America

I'm registered independent because I don't want to be a democrat or a republican or a libertarian or a green, I want to be an American who comes to my own conclusions. I've never understood the concept of subscribing to a group (and what that group believes) rather than a set of independently understood ideals. I have a number of reasons for this, but high on my list is a belief that organizations comprised of like-minded individuals lead to groupthink, and groupthink leads to a fortification of beliefs that is often coupled with an insulation to those who question their beliefs. Pursuant to this, I find subscribers to organizations of like-minded individuals are often told what the organization believes, and this leads to "talking points" and what I like to refer to as "responding points." These people know what their organization believes (and how to recite it) and they know how to respond to people who espouse a different belief. And the danger in this is that it becomes automatic for a lot of these people, and it helps feed their insulation. This is okay for some things, but not okay for social and political opinions.

If you are reading this, you are likely aware that to this point I have found myself right of center for most of my life. This has caused me a fair amount of grief and nagging from both my liberal and conservative friends. I'm not complaining. People have the right to question me, and it's up to me to have answers. If one's beliefs aren't occasionally questioned, either by himself or by others, they will never evolve, and that is dangerous. But I feel that all too often I am questioned by those who are unwilling to hear my beliefs beyond my answers. "You think people should have the right to keep and bear arms? You Republican war monger!" "You think gay people have the right to marriage? You Liberal Hippie!" People hear what they hear and draw an immediate conclusion. It's exhausting.

My conservative friends have a very black-and-white view of the way the world works, and this lends itself to being very inhospitable to people like me. It is all or nothing with them, and they are very supportive of their own kind. They think I am a fake because I don't subscribe to National Review and I question John McCain's VP pick. My liberal buddies, on the other hand, are incredibly passionate. There's a definite "us against the world" attitude in the liberal community, even when that isn't the case. And they go after their causes with an intoxicating vigor. However, that vigor often leads to intolerance and occasionally clouds them from fully considering the best way to achieve their goals as well as what achieving their goals would actually mean.

But I don't believe that every conservative is close-minded and stubborn or that every liberal is flaky and misguided -- I think there is a continuum that exists between those two extremes (and frankly, that continuum extends well beyond the two extremes I mentioned), and people exist on this continuum . And more specifically, people's individual beliefs oftentimes occupy different parts of this spectrum. You are allowed to support gay marriage but think that global warming might not be entirely anthropogenic. That's okay.

This brings me to a couple of nights ago, having a conversation with my father in which I attempt to explain to him my feelings on Obama and McCain and that while I'm not particularly excited by either of them, I think I'm voting for Obama. I proceeded to attempt to lay out a number of well thought out ideas to support my decision, but I found that trying to get through to him was nearly impossible. He's a McCain guy, and I'm fine with that. Reasonable people are allowed to vote for McCain. But what frustrated me was my dad deciding that since I wasn't on board with a McCain presidency that I was a flake. "I guess you can't move to San Francisco and not catch the disease [of liberalism]." Those were his exact words, and I'm going to tell you it pissed me off. I don't care that he thinks I'm a liberal, I care that he has caught the disease of unreasonable discourse. I'm instantly unreasonable because I think McCain has shitty education policies and doesn't deserve to be president just because he's a war hero (and he is). Really? I think it is sad that this is what discourse has come to.