A perspective is a tool, a weapon, and a teacher all in one. Over the past years, a lot of things have happened that have created a lot of differing opinions in the American public. Opinions are no issue and in fact, they are an important part of what makes America, America. However, the thing that does concern me is that people are becoming too devoted to one side and are refusing to explore other possibilities.
America was built on freedom of speech. Our ancestors fought a war so that they could be free to express their own opinion. Today we tend to squander that right by forming our own factions based on opinions and tearing each other to pieces over them either on Twitter or in real life. Now I'm not saying that we all need to share one opinion or that we all need to get along. I understand that is an unrealistic and impossible goal to achieve in today's climate, and not only that then we would just become a society of mindless robots. What I do think can be accomplished is every single person looking at the other side of an argument. We even as junior writers understand the importance of a counter-argument. When we analyze writing we also analyze the other side of the argument as well and in many cases when viewing the other side opinions change. Even then sometimes we don't but even still viewing the other side of the argument still gives people a new perspective and a new chance to learn.
The issue that we see very much in the commonplace today is people unwilling to see the other side. Many politicians vote solely based on the party rather than the actual bill. Peaceful rallies and protests turn violent because people don't appreciate what they are saying. The need for change in America is great right now. We are faced with numerous challenges that we have never seen before and fully devoting ourselves to only one way of solving the problem will never work. Because it is as Wayne Dyer said, "If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.
This is incredibly well written. I too have seen how people have been divided due to their different viewpoints. It is okay to have an opinion, but it is unacceptable, even dangerous to act aggressively or with hostility to defend said viewpoints.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, just today someone accused me of shaming her on twitter because we had differing opinions on the topic we were discussing. In fact, I thought everyone in the thread had been respectful and we were just backing up our opinions, but this woman flipped out. I guess we all end up a little on edge and maybe overreact because we're so quick to jump on the defense.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your post. In my post this week, I mentioned how my family gets in a lot of political arguments. My brother and I support one party and my parents support another. We are family and never get aggressive at each other which definitely helps me understand and take both sides into consideration.
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