I am debating on moving my Rabbit Hole section as a subsection to the Secret section, which is currently password protected for friends only. The reason for this change stems from a conversation I was having with my mother a few days ago. Years ago, particularly before 2016 and onward, politics used to be a topic in our society that was widely off limits. It was kind of an unspoken thing because it was so divisive. People generally knew it was something to keep more to themselves. Reflecting on this, that was also during a time society as a whole was generally a lot more at peace. People didn’t have this tribalistic attitude they do today of left vs. right, or all these other divisive social political topics people now base their entire social circles around. I think this is because people didn’t really talk politics 10+ years ago. People were a lot more subtle and private about political beliefs back then, and people saw each other more just as people and aligned with folks who simply shared common hobbies and interests that weren’t so emotionally charged or divisive. I look at this time in history as a better time for everyone. I am not sure at what point people suddenly decided that talking politics as your average every day small talk has become acceptable or appropriate. I am sure social media and media in general has been stirring this pot so gradually it’s kind of just crept up on us and been a slow conditioning. Whatever contributed to this, I am really starting to blame this shift as a major contributing factor for how divided we are today.
I am torn on moving this section of my website to a more private, reserved area, because part of me wants to be real with this aspect of who I am and what I believe and I feel like having it open allows for like minded folks on the small web to find me and interact. Part of me feels like if other people of differing ideologies are being open and real about their political views, why shouldn’t I? But I also think there are more subtle ways to do this in a way that doesn’t put everything out there on full blast. Perhaps hint at it via buttons/stamps, and then those who earn my trust to the point of gaining access to my Secret section can also view the Rabbit Hole section if they choose to. This way it is something that is kept more private and is really something that is earned via trust rather than something that is given freely to everyone. I feel like it’s a step closer on my part to return back to a time when things were better. I can’t change or control what the world does or continues to do, but I think it’s a great step on my own journey of growth if I recognize an overall problem in our society and make changes in my own life and journey to shift that for myself. Maybe others who are aware of it will eventually make the choice to do that for themselves too. It is time for me to make efforts to return to what I believe the solution was. It may be a small step, but it’s a step nonetheless.
Anyhow, this change will be implemented at some point today when I get around to it.
this is something i’ve struggled with for many years, when it comes to having Opinions on the internet! the sense of feeling suppressed led to a number of reactions. i had the reaction to fight back against the injustice, and it felt important to put my opinions out there – so that people could see that not everyone in my hobbies/circles felt the same way. it also made me feel like i needed to be blatantly up-front or i would be ‘deceiving’ people into thinking i agreed with them by default. at one point i had the urge to put all my “problematic” opinions out there straight away (like, in a “before you follow”/carrrd or something), and preemptively scare off anyone who wasn’t ok with them. now that i think about it i think that was out of a fear of rejection that might come later on.
after actually having real-life conversations with people i actually know where i more or less confessed to my unpopular opinions, and it was met with more or less a shrug of acceptance, i realised how little it matters in the scheme of it all. my politics are far from the most interesting or important thing about me. my friendships are not based around politics. i no longer feel the need to argue or convert anyone. i’m now more okay than ever with my opinions, and i feel neither the need to repress them or shout them from the rooftops. i think moving back to a world where we only talk about politics in a situation where there is already a degree of connection, trust, and interest involved is for the best.
Hey K! I completely agree with you, and that’s really where I feel I’m at as well. I debated people for years over my views, and one of the things I have learned is that debating really doesn’t change minds. And I think I share the same fear you did as well, that I felt I needed to put my views out there due to the fear of rejection that would come later on if I didn’t. It’s discouraging to spend a lot of time creating a friendship with someone, for them to totally give up on it as soon as they discover my political views. It’s already happened to me before in the past, it’s definitely discouraging. But again I also think it’s like you said, when you find real friends, you’ll get that shrug of acceptance and politics in the grand scheme of things is really unimportant to your relationships. It’s not something people need to discuss with each other in order to be friends. I also feel like I’m where you’re at as well, where I no longer feel like I need to argue with people over my views or try and convert anyone. One of the big lessons I learned over the years is that debating really gets no where if the goal is to change minds. Debates have a clear winner and a clear loser, and once that’s been established, the loser isn’t converted. If anything, it only hurts their ego and pride but hurting them was never the goal; the goal was to educate and enlighten. We live in a society where people have gotten so used to talking AT each other instead of TO each other. On a grander scale, we have all these methods of communication now but somehow have lost the ability to genuinely communicate with each other in a way that we see each other as fellow humans.
Anyhow, thanks for your comment, K. I’m definitely on the same page and feel like I’ve reached the same conclusions over the past few weeks. Cheers! 🙂