Moving moderate
As I mentioned before, I don't generally read or write blogs. I'm also not allowing comments on my own blog because I would never read or respond to them. On the occasion that I do read and comment on someone else's Blogspot blog, I almost always click my name and reread my own blog. Then I'm usually tempted to delete the early entries, but I never do. For one thing, they are part of the landscape on my road of personal growth. Two, if I did delete them, there wouldn't be many entries left.I am somewhat embarrassed by my early entries, the reflections of another hostile right-winger. I am not that person anymore. While I do remain pretty conservative, I don't think liberal thinking is inherently evil as I did before. I'm trying to give everyone a chance to be heard and evaluate what he or she has to say on a case-by-case basis.
One of the early things I decided in college was the worst kind of person you could be is to be among the majority of Americans who are apathetic and/or lack the intelligence to form sound political opinions. Many other students probably felt the same way as activism runs rampant on college campuses. A few years later I'm on my way out of school and I'm seeing the younger students trumpeting their opinions everywhere, and it occurs to me that I'm sick of it. Moreover, I can see why those in power rarely heed them: all the editorials, letters, banners, posters, and rallies simply amount to whining. Nothing is actually getting done; everyone is just yelling at those holding different opinions. It was then I decided the next to worst kind of person you could be was a deaf activist.
I guess that is to say I think you should do more than call attention to a problem you think you see. You should find out enough about the issue to decide conclusively that it is a legitimate problem, which means that you are willing to invest yourself (time, energy, resources) to change it. If you aren't willing to work for change, why should anyone else? And if you aren't willing to work for change, maybe the problem isn't such a big deal after all.
We'll see what I learn in the next few years, but I hope that what I've learned so far is a step in the direction of maturity.
posted by Tyson @ 12:01 AM
