Erin Lodes

I find myself asking that question a lot these days. I live in the U.S. and if you haven’t been completely unplugged and out of touch with any living human being for the last year (or two really), you probably know we’ve been having a rather divisive political moment that has lasted an absolute eternity. No seriously did that huge thing only happen last week because I thought it was two months ago…

I will admit I didn’t get too into politics until the last couple years. I knew the deal but I wasn’t exactly learning the innermost workings of Congress the way I am now. I used to be of the persuasion that in the grand scheme of things, my vote didn’t matter. I no longer think that but that’s a topic for another blog post.

I am a very opinionated person so let me tell you, I have A LOT of opinions about politics, especially a lot of the shit happening right now. Ask the people closest to me, I can rant about what’s going on with the best of them.

There are a lot of reasons to not voice those opinions to people outside of my poor, beleaguered husband and friends I already know agree with me anyway. I don’t want to cause a rift between myself and family members I know disagree with me. I don’t want to cause an argument at Thanksgiving between family members I know really, really disagree with me. I don’t want to alienate people who might want to follow my blog or potential readers for the novel I’m working on. I don’t want to discover that the sweet person I enjoy working with has beliefs or a voting record that brings disappointed rage up in the back of my throat as sour bile. It really can be exhausting to argue with people who disagree with you and it’s not always the best choice for my mental health landscape. And on and on and on.

It seems most people think of politics as a conversation topic you should avoid because it could cause a big argument and it can get people pretty inflamed. But, see, here’s the thing. I think not voicing political opinions is part of what got us here in the first place. If you only talk to people you know agree with you, you’re bound to drive each other further and further down the same path. And when you’re in your bubble it’s easy to assume that everyone is either on the same page as you or reading a completely different book. Instead of maybe discovering that a lot of people fall in the in between somewhere.

Or maybe, if you knew that the person who delivers your pizza is someone affected negatively by some policy you support, you might change your mind.

Or maybe, if you knew your boss — whom you respect and believe to be an intelligent and caring person — believes differently than you, it might convince you to reconsider your own beliefs.

But if you can’t discuss politics because you’re terrified it will change your opinion of people you respect or love, or because you don’t want to start an argument, how will you ever have the opportunity to examine your own beliefs? How will we as a society ever grow if we don’t discuss dissenting opinions? If we don’t exercise some empathy and try to understand why those different than us feel the way they feel?

Now, I recognize that as a cis white woman born a U.S. citizen to two U.S. citizens who was never rich but also never had to worry about where my next meal was coming from, I understand I’m coming at this from a position of privilege. It might not be as emotionally taxing for me to discuss DACA because I have no personal connection to it and if I did, arguing about it with someone who doesn’t support it would be far more difficult.

But as a writer I have to believe in the power of stories. And if we don’t tell our stories, don’t talk about how we came to believe what we believe, then how can we create the change we want to see?

I’m not saying that we have to immediately ask the political affiliation of every person we meet, but should it really be a topic we avoid at parties? At work? At Thanksgiving? At the family dinner table?

I don’t think so. I think political decisions affect people’s lives, and that makes them not only worth talking about but crucial to talk about.

Anyway that just happens to be how I feel about it. What do you think?

This has been another episode of Erin Struggles With Things. Hope you enjoyed coming along on my struggle with me.