Do you ever bring up politics at work by accident, and then find yourself talking about it, or listening to someone else's opinions (that you don't agree with)? It happened to me today. I was looking at a political cartoon (the very funny Tom Tomorrow) and my co-worker noticed it. We started talking. I knew she was conservative, but until today we never talked politics. I made a silent promise to myself that I wouldn't get into an argument or make a scene or anything like that (like I did last year around election time with a different co-worker!). So I listened. And it's fascinating to hear how someone with different politics looks at the world. She said that she doesn't want another 9/11 to happen, and that "sometimes we have to do things that we don't really want to do." Also, she thinks it's okay to criticize the president, but that sometimes it goes too far. She doesn't think it's right to make fun of him, either. And that we need to be more patriotic.
She also thinks that criticizing the "war" is on the same level as not supporting the troops - a tired argument that really isn't logical. It's like saying if you criticize someone for ordering people to jump off a cliff, you're not sympathizing with the people jumping off the cliff. Well, of course you sympathize with them! They're about to die, for god's sake! I made that point to her, not using that comparison, but by saying, "Well, some people would make the distinction between the troops and the orders they're given." She seemed to agree with that.
How can we get through to these people? How can you bring up 9/11 truth without completely alienating them? I came really close last night to talking about 9/11 with this person, but I stopped myself. It isn't worth it, to talk about it at work. You just don't know how people are going to react. But the information is there for anyone willing to look for it. And that is the step that's missing for most Americans - the will to look for the truth, to look behind the lies. If you buy the official 9/11 story, then they have you. It's like a religion. You become a true believer. And this happens to people on the right and the left. It happened to me for a while...and I was on the lookout for Middle Easterners who I thought were going to cause trouble!
There was one thing that we both agreed on, and she was the one who brought this up...that there is a whole lot we don't understand about the decisions that the government makes. I think people of all political and religious beliefs can agree on that. So what does that mean? It means that we, the people, often feel powerless, ineffective...that we don't have a voice or a say about the decisions that are made. This co-worker also has a kind of nihilistic or fatalistic view about the world - that everything is coming to an end, I think is the way she put it. So why bother to try and make things better?
Well, you have to take that fatalism and polarize it - flip it the other way. You can voice your concerns to your Congressmen about the things that bother you. You can inform yourself about these issues and make yourself heard. I've done it, and I'm gonna keep doing it. I'm doing it this week. I'm sending a letter to my Senators about 9/11. I want answers, dammit! And that's what all of us should want.
