...unless you've done a decent amount of reading on the issue at hand.
I'm not a political science major, caught up on the facts of current issues, or know a lot about the processes of politics - which is why I rarely get involved in political conversations.
Many people seem to think that they deserve to have a seat at the table when it comes to political opinions, or the discussion of what our country needs or what it doesn't, when they have little or no knowledge on the subject.
This has been one of my biggest pet peeves in the past several years.
I'm not saying that not everyone deserves a vote, I'm saying that the public needs to learn how to be more conscientious voters. If voters were more informed and well-read on important issues, problems in the political atmosphere, like with the recent repealment of net neutrality, would be fewer than they are now.
Since there was an influx of false information and corrupt sources being passed around during the previous presidential election, my high school decided to teach how to find accurate information. In government class my senior year, we were taught what to look for and what not to look for when researching political topics. I've never felt comfortable talking about something I don't know much about, and I felt the same way about politics until after this class.
This is a fantastic effort put forth by my teacher, he's the one who decided that this was worth teaching, but I don't think this is a national concern in schools around the country. There was a huge issue with fake news recently because citizens aren't educated about their own biases and taught how to find accurate information. If the public was more knowledgeable about research and sources, this would have been less catastrophic. Schools around the country should teach better research and critical thinking tactics for online articles and social media posts dealing with politics.
In the meantime, do everyone a favor and don't talk about anything that you haven't researched and read about - especially politics.