Yesterday, one of my co-workers asked me if I was going to a tea party on April 15. Of course, he said this over the cube panel and not to my face. If he did, he would have seen the look of astonishment on my face. I shouldn't have been surprised. He's a Republican, like the half of our staff - there are only eight of us. Although, I'm not 100% sure if we actually have a fourth liberal in our midst. Anyway, my tea-throwing co-worker has never been a fan of Barack Obama and usually insists on trying to drag me into a political discussion. I refuse to succumb to his challenges. I'm a firm believer that politics should not be a dominant part of the workplace. It's a touchy subject, just like religion. Most people are passionate about both subjects, so I really really try to avoid them. I admit that I have talked about religion at work. No one is perfect.
So, back to the question at hand: tyranny or democracy? I really think that Jon Stewart expresses it best in the following clip. Do we really live in a society where if you degree with the person in power that you go the the extreme of calling him/her a creating a Fascist world or for being tyrannical? That's how I see the talking heads on Fox News - extremists. The part that scares me is that people watch that drivel and believe it and feed on the rage and unpleasantness.
2 comments:
you know, the problem with both politics and religion is that people have different points of sensitivity on both topics. that's what makes it so hard to discuss either civilly.
not to mention, louder, harsher discussion gets more attention, which is where the money's at, after all.
wow! i guess i've been out of the US awhile. i am speechless...
i think, in part, the problem with talking about politics and religion is that often we aren't the best about listening and really trying to understand the other side, which doesn't necessarily mean agreeing with it. but somehow calling one another names that don't even make sense, like calling obama a "tyrant" seem like they are of little help in the whole issue.
while it is different in europe, there are still polar opposite parties which like to say things JUST because they are the opposite of what the other party would say.
but i guess the good thing is that we do actually have the freedom to say what we think, even if at times what we say is stupid or ludicrous.
thanks for the post, ann! i think i need to watch more of "the daily show" online to keep up with some of the craziness in the US and the world.
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