Opinions and Politics

I've been giving some thought to opinions, to opining, to the development of what one thinks about things. You know, your OPINIONS! You've got one about most things. So do I. Here's what I think about how we got them.

Filling in your blanks

I used to think we came into the world as a blank slate. Boy, was I wrong about that! The real thought there got garbled about the 'blank' part. We come into the world not as a blank slate but a slate full of fill-in-the-blanks. The blanks get filled in with our experiences as guided by our innate preferences and voila! Out pops an opinion about whatever thing was involved.

Human influence

Then comes environment as an influential factor. And, no, I'm not talking about the green kind. I'm talking about mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, siblings, family, and spouses. If you think they have little influence on your opinions, you've got another thing coming.

Environment

Environment also includes other influential factors. Depending on the depth of involvement with them, things like schooling and college, the teachers therein, jobs, any kind of employment, friends and colleagues therein, place of residence, the neighbors nearby, travel, possessions, and affiliations including social, academic, professional, and, of course, political all come to mind as strong influencers of our opinions.

Politics

Speaking of political...and we weren't up until now, but political parties align our opinions quite strongly these days. Let a person reveal their political leanings and you can just about figure their opinions on a wide variety of subjects.

Argumentation allowed

By the way, we have John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington to thank for them...for the concept of political parties, which were founded right along with the foundations of our nation.

The amazing thing about political parties is that they are "institutionalized channels for ongoing debate, which eventually permitted dissent to be regarded not as a treasonable act, but as a legitimate voice in an endless argument." (from Joseph J. Ellis, American Creation, Vintage Books, a division of Random House, 2007, p. 9.)

I personally thank John, Tom, and tall George for creating the institutions that channel expression of my opinions in discussion without being thrown in jail! All of America should give these great guys a nod.

Opinion shapers

So, for as much as we might want to hide political alignments or affiliations (why do you think voting booths have curtains...), it's obvious our opinions express them out loud for us. Two Americas expressed opinions along two prominent party lines. Yeah, yeah, shades of opinion on any given subject may differ in kind but not in substance along political lines.

And, yeah, yeah, shades of opinion are reflected perhaps by where you went to school, lived or worked. But if I were to ask your opinion about just about any subject, I predict that I could predict your opinion on it--in general, unconditionally, and without any shades of gray--from your politics.

That's my opinion about opinions and politics. Do you have an opinion about that? Feel free to express it, because--as far as I know--we can opine and not go to jail.