Should We Not Try to Get Too Political?

Here's something you often hear people say, "I try not to get too political." I understand the sentiment and I sympathize with it... while at the same exact time, I completely disagree with the notion. Whether it's referring to social media or wherever, it's kind of unavoidable. You can attempt to sidestep it, not engage, leave the less important things for actual politicians to discuss... you can want it to not take over your life, your conversations, your relationships, and that makes perfect sense.

But at some point, it's there, it's happening, and you can't ignore it. Especially when the "politics" go beyond politics, and they become hatred, poison, and inhumane acts. At that point, you're not being "political." You're being a human.

My writing hasn't really been too political in the past. Sure, I've slipped some things in here and there... some beliefs, some viewpoints. I'm vegan, I'm against all animal cruelty, that's made it's way in. I wasn't always vegan and wasn't always so aware of the torture so many animals endure, so I get that others don't always see it. It took me a while to open my eyes to that. As I've ventured further into adulthood, I've grown more agitated with the relationship between most people and the 1%. The billionaires, the extremely wealthy, those that own and run corporations, those that hold power like the very tops of the employer chain and those that manage the homes and housing situations. That's worked its way into my writing sometimes as I have realized how completely unfair things can be in many situations. I've experienced it myself more and more. There's AI. I hate AI. I "created" AI art years ago for many of my stories, and I felt there was no harm, and then I realized it's the same as using AI to create a story. Different artform, same shit. Computers scouring the internet for other peoples' work so that it can essentially copy what it sees and learns. There's so much of AI that is plagiarism, there is so much that AI get wrong and will make us dumber if we rely on it, and there is so much AI can do that we don't need it to do and it is going to make us lazier, and it takes away work from people, and it's horrible for the environment... I can't imagine what there could be that AI would do that I wouldn't be upset with. But if there was something, it wouldn't matter, I've been functioning just fine without it my whole life. I sure don't need it now.

But I still hadn't really set out to put these ideals on the frontline of my stories. More recently, I've decided I want to do that with some of my stories. My ideals have begun to work their way into stories more often, and now I am coming up with full ideas based on these ideals.

Especially because things are just getting worse and worse in the U.S. in so many ways. I almost dislike saying it, because I feel the two-party system is flawed, but it isn't untrue. I'm Democrat. I'm proud to be. I always vote Democrat because the ideals aligned with the party basically align with me. But it's probably not the best to have the two major parties-- and sure there are others but everyone knows those parties won't win-- and then tell over 300 million Americans, "Hey, you are all one of two people. So, vote one of those two ways." Probably can create issues considering how we are all aware that there are not ONLY two types of people in this country. Probably how we ended up with Donald Trump.

To some extent, I get it. The two-party system. If you want to vote Republican, you will probably vote for the Republican candidate. And there lies the problem. You might not like that person, but feel like you still need to vote for them because they align with your beliefs. There might be, say, 20 major issues, and the right aligns with the most important ones to you. And even though more of the issues, it's actually the left that aligns with you, the more important ones are on the right. So, you vote right. Or maybe there's really only thing you care about most of all, so you vote for the ONE candidate who covers that issue. See, wouldn't it be great if there were multiple people running in the end with a real shot and with a multitude of different viewpoints on everything? It starts out like that sometimes, but in the end, when it's time to vote, it's basically two people. Maybe the whole campaign lasts way too long and people are forced to drop out because they don't have enough funding. Gee, is that another flaw in the system?

But in the end, for a multitude of reasons, we end up with Trump. Some people regretted the vote later on. Some people still stand by it. Some people truly wanted him and still do. And I think, just maybe, there might be a lot of people who are too afraid to admit that it was the wrong call voting for him. They don't want to admit it because it would mean they made a mistake, or that they were wrong, and people don't like to do that. It's as if being wrong means you are less than. And we as a society, we don't really make it easy for people to admit these things. But I hope that changes, I hope people can get over that, and I hope people can allow others to change.

Because this America that we live in now is embarrassing. I'm honestly embarrassed to be an American. I'm embarrassed, especially, to be a white man in America, because I get it, there's people of color who voted for Trump. But that's not even close to the majority of people who voted Republican. It is predominantly white males. There's plenty of white males who voted Democrat, but there are so many who voted for this man, for a second time, for a third time... this man who is so clearly racist, who is so clearly misogynistic, who is hateful, who mocks handicapped reporters, who cannot apologize or admit a mistake, who is divisive, who brags about assaulting women, who is unfit to hold an office and can hardly even string together enough words to create a coherent sentence, who is a crook, who is absolutely a baby in that he wants to sue anyone who speaks badly about him. This man is worse than awful. He is poison. He is creating an awful America and convincing so many people he is doing good.

There are so many terrible things he has put out there, but this whole ordeal with ICE, this is inhumane. Some people don't want to get political. It's beyond politics. This is about whether your soul is worth something or if it is a pile of garbage. Some people say, "No one is illegal on stolen land." Some people don't like that saying. I like it, because it's true. Yes, we are all aware where we are as a nation. The nation was stolen by the natives here, terrible things were done, and the country has been turned into a superpower and does afford for a nice life for many. I'm not blind to that. But it doesn't mean we can gloss over all of that and pretend it didn't happen. In the grand scheme of civilization, it was just a few hundred years ago. That's pretty recent.

And yes, we now have laws about how people can come into our country, just like many other countries. I get it. I understand that there have to be laws. But it is ironic how a few hundred years ago, Europeans came here and stole the land from the darker native people, pushed people of the land away, killed them, and then made laws to pass down to their ancestors so those European people could tell the darker-skinned people how they are able to come into the country... and why they are not allowed in. And then when people do come in, they are so ready to get them out.

And yes, deporting people has been a part of our country for a while. And there is something to trying to get the worst of them out. And that was a claim made by this administration, right? They were going to get the worst of the worst? That's not what they're doing. I see so many videos, all over. Obviously, there's so much going on in Minnesota, but everywhere, and I see it where I live in LA. It is so prevalent here. And the worst part of the whole thing is how they go about it. They're just looking for non-white people, they're listening for people with accents or who speak foreign languages, and then they are questioning them, detaining them, sometimes assaulting them.

That is the opposite of what the United States is supposed to be. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the United States has become. We're supposed to be accepting of many people from many backgrounds. And by the way, that's not just a U.S. thing. PEOPLE are supposed to be accepting of many other people from other backgrounds. They're getting treated less than. It's horrendous.

As I said, I'm a white man. This mostly does not affect me, not directly. But I know PLENTY of people, people close to me, who aren't white. And they may be legal, they may be from here, but they get scared by this. Because you see videos of people who are perfectly legal being questioned and harassed and detained. For no reason other than THEY LOOK DIFFERENT. It's the most obvious definition of racism... treating someone differently because they look different. For anyone who can't see it, I'm so sorry for the loss of your vision, because you apparently can't see ANYTHING. It might not be degradation of your actual vision, but perhaps it is a blockage in your mind that won't allow your brain to process these things as they truly are. This stuff happening with ICE, it isn't directly affecting me, but it is affecting so many who I know and whoa are close to me. So, it is indirectly affecting me. But that's the other thing about being human, even when something affects you indirectly, you take it as directly affecting you.

I know I don't have to deal with the same things that others do. It's because I'm white, and that is fucking horrendous and disgusting. But it's true. I'm not the one who has to be nervous while walking the streets in the city. And even though this isn't a thing I don't have to deal with in that way, I still take it that way. It still scares me because I'm scared for others. It still angers me because of what it does to others. I'm so mad for them.

And this is why this is making it's way into my writing. Some of my writing. This is why I am coming up with entire story ideas revolving around many of these different types of things. Because I write stories as a human, about humans, for humans. Writing is a human experience. And this... all of this happening... this isn't politics anymore. This is about whether you are a human being or not.

I try not to get too political.

But I always try to be a fucking human.