Viewpoint: Politics and pigtails
By Charlotte Wilson
I am sure that just like me; you are all beyond sick of the political messages being shouted at us on a daily basis this time of year. Signs, commercials, social media, you can’t go anywhere without the negativity jumping out at you like a 2-year-old hopped up on Sunny Delight.
I am all for supporting whatever cause is close to your heart. Really. It is a huge part about what makes our country such a beautiful place to live. Our First Amendment right is unparalleled in any other country in the world and again, it is glorious. The fact that if you wanted to, you could grab some Sharpies and poster board and sit outside of Subway boycotting their meatball subs because you had a bad meatball experience when you were 5 and think that they should all be banned in America is a pretty staggeringly amazing thought.
However, I keep going back to the same thought. Mother Theresa said “I was once asked why I don’t participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.” I don’t know about you, but if this school of thought is good enough for that lady, I will agree everyday of the week and twice on Sunday. So instead of boycotting meatballs, why doesn’t she make a sign about how awesome a turkey foot long is?
This leads me to a question that has been running around in my head for some time now.
Since when did our moral compasses become so misguided that now we focus on tearing down our “opponents” in life instead of focusing on the positivity and beauty of our own thoughts and beliefs? This is something I try to instill into my 5-year-old on a daily basis.
“So-and-so has an iPad,” she’ll say. “That makes me sad.” And then I wrack my brain on how to get her to focus on what she has instead of sending out negative vibes on her kindergarten brethren. It’s not easy. But this is a slippery slope that we as a society have all started to fall down and we are now spiraling into a very dark place.
Sometimes, after watching a negative political ad on TV I wish I could call whoever took their hard-earned money and poured it into ruining a part of my morning and tell them to take five, sip on some chocolate milk, watch some cartoons and think about what their mom taught them.
If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
Wilson is a 1994 Poway High School graduate who now lives in Arizona.
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Posted by Staff
on Oct 31 2012. Filed under Letters to the Editor, Opinion.
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It is hard watching all the negative ads and blistering comments. My husband summed it up nicely when he described political ads as saying nothing more than: "So and So Politican Eats Small Puppies but the Other Guy eats fewer small puppies." Political ads really are about at that level. But sometimes you have to say the bad stuff to get to the healthy stuff. Saying "no, no, that's not nice" sometimes just doesn't get the message across. Righteous indignation is acceptable and necessary.
The philosophy of "If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all" is all well and good when dealing with friends and family. But part of why politicans are able to get away with all that they do is precisely because nice people refuse to be anything other than for lack of a better word – nice. To clean up the mud in one's house sometimes means getting right down in it with a scrub brush. It's dirty work but it has to be done. If people don't speak up – and sometimes it is really, really negative – then how can anything change for the positive?
Helen is taking herself way too seriously. I think what Ms. Wilson was saying, and in a very entertaining fashion BTW, is that it's difficult to teach your kids civility in today's society. Civility, especially in politics, seems to be non-existent. And while she is not advocating the stifling of free speech, perhaps the expressing of it in a positive manner might set a better example for our kids. Lighten up, Helen!
Katie I have to agree with you. I guess some days I do take it all too seriously and her Viewpoint was well meaning.
Ms. Wilson said "Since when did our moral compasses become so misguided that now we focus on tearing down our “opponents” in life instead of focusing on the positivity and beauty of our own thoughts and beliefs?"
Maybe we should we go back to the early days of our country when differences were settled on dueling fields? Remember the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton where Hamilton was fatally shot?
Things have not changed that much. Politicians have always been nasty. Modern communication technology makes things much more visible and easier for anyone to spew their rhetoric. It will not get better, and I would suggest our children be indoctrinated on the realities of the world, good and bad, so they can deal with it as they mature.