Politics on NaNoWrimo

                                     
The very idea brings chills to the bones of some.  For good reason too.  If you've been on NaNo longer than a month or so (maybe even less), you've probably encountered tension in one form or another.  Sometimes this tension dissipates in smoke with a well-timed joke or with the clarification of a bad misunderstanding.  Sometimes it doesn't.

So what happens when that's the case?  What about those times when the funny, warm feeling you get in your head after seeing something you disagree with doesn't cool down and just gets hotter?
Over time, the people of NaNo have seen this time and time again.  As a result, we've come to fear the dreaded word . . . . Debate.

Now, I can get into the subject of debate some other time.  What I want to focus on is the reason we're so afraid of it.  Sure, we can chalk it up to "disagreements", and that would be perfectly true.  On a site where there are literally thousands of participants and dozens of teens who talk to each other on a frequent basis, disagreements, or heated arguments, are bound to occur.  These happen because the vast majority of us do not know how to clearly vocalize our thoughts and have short tempers when others fail at the same struggle.  That's something I don't blame this generation for.

For the sake of this article, I will focus on one specific portion of where these heated disagreements come from.  And that's everybody's favorite word: politics.

The Oxford Dictionary defines politics as the 'activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or the conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power.'

So with that in mind, what does it mean when we argue with people over politics?
We're not attacking individuals; we're not denying someone's identity; we're not predicting the end of the world.  We are, at base, doing the same thing we do when we stick our tongue out in disgust (or relish) when someone says "pineapple pizza"---We're disagreeing with someone's opinion.

That's all it is.  And it's scary (even a bit sad, as well) that so many of us become so entangled in other people's opinions that sometimes we forget to remember our own.  There was never a time in history where all individuals were open-minded and opinionated rather than obstinate and defensive.  But in the age of the Internet, is it not our responsibility to try and be the former?

The title of this article is 'Politics on NaNoWrimo', but the principles that we follow in our lives reflect off of our hands and onto the screen.  If we can lose ourselves to a mental monster whenever we see something we despise--something posted by a faceless being--what will become of us in the future?  In our jobs?  In our families?  There is no place, Heaven, Earth, or Hell, that holds one person who will agree with everything you say.  So what then?

Many people have chosen their instinct; the Call of the Wild, so to speak.  It is a nature that resonates in us all:  That bloody whisper to just succumb to our rage, emotion, and righteous indignities.
How dare he say that?  How could she think that?  Why won't anyone listen?

The answer to these questions is simple, and it is something we like to ignore.  Simply put:
Your political viewpoints do not matter.

Politics is made up of people, but people are not their politics.

Fifty years ago, we could live with our families and our neighbors--people whom we might disagree with to the utmost degree--and still love each other as if politics were nothing but a bad dream.
Politics itself has not changed much over the years.  So what is different?

We, as a society, have chosen to see people's self-professed 'identities" rather than their individualism.  Politics have become  so entwined within our identities that, as you will find, you cannot attack a person's beliefs without attacking the person themselves!

Isn't that sad?
I've spent long hours wondering why the vast majority of opinions that I voiced, no matter how eloquent or kindly-put, always managed to offend someone.  My conclusion is that there is no idea that can be completely inoffensive to all parties.

What's more, that was never a problem until we decided that we are our politics.
And until the end of my days, I will fight this notion.  It is untrue, and it is evil.  I've said it before, and I will say it again.  People are not their politics.


Regardless of what you believe--because what you believe is true--you are only an fish in a sea full of others.  And NaNoWrimo is a beautiful little barrel that is holding a small few of us.
The message of this piece is not to say that what you believe does not matter.  I know that sounds contradictory to what I said just a moment earlier, but listen.  Politics come and go.  So do people.

So when it comes down to that: politics or people, which do you choose?

I've made myself known on NanoWrimo for having strong opinions and the propensity to voice them--sometimes to disastrous results. So why is it that when I disagree with essentially half of all that is said on NaNo, I still  (For the most part...) keep my mouth shut?

I follow the philosophy I've tried my best to convey through this article:  It does not matter.
My politics do not matter.  What I believe is my own business; and when people ask, I will be sure to answer.  How I answer is another issue.

I see people as more than politics, and I see them as more than just their opinions.  I hope, in time, the rest of NaNo will adopt this mindset and find, like I did, that focusing on what people can offer to you in a relationship other than just opinions is one of the most fulfilling mindsets you can have in life.

That is how politics should be viewed, not just on NaNo but also in life.