Like many of us, I felt this Wisconsin loss coming. I tried to steel myself, to prepare for the inevitable. I held out a tiny ray of hope. Then tonight, seeing the results, I became disheartened.
My Facebook feed (as I imagine many of yours are) is a nonstop stream of spotify tracks, kid pictures, pithy-ish one-liners, and images of text. Then, several times a week, there's bait. It comes from extended family, ex-work acquaintances, high school classmates. Things like:
and
Well, tonight, I took the bait.
I commented on this:
It was easy. I was pissed, looking for a fight. I told myself they needed to know better, needed the truth, but I know it was an outlet. Well, I got what I asked for. The OP, let's call him Ben ('cause that's his name), reeled me in. We started slow, a civil exchange, then it got heated. A friend of his (not mutual) jumped in. I slighted their religion, their intellect, their political beliefs. It went as you would expect.
Only now, I don't feel better. I don't feel right, even though I am. I check back to make sure I'm getting the last word. I waste my time when there's work to do.
Maybe I wish I could have done more, earlier. I could have spent this hour earlier today, calling Wisconsin. I could have taken the money I would have made, and sent it to someone. No matter how many people I insult on Facebook, I can't change the results tonight. Its frustrating.
The question is, am I alone? How do you deal with these people on Facebook, or elsewhere? Shouldn't I try to open their eyes? Shouldn't I at least be loud, so they know there's differing opinions. In the case of family, shouldn't they know that people they love and respect have a radically different worldview? Or do I sweep it under the rug, and keep my political discussions here, amongst a group of the like-minded?
None of those sounds fulfilling. But neither is this.