Politically Speaking

Well, after taking a two month hiatus from posting, I am back in full swing!  I also have a new job that I love love love!

I thought I'd talk today a little bit about politics, considering we just had the 2012 Presidential Election and many social media sites are inundated with discussion.  Ok, I should clarify, I'm not going to talk about politics specifically but rather people's reactions to politics.

First, I want to express that I think it's amazing that we get the opportunity to perform our civic duty and vote for people/policies/etc in this country.  I think it's great that everyone can formulate his/her own opinion about matters and act on it however he/she sees fit.  There are innumberable resources available for us to use to determine our own views.

What I'm not particularly fond of, especially in these times of difficult political decisions, is the strength with which people try to force their opinion on others or accuse others' opinions of being incorrect.  For example, you can make a comment about your personal opinion on things, whether well-researched or not, and lo and behold (coined in 1808, a phrase used to draw others' attention to something) people may comment about how your opinion is incorrect for a variety of reasons:  you are closed-minded, uneducated, unaware, etc. 

An opinion, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is "a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter."  How can it be correct or incorrect?  How can it be verbally torn to pieces by someone who disagrees?  These are silly questions because in the mind of the person holding it, the opinion is his/hers and correct by his/her standards.  You can express your opinion, and you can even argue it to try to sway the opinions of others.  But you can't prove an opinion right or wrong.  It's not a true/false statement on an exam.  So go on, have your opinion; express it however you want to, but don't let others stomp on it in their journey of being the one who is "right."  Your opinion matters, too.

"Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice."  ~Steve Jobs