November is getting closer every day. All of us who insist "I don't like politics" are still finding ourselves wrapped up in heated arguments, baited Facebook posts, and shallow name-calling. Do we really have to endure this for eight more months!?
No. We don't.
There's one strategy I know of that makes navigating politics less stressful, especially for young adults. It doesn't involve online rants or throwing things, so I figure it's worth a try.
Stop talking. Start listening.
Of course, this strategy would be best employed by the candidates themselves, but they have too much at stake to slow down and listen. Hopefully, we can choose to be different and set an example.
So much of political discussion goes like this:
*someone makes comment about candidate I don't like*
*I counter their point with facts about my favorite candidate*
*they bring up historical example of policy failure*
*I pull the morality card and ask them what kind of future they want for their kids*
You get the idea. Things digress quickly. Most of the time, it seems like we're always waiting for our turn to share our opinion. What would happen if we made a commitment only to share our opinion when someone asked, and instead genuinely cared what others had to say?
This is very doable, especially among friends. It becomes harder when you invite the biggest antagonizer to the party: social media. Facebook heightens everyone's defense and somehow makes us forget that we are communicating with real people. I can't scroll past 5 posts on Facebook without seeing some link or picture about a presidential candidate.
Now, I think social media is a good medium to share ideas and articles for discussion - it serves as a really good platform for information. What it's not good for, however, is a platform for discussing that information. Just as with the in-person conversations, things digress quickly. People who are friends in real life start calling each other names.
So in our quest to listen better, I'd like to suggest that Facebook is not your friend. I get the appeal to use it as a platform; I'm guilty of more than a few rants and argument baits myself. There's nothing inherently evil about an online discussion. All I'm trying to say is that online mediums make listening ten times harder.
Get off Facebook. Go get lunch with a friend.
Talk about politics face-to-face if you must. OR...ask someone how their week is going. Ask someone to share a struggle. Ask someone else what they wish they could see in our country. Practice the disciple of not sharing your opinion unless it's relevant or asked for.
I really hope I don't come across as condescending here; you should know that I'm still really terrible at this. I talk A LOT, especially when it comes to politics. I get on rants and it takes a lot to pull me down. But I don't think I can handle 8 more months of this. Things need to be different.
So will you join me in learning to listen? Can we call each other out, to stop a Facebook debate and say "hey, let's go get lunch and talk instead"? I've seen many of my friends who are really good at this; let's keep it up.
