According to Facebook, today marks one year since I created a Facebook page, and therefore this website. That really comes as little surprise as my first political post was shortly after the second inauguration of President Trump, and I created the page
𝐈 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥, 𝐛𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭.
The first few times I wrote something it was because I was frustrated with the political environment. I was frustrated that Congress was not stepping up to fulfill their obligations. Above all else, I was frustrated that people were simply attacking each other rather than listening to one another.
I have said it many times over the past year, but I still firmly believe that the ideologies of 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭.
Politicians in search of soundbites and campaign slogans have long sought to vastly oversimplify the details of the proposals they support. Bills in Congress that are thousands of pages long are often reduced to a small number of talking points; in reality, they can encompass hundreds or thousands of different political positions and represent long-debated compromises while being drafted.
𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
Over the past year I have written around 50 posts in total. I have read a number of books about politics and history. I have done my best to elicit dialogue between left and right.
Moreover, I have thought about what purpose I have in writing my thoughts on a regular basis. I would love to see more discussion and 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞.
However, at the end of the day, a large part of the reason I write is to be introspective. Many days 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝, but I have come to appreciate doing so for my own sake.
I am currently reading the book Moon and Sixpence by William Somerset Maugham. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, but I do find many passages in his book resonate very well with me, and this explanation felt very familiar:
“It is a salutary discipline to consider the vast number of books that are written, the fair hopes with which their authors see them published, and the fate which awaits them. What chance is there that any book will make its way among that multitude? And the successful books are but the successes of a season. Heaven knows what pains the author has been at, what bitter experiences he has endured and what heartache suffered, to give some chance reader a few hours’ relaxation or to while away the tedium of a journey. And if I may judge from the reviews, many of these books are well and carefully written; much thought has gone to their composition; to some even has been given the anxious labour of a lifetime. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐈 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞, 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬.”
Thank you to everyone who has read my thoughts over the past year. I have appreciated the opportunity to scream into the void and release the burden of my thoughts, and I look forward to continuing to do so.