Tags
Debate, Distractions, Expressing Yourself, Ignorance, impending doom, Intellegence, Limited viewpoint, March of Time, middle age, Partisan Politics, Political Hate, Social Media, Veiled Censorship
Generally I try to stay away from politics in this blog.
I am definitely not saying that politics doesn’t have its place in the writing process; in fact, political science is one of the passions that I draw from on a daily basis for ideas and inspiration. Some of the finest examples of science fiction writing is built on the backbone of political science. From dystopian future worlds like 1984, Soylent Green, or Blade Runner(which are really just reflections of their day and age) to positive dreams of what we hope to become like Star Trek (all versions), the debate over politics, class, and economics are the building blocks of some of the greatest stories of all time.
I just feel like this blog is a place for me to express myself about the creative process not necessarily where I discuss or debate the issues and topics my writing are based upon. (Not yet anyways…We will see how things go after I publish the book…)
So what’s got me all riled up about politics today?
Well…when I should have been editing my book, somehow I got sucked into the hoopla today of the Supreme Court actually doing its job. Like millions of other Americans around the country, I used the tools of my day to express my feelings and thoughts about it; Facebook, Twitter, etc…
While doing so, I found myself bombarded by what I perceive as a serious growing concern for every intelligent American. Sometimes hidden in funny memes and at other times straight calling people out over it in open feed, there seems to be a rise in the acceptance of serious negative conversation regarding expressing yourself politically on social media.
Somehow Americans using their “constitutionally” protect right to express themselves over what is the cornerstone of American culture; political science, has suddenly become verboten on Facebook and other social media sites and this is earnestly worrisome to me.
One does not need to be a constitutional scholar or a professional lawyer to wonder why we are one of the only countries in the world without universal government backed health care.
One does not need to be an economist or mathematical theorist to question why the government can’t pay its bills and yet we still spend more on defense than the next twenty five countries combined.
Andrew Jackson learned law on the job, Abraham Lincoln saved a nation without a degree from a major university, and Albert Einstein had difficulty doing basic math; all of these men had their flaws but what they have in common is their determination to express themselves and by doing so they changed the world.
We need to discuss these things, and not just in fiction, art, or films. We need to discuss them on Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, and G+ because these are the tools of communication in our time. Like the radio, films, television, ye ol’ yellow sheet newspaper and bardic tales; these new technologies have become part of the lexicon of communication in a modern age.
They drive debate at the water cooler, the dinner table, and in the bedrooms of America; and these are good things. No problem in the world is ever fixed just cause random guy woke up one day and said “You know, things really should be this way…”
It takes intelligent debate to reason out the correct path and saying that these tools are off limits to political talk because you don’t want to see it while searching for your latest band update or another LolCatz meme from your best friend who you haven’t seen in ten years is ridiculous.
Oh I’m sorry…Are my thoughts on us doing the right thing by not cutting off some poor kid who couldn’t get health insurance because of a pre-existing condition getting in the way of your silly cat picture time while you check in at the trendy restaurant of the week? Well…maybe if we didn’t spend 553 Billion dollars (that is this many zeros: 000,000,000) on defense, we could afford real universal health care like Canada, the U.K, or almost every other civilized country on earth, and then you wouldn’t have to see me talk about it anymore.
After that; with your now free health care, you could go seek help from a trained therapist so they can explain to you why it’s sick that you insist your cat really does think like an idiot even though it is smarter than you are.
You know why?
House cats got universal health care, that’s why. They figured it out a long time ago. If we live with the humans they will feed us, house us, and when we are sick they will love and care for us.
Too bad it has to be a nationwide debate to care for each other in the same way.
So in conclusion…lay off the political hate on the social media sites. If you don’t agree with someone, come up with a valid, factual, logical debate and argue till your voice gives out or hands cramp up.
But don’t ever insinuate that I shouldn’t talk about something.
Rich men rarely give anything away for free, so I’ll be damned if I’m not going to use the tools some billionaire tossed at me and said “Express yourself…” just because someone I used to know doesn’t want to hear it.
Now…back to editing.