I had a flash of brilliance this week, and that’s a rare thing for me. I came to an understanding with myself that I can’t solve all the world’s problems, most people disagree with me, and if I want to continue to discussing heated topics than I need to remain open minded because odds are, they won’t.
So back to this flash of brilliance i mentioned. You see, Trump’s first State of the Union speech was recently put upon us. Which means, all the prime time channels would be carrying the speech. Facebook and Twitter would be awash with people freaking out about he says, either for or against. This would be followed by an endless stream of news media telling you what you should take away and think about it. Then there would be representatives from both parties to “react” to the speech.
Frankly, forget it. I’m too tired. I have my own worries, my own problems to solve, and I have done enough thinking about the current state of politics in the US. The last thing I want to do is come home and be lectured at, when I have already decided on my position of the topics. Yes, that’s the nice of saying I no longer care. The horse is dead, please move on.
How can I say that?
Oh that’s simple. I left a state who had swung liberal, prior to that I lived in a state that was mostly conservative. You know what I learned? Both sides are equally at fault for the state of things. Maybe it’s an IT thing or maybe it’s not, but it seems like a majority of the people in IT are liberal. That’s great, there’s nothing wrong with that. I am not liberal. I am somewhere between conservative and independent. I prefer to look at the issue, and not the party platform. However, it seems most people in IT are liberal.
Why do I mention this? Well, when I try to interact with the IT community on Twitter or Facebook, I see a lot of Anti-Trump this and Anti-GOP that. I’ve un-followed some brilliant SQL people just because their Twitter feeds are so damn political. Seriously, I just don’t have time.
I have come to understand that when I see this posts, I feel like I need to respond. That I feel slighted for not having the beliefs or values as those I admire or believe to be community role models. I feel “triggered”.
We all come from different walks of life
Then I realize, those folks and I come from different walks of life. We view things differently, we have different values, we see things from a different perspective. This unto itself is a strength in the IT world, as it allows problems to be solved from many different angles. However, we should remind ourselves, that our public social media feeds don’t always reflect our standing the way we think it does.
Between social media, the news media, and the entertainment/sports people lecturing me on how I should live my life, I just don’t have the bandwidth to listen to the regular folk talk about their views in 240 characters or less. It’s just not entertaining or insightful.