Dear World

Please Kill Me,

Here’s the thing, I don’t really give a damn about politics. Not that I’m some prodigious authority. I’m not. Though, nowadays, there isn’t anything we can do without being attributed to one group or another. That’s just the way these cookies crumble.

Despite the labels and my own lack of care, I do believe in respectful debate, discourse, negotiation, (sensual rubbing beneath the bleachers? #BeGentle), or whatever peaceful exchange will get the job done. We need to talk to one another. The deeper we draw the lines between us, the more awkward the next family gathering will be.

Egos collide. Facts are misrepresented. Insults are hurled. Still, it’s essential that we converse. If not, we defeat the purpose of our existence. We have to learn empathy. (#BetweenTheSheets)

Call the notion of it what you may. It’s an opinion and you don’t have to respect it. But if you respect me (as a fellow human), you should be willing to hear it. Ponder it. Chew it up. Spit it out. Accept it. Or Reject it. But HEAR IT. The same is true vice versa. The same is true no matter who you are. Listen how you’d like to be heard.

For the sake of argument, I’ll assume one stance or another. The goal isn’t so much to frustrate or pass off some red, white, and blue ruse. Rather, it’s how I actually think. There’s rarely one side that defines the complete values of an individual.

More often than not, my idea of ‘right’ is an equal blend of Donkey and Elephant perspectives (with a little idealism for good measure). Beyond that, I leave the war for elected officials to hash out. They’re paid to clash. Most of us are not. (#AskOJ)

With all the good that comes with social change, it’s given birth (or rebirth) to a poisonous breed of popular thought. The isolated, echo-chambered, poorly-processed, and fragmented extreme opinion. Again, there’s no problem with this. The issue arises when the hyperbolized-idea finds a mouthpiece, willing to render its ability to reason mute. That mouthpiece is normally problematic to any clear resolution.

Simply put, if you have an opinion that’s causing you so much grief that it manifests itself in rage-filled tirades that needlessly hurt other people, you have a problem. Equally harmful is the stubborn intellectual—too concerned with “looking right” as opposed to actually making the attempt. Ego’s a bitch.

Try to scrutinize any belief that you hold too strongly. Utilize conflict as teachable moments. Share what you know. Then let it go.

Outside of that, I’m sure that we’ve all got better things to do than bicker.

*sips coffee*

*leans back*

“…or do we?”

Until Next Time,

   – Antwan Crump