put both a strong Republican and a strong Democrat as hosts. These types of discussions that constantly and consistently challenge what you believe is I think the best kinds of discussions. Only by doing so can you truly start to see both points of view and begin to break away from short-sightedness and close-mindedness. I mean when everyone tells you you're right and agrees with you, how can you ever start to believe that you may be wrong? For anyone to think that his/her way is the best way seems slightly arrogant to me, wouldn't you think? So of course when someone else comes along and disagrees with you wholeheartedly, you're going to get annoyed, upset, and frustrated. I find no frustration when I discuss politics with someone else. The reason being that I know I can be wrong, and I know I don't know everything there is to know about, well, anything. There's always going to be someone who's more of an expert in a topic than you are, or someone who sees a situation from a different direction, and you need to listen in on their points of view. Isn't it not best to know the other side's argument before a formal debate? The same thing applies here. It may seem easier to simply disagree with the other side no matter what, but again that's probably not the best thing to do. I remember how Jim would simply state that, he supports the war. No argument. No explanation. No nothing. He simply stated that he supports the war and that they are in disagreement. Can you dismiss Jim as an idiot? No, not really. He hasn't stated why, or given any false information to claim that he may be an idiot. In fact I don't even know why he supports the war. Thus how can I make any conclusions about who he is and how he thinks? I could say that he's an idiot based on my own personal reasons against the war, but that would be an unfair judgment. By doing so I am saying that my view is the only view, I'm correct no matter what, and anyone who disagrees with me in the slightest is an idiot. That feels wrong to me. It's important to remember that a lot of people are going to have differing opinions, and it's important to figure out why and to see things from their perspective before interjecting your own. If you don't, you're going to have a frustration discussion with those of other opinions a lot of the time, and I'll go as far as to say most of the time. -Alberto Pareja-Lecaros
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Christy said:
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People have become cheerleaders for politicians. They don't care what they are voting for, or what ideas they endorse. They simply know, "So and so said this...." and they cough up arguments like an old smoker. I uderstand, politics really IS frustrating. p.s. Isn't Hannity and Colmes a Republican/Democrat show? |
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ccrain said: 
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I get frustrated when I hear the left talking about 'Pro-Choice' and 'anti-war.' It's like the left doesn't value life or security. But, I don't usually lose my cool or anything, just get frustrated. Good post! 
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