Dear everyone.

We live in crazy times. The world as a whole seems increasingly chaotic, the society close to us & around us even more so. There’s numerous people all around that have seemingly nothing better to do than spew their usually nuance-bereft opinions about the world out like it was unchallengable, god-given fact, and besides act like they’re insane (which, having read the dominant form and tone of the society-related discourse on Twitter for the past five years, is actually quite possible).

No, it’s no conincidence that I post this note on this specific date of days, but without going into details of the circumstances, my message to you that read this, is this:

One: As a sole individual and commoner of society, there’s an infinitesimally small influence you can possibly play on the political situation in the whole of your nation, by your actions or words. Don’t behave as if it’s the case that you can shift more than the tinyest of pebbles by what you say and do.

Two: In my decades-long experience with ground-level political life, there’s very few people of those you are surrounded by, that genuinely care about your political opinions outside of topic-specific circles. The majority of people don’t and would rather not hear them at length, and only tolerate them out of passing interest or politeness. Most people care about appearance and “vibes”; not fact or nuance, and certainly not your detailed opinion. You may not want to hear this out of pride, but it’s the truth for the absolute majority of people.

My point of this is that, again as a commoner, for both your own peace of mind and for the sake of others, you should treat the political hubbub that inevitably surrounds you on election year as little more than a different sort of football game; you may indeed have one specific team you’re cheering for, but it’s best if you don’t get into shouting matches or exchanging blows with the opposite team’s fans. It serves no good; it’s a massive waste of energy; in extreme cases, it may even cause some form of harm.

Maintain. Your. Sanity.

peace. -p