I spend a lot of time on Twitter. Possibly, I spend too much time there. I’ve always viewed Twitter as a good social media platform for writers because it forces you to be precise and succinct about your words. When you only have (had) 140 characters in which to say something, it drives you to think. Lamentably, doubling the number of characters and adding features to help you write longer threads isn’t helping that Twitter virtue.
Lately, Twitter has become a virtual ideological and political battleground. The right and the left spend lots of time behind their virtual defenses lobbing word and meme bombs across the DMZ inhabited by those in the center and the ones just there for dog posts. And, so do I.
My primary issue that I support on Twitter is defense of the 2nd amendment. I got into doing this just by listening to what others were saying and then responding when I thought there was a myth to dispel or another person that could use some support.
However, beyond gun rights, I’m pretty liberal in many respects, kind of a conservative liberal. I don’t like the GOP because it seems to care little for the middle class. Continuing to practice Reagan’s trickle-down economics is foolish (yet, Reagan was a favorite President). I would prefer systems that care for everyone at every level of the economic strata (i.e. Universal Basic Income, National Healthcare, immigration work visas, etc.). Add on to that the GOP’s penchance for legislating morality is ridiculous.
Yet, when I talk to a lot of people on Twitter, I find two different types of people that aren’t like me, but I still follow them. Some are the MAGA Trump followers that say something really good about gun rights. Some are very liberal gun control folks that debate well and do so respectfully.
Do I agree with the MAGA folks? Certainly not in many areas. I dislike Trump. I dislike his character and yes, his character and his behavior as a President go hand in hand. Can’t have one without the other. I will agree he has done very well on the foreign policy front, but I think his domestic policies just suck.
However, when I look at the profiles of many of the MAGA folks that I do follow, I find just very good down to earth people. Many of them are new to social media, like me. Many of them do not have millions (or even thousands) of followers. So, by following them, I generally hear a good voice and I can support another person’s use of social media.
Do I agree with the very liberal liberals? Certainly not in many areas. While I want an immigration system that allows poor people from other countries to come to the US to work and build a better life, I don’t want them to do so illegally. While I support a woman’s right to choose, I find the use of abortion as a birth control measure to be abhorrent. It is OK for you to choose to be gay or transgender (many of whom are dealing with biology, not choices); yet, pushing measures to force me to abandon my beliefs in favor of yours doesn’t win me over. Yet, when I find a liberal person, more liberal than myself, that can debate responsibly and respectfully, I consider it respectful to listen.
And, just a caveat to those that say many of things I would advocate for can’t be done, or are socialist, or communist; I just say bullshit. We may have many obstacles in the way of accomplishing these things to establish the country we should be, but we can overcome obstacles. Obstacles are easy. Ordering your mind is hard.
We do ourselves a great (and grave) disservice if we listen only to those that are mimics of what we believe already. By not listening to opposing voices we overlook the possiblity of discovering the idea that will make something work. No. I don’t give an inch on my beliefs with others and I’m very outspoken about what those are. I just know I have to think about what I believe and check to see if it is still holding up to scrutiny (mine, not yours). There are lots of good voices out there on social media. It is work to weed through the noisy voices to get to the ones of quality, but it is worth the effort.
Big Man Running 