Politics and me

I've had a falling out with political discussion.

I just don't like it anymore.

I used to enjoy debating politics with people, but there have been a few changes in my life that made me... not necessarily apathetic, but... I just don't want any part in the discussion.

For one thing, I want to publish books, and I don't want anyone to not purchase my books on the basis of my political orientation. I know that's a cop-out, but it's true. I want to write books for children, and I don't want ______ political person to hate me so much that they won't let their kid read my work. My work is non-political; I just want to tell fun stories and get kids reading. If anything, literacy for kids is my personal mission. I think there comes a point where a writer needs to decide if they want to be all-encompassing or politically motivated, and I want to be all-encompassing. I want liberals and conservatives alike to buy my books and enjoy them. I plan to never donate money I make off of books to political causes (FYI, the thing I want to donate money to is clean drinking water charities for poor people in other parts of the world). I want buyers to be at-ease with me. I really do.

The second motivation I have for being a-political is the bigger reason: I just want to love everyone.

My oldest friend told me once that she didn't like certain people on facebook because they were always angry about politics, and it enlightened me. Who does like someone who is always angry? Not me. Slamming other people based off of their values and feelings is useless and makes you hold anger in your heart. You see this sort of thing a lot on twitter trends. Hashtags like, #SayThreeWordsAbout(insert political group). That kind of thing does nothing but spreads hate. Pulls us apart. I think the only way for any good to happen is to come together, and political debate does nothing for unity.

I might not agree with someone, but the path to political understanding comes from seeing their perspective, not from broadcasting your own. That leads me to my third reason:

Most people don't care if they're wrong. This was a huge realization for me, because I truly care to know when I'm wrong/mistaken about things. I like to be corrected if I get my facts messed up. I like to see where other people are coming from. I admit when I'm wrong. Truth is, though, most people don't want to know if they're wrong. Even if they do know, most people don't care. Most people don't care if the logic doesn't flow; they'll keep on debating the point long after it is disproven. This is the essence for why debate does nothing, I've found. People want to be heard, not to hear.

So, although I'm not apolitical or apathetic, I have chosen to back off of it completely, for my writing career and for myself.


Follow me @Oxyborb and check out my website at http://www.harrisonaye.com Thanks for reading!