#I've just been marinating on my experience the past few days and suddenly got inspired to write this

[meanya]

I think the internet has divided us on issues and politics because talking about problems and bad things on the internet isn't the same as in person.

The other day, a friend who's more politically active thank I am invited me to go door-to-door advocating for a local Senator running for office. I was nervous about this, but luckily we didn't get a lot of negativity or anger from neighbors. Matter of fact, a lot of people said they'd met the Senator, has been to his rallies, had had drinks with the man, new his wife even! Felt so weird to hear that. When I think of election season all I can think about is Trump and Biden, I almost forget the importance of local elections and just how tight-knit those relationships are...

One guy we met said the Senator had complimented his old fancy car while going door-to-door a few years ago, and he knew he'd vote for him after that.

I've been thinking about that ever since. He complimented his car...

It's really sunk in since I heard that that the way we experience and understand problems is through personal connections. That's how we empathize with people, that's how we understand the different dimensions of a problem. Not through articles or even statistics, but through conversation.

I believe that a political Tweet with a thousand likes will likely have less of an impact on a thousand people's beliefs than one conversation between two friends will impact those 2 people's beliefs. Connections matter. Knowing a person before diving into what they think/believe means everything.

That's hard to come by on the internet though. Not impossible, but hard. Even here on Tumblr, the first thing you see on a new person's blog is a summary of who they are and maybe a DNI list. We can decide if someone is like us or different, decent or morally reprehensible, worth a follow or a block, all without ever exchanging a word. We can decide whether to speak to or cut off a person so quickly now, and in doing so we may sometimes lose opportunities for growth...

When my dad was overseas in the early 2000's during W Bush's presidency, he struck up a conversation with a local. They had some beers and played pool. That local never would've talked to my dad if he'd introduced himself as U.S.American before striking up conversation, he would've dismissed him immediately.

Everyone knows that politics seem to be getting more divided every day. I think the only solution is to talk to people we know in person, and I think that's harder than ever for us for a lot of reasons.

Take a moment to think about the last time you had an argument in a comment section somewhere online. Think about the things you said to the person for a moment.

Try and remember the last time you talked like that to someone in person. Isn't it almost always easier to type insults on a screen to a pfp than to insult someone to their face? It's easier to talk about subjects you have a strong opinion on online anonymously with strangers, isn't it? Easier to insult someone's intelligence when you don't know or care who they are. Insulting a stranger online over a divisive topic has no consequences for you, but it also typically has little impact on the person you're talking to, even if it feels cathartic for you in the moment.

In real life, divisive topics are scary. I think we've become afraid of divisive and polarizing topics for a lot of reasons; Cancel culture, Covid, discomfort, etc. I think we're afraid of stepping out of our comfort zone (to a healthy, safe degree that is.) I think we're afraid of getting into an argument, afraid of losing people. That's understandable, arguments are unpleasant after all... And I think a lot of us lost contact or blocked former friends and family members during the Trump presidency. I also think a lot of our social skills in general deteriorated a bit during Covid when the internet was the only way to communicate with people.

I think we're afraid of being wrong about something, afraid of messing up, afraid of upsetting someone, of being lumped into a group or called bigoted, small-minded, disgusting, perverted, secretly racist or sexist or homophobic or antisemitic or evil... The very idea is gut-wrenching, no? Easier to avoid such a conversation altogether isn't it?

And I don't know a lot about politics or government... but I do know that we here in America can do better than Trump and Biden. I also know that my ability to affect who becomes President is probably much smaller than my ability to affect who becomes Senator, and even that is much smaller than my ability to change a friend's mind by talking to them about a divisive subject.

It's easy to say "the world is fucked" and "all politicians suck." It's hard to have hope. It's hard to get your hopes up and think you can make a difference in the face of a million dissenters who will laugh at you for trying.

I think maybe this is the way to start though. I think we discount the impact we have on the people around us, but stories and relationships are powerful things.

Have a difficult conversation this week. Ask someone their opinion on a complicated issue. Don't put yourself in danger of course, but get a little uncomfortable. That's where change starts. Humanity is made of humans, and if you know some humans, then you can change humanity. That's where real change begins.