Politics has become somewhat of an interesting subject to me. It has both become an institution of great interest and the bane of my existence and the world's for that fact. It is only in there to divide us, and It had been this way for the better part of the last century. Of course there are times where we are brought together in the case of World War II and 9/11, yet otherwise, politics is simply a group of people who are supposed to be debating over the solution of problems that have turned into a group of stubborn boulders arguing about if there even is a problem at all. This, if you ask me, is the opposite about what was intended. We can get into the semantics of the constitution and what the founding fathers meant all day, but my fundamental argument is that it was never intended to be this way.

People riot, protest, and fight all day, and it all seems to be pointless to me. It’s fine that people do this, in fact, I support it, yet I find myself in a situation where I am battling between what I know and what I am finding out, where I am from and where I am now, and where I wanted to be and where I am going. With that I begin thinking. What is the point? Why must I have an opinion or why must I have a say in everything? Why let politics and these newly termed “culture wars” run my life, because I don’t believe, nor want, the government to run my life that much. I’ve too much to do, too many places to, and too many people to have relationships with to let politics divide me from others in this way. In other words, I don’t think that the government and politics matter that much.

This is obviously a personal case, and I am not trying to persuade anyone with this article. This is simply a declaration and, what I think to be, an interesting viewpoint on the state of the world.

Where did this viewpoint come from? Recently, I went to a Switchfoot concert. It was amazing, they put on a great show and it was so cool to finally see my childhood band, but I digress. During the concert during a low point, Switchfoot’s vocalist, Jon Foreman, stated “my hope was never in Washington DC.” This can be viewed in a variety of ways, but to me and what I believe Foreman was alluding to was that hope lies within humanity. Forgetting about the wave of information and opinions is a way to start to appreciate humanity and the beauty we bring to this planet.

So starting now, I will concern myself with politics no more. The process of vigorous tongue holding begins. What about my civic duty? Isn’t my duty to vote and involve myself? In some definitions and viewpoints; however to my, my civic duty is not to kill, steal, or manipulate that is it.