War, birds, and dissenting views
Tuesday, April 1, 2003 - 13:40

Everyone thinks that what they think is right. If they thought they were wrong, they wouldn't really think it, would they? What do you think about abortion? "Well, I think it's morally wrong, and despite the euphemisms, it's still killing a baby. But you know what? Don't listen to me, because I'm wrong." What do you think about the war on drugs? "Well, I think it's a waste of time and money putting people who just smoke pot in jail. But actually, I'm wrong, it's really the right thing to do, so don't listen to me."

And there are very opinionated people in the world, which makes for very defined sides. And each side thinks they're right.

And that's okay. Of course they think they're right. That's fine and dandy.

But...

A lot of people think that the people who don't agree with them are not only wrong, they're idiots as well. Fucking idiots. Uninformed morons. The only reason they think what they think is because they're stupid.

My parents are republicans and I'm not. They're pretty well-informed, I think, and they're concerned about the things happening around them. And they think what they think. I don't agree with everything that they think, and sometimes I wonder how they can think it, whether they see what I see, but I'd never call them idiots or morons or uninformed.

And some people are democrats and I'm not one of those either. Sometimes I wonder how people can so closely align themselves with something like that, something that has all these sides laid out for you, telling you what to think about everything. But I don't assume that the people who go that route are stupid. They just believe what they believe for some reason, just like I believe what I believe.

There's this radio station that I listen to in the morning because it's the only station the clock radio gets consistently. The DJs are really annoying. But anyway, they've been having people call in to talk about the war, just a discussion between people with very different views. They keep it very civil, with people just calling in and saying what they think, and then going on to the next caller. And some anti-war person called in and was sort of defensive, saying that even though she was against the war she was still an American and she still supported the troops and she didn't like people saying that she was a bad person for not supporting the war. And the DJs said, wait a minute, nobody thinks that about anti-war people. Nobody thinks they're unpatriotic or anti-American or anything.

But the DJs were wrong. I've seen it all over the internet... and maybe that's my problem, for looking at the internet too much. But there are tons of diaries and forums and message board postings where people say stuff like "You anti-war morons! A soldier got killed because of you! Fuck you, you fucking idiots! You deserve to die!" And, well, the other side could just as easily say (and has probably already said) "You pro-war morons! A soldier got killed because of you! Fuck you, you fucking idiots! You deserve to die!"

And that's all I have to say about that right now, because two sparrows just came up to my patio and were sitting in my plants and flying around and looking in the window at themselves. A little gray striped one, and one with red on its throat. They were looking for little leaves and things to build their nest with. Just like the birds in Iraq are thinking about, too.