“World Peace”: More probable than political civil discourse?
Posted by Brian
We are at a critical point in the political atmosphere of this country. The Internet has been around in a public manner for approximately 15 years now, and with the dawn of "social media", we are seeing an incredible voice rise out of the ones and zeros speeding through the internet tubes. A growing percentage of people are teaming up with other Americans with like-minded ideas, and voicing their opinion to Congress, and to the President. And instead of meeting up once a week to discuss and argue ideas, as it happened 50 years ago, we are seeing this discussion occur every minute of every day. Instead of a group of locals, it's a group of countrymen and countrywomen. To think you can speak with someone thousands of miles away *instantly* is truly unbelievable. And I say that as a man working in the internet industry. The technology continues to boggle my mind to this day.
But, as they say, with any great accomplishment there comes a price. The problem lying within any open and largely unmoderated medium is that, given enough people using it, you start to expose the "fringe" to a much greater audience. When I say "fringe" here, I'm not pointing to one particular side of the aisle. I'm pointing to both. I'm pointing to the two ends of the political spectrum.
These extreme conservatives and extreme liberals have no place in proper, civil discussion. They will hear only what they want to hear, and will say things only with the intent to divide. As a nation we must not become distracted with the ramblings of unstable minds - we must focus on solving the important issues that face us all. There is a saying - "The things which are most important don't always scream the loudest."Â Unfortunately, even if we were to try and listen for the important things, they would be drowned out by those demanding to see birth certificates of President Obama, or birth certificates for Sarah Palin's son Trig.
On the bright side, instability cannot sustain itself for long. The screams of a few will soon dwindle to the mumblings of a couple, and life will move on. But until that happens, we must not let ourselves be so easily persuaded by the fanatical claims on both sides. President Obama, like it or not, is not planning on turning the USA into a Muslim country, complete with compliance to Sharia law. Nor are Republicans trying to force the country into a shithole.
Both sides are trying to do what they think is right, and the sooner everybody realizes that, the sooner we can come back to having some civil %@!#ing discourse.