Don’t believe everything you read, especially if it relies on pictures.
It’s Monday and I haven’t had my coffee.
I’m all for freedom of speech; I think I’ve made that clear.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
However, there are times I wish that opinion was an informed opinion.
In the past weeks, I’ve seen memes misrepresenting the facts, cherry picking information, or just plain lying. I won’t re-post the pictures here, but you can probably guess to what they relate:
Brexit
The American Presidential Race
Gun Control
History
Abortion
Philosophy
Education
And I find myself stuck:
Do I try to correct the person, or let them be?
I tried correcting one meme I saw on Twitter; in fact, I was one of the first to reply to it. And while that tweet was liked and shared hundreds of thousands of times on various social media platforms, my correction was totally ignored without a single like or share.
I replied to a friend’s honest question on Facebook, only to have someone else twist my words out of context, pose hypotheticals irrelevant to the situation, and then claim that by defeating those hypotheticals he’d “won” the argument (which didn’t exist in the first place). I know, classic straw man. I considered replying to him, but I checked out some of his other responses and determined that he was too hostile to engage. He had zero interest in actually listening to anyone and operated on antagonistic default settings.
And so, I find myself posting things without context. I’ll write a post or tweet and simply say
Today was one of those days:
(I posting one or both pictures as events dictate.)
And I must admit, I gain a certain amount of satisfaction imagining Dr. Zoidberg heckling these people. Does that make me bad? If so, then
Wait. Did I just contradict my original statement?
Eh. I don’t care.
What’s Annoying You Today?
Running In My Head 
I get annoyed when I say I might vote for someone or believe in a particular platform and immediately I am put into a category which in no way resembles me.
You’re right, we need to listen more.
LikeLiked by 1 person
^ Exactly this. In my immediate circle I’m the “liberal” yet still quite conservative by most American standards. Trying to talk to either side ends with me being labelled with the other, when in reality I’m really trying to maintain an independent outlook.
LikeLike
I have stopped telling people anything about myself or my thoughts when it comes to either religion or politics…I try to be middle of the road, never leaning too far to the right or left and inevitably when I speak my peace am accused of being a “radical republican” or a “damned liberal”….people have somehow forgotten how to listen to what is said without forming arguments to disprove your opinions. it is sad..
LikeLiked by 2 people
I rarely give my opinion in public unless someone asks for it specifically. Even then, it’s dangerous.
LikeLiked by 2 people
My take on things is people who don’t listen believe what the want and it’s no use trying to correct them. It’s like ” My mind is made up. Don’t confuse me with the facts.”
LikeLiked by 1 person