I’m seeing a whole lot of stuff out on the net lately where people are making comments along the lines of: whether or not you agree with the new U.S. presidential leadership, you should just shut up, stop complaining and live with it? Heck, there are even entire pages completely dedicated to the campaign to keep politics off social media.

Such comments strike me as more than fairly odd. Truthfully, they leave me scratching my head, wondering: “But WHY?”

First, let me point out that I don’t actually live in the States. I live in North America but I had no voting rights when it came to electing a new leader for my neighboring country. That doesn’t mean that, if I feel inspired to share my view, that I’ll waive that right in preference of sitting by complacently and saying nothing, just because someone else believes it’s really not my place to get involved anyways.

Regardless of whether I had a vote, I do live in a country where democracy and freedom of speech reign which means whether others agree with my opinion; whether or not my opinion rubs people the wrong way or downright infuriates them, I have a right to not only have that differing opinion but also to express it.

That’s what makes this continent I dwell on great! We don’t all have to be a fan of the color green, but we can all appreciate that green has just as much right to exist in our fabulous, vibrant, color-filled world as does blue, or red, or purple, or chartreuse.

Let’s look at it from another perspective.

If I’m unhappy about anything in life, whether it be the new shoes I ordered, or the food that was presented to me in a restaurant, or the condition of the public restroom where I pulled over, or by the policies being implemented or the decisions being made by my local government . . . seriously, anything . . . I shouldn’t have to feel compelled to keep silent or to softly mumble: “Oh well. It is what it is. What’s done is done. Guess I’ll just hunker down in this corner and mind my own business.”

Oh, heck, NO I won’t!!!!

Maybe you are the type of person who would do that; and, there’s no problem with that if you are. All the power to you. You do you but, by the same token, appreciate that for me to be me, I need to express myself.

Back to the above scenarios, if I encountered any of those, my response would be: “Look people, these shoes do not fit right and I want them exchanged or my money refunded; or is there supposed to be a fly doing the backstroke in my soup because it may be impressive that he’s on his ninety-ninth lap and is still lookin quite chipper but I’m still not too happy about it; or does no one ever restock or clean these bathrooms because it looks like a fecal bomb went off in here; or why are there so many ginormous potholes in the roads when the government is clawing back so much in taxes from my paycheque?”

If I have something to say, and I can make my point respectfully, then there’s absolutely no reason why I should not say my piece.

By the same token, I should be able to express an opinion on the current U.S. political situation without having to fear that others will pounce on it to try and suffocate or stifle it under the cloying weight of their own beliefs and opinions.

‘Yes’, you can have an opposing opinion but ‘no’ it is not okay to make your point by purposefully going out of your way to make my point seem wrong, or inane, or moot, or ridiculous, nor is it okay to be downright disrespectful or rude. It is possible to have a discussion on differing perspectives without needing to resort to verbal fisticuffs or to make your entire goal to mock one another. There’s this wonderful little key called maturity that allows us to open the door to such discussions without the need for anyone to barge onto the other’s territory and take a crap in their yard.

I may not always agree with the opinions or topics shared on social media but I respect that people have a right to express them.

I may not be a fan of the genre of books you read, or the type of music you listen to, or the hobbies that interest you. I may even express an negative opinion on a topic you are passionate about although I’m more likely to just scroll by your posting without giving it much more than a glance if I find it personally cringe-worthy; still, I will always respect the fact that it’s something that meant something to you when you posted it.

I will not attempt to block you nor tell you to knock it off because I’m offended or it’s rubbing me the wrong. I may take a moment to post that I’m of a differing opinion but I won’t belittle your beliefs or your right to express them unless what you are passionate about is ethically amoral, downright racist, harbors on bullying or has the potential to endanger lives.

Part of the political process is the right for everyone to have a voice and to express it (non-violently, of course). That includes the right to complain if we are not happy with what’s going on, even when it’s not in our country . . . particularly given that what goes on in a country like the United States of America has a far-reaching impact on numerous countries outside their borders.

What irks me the most, is it’s becoming more and more difficult to have an opinion on anything nowadays without someone flying off the handle. Everyone gets so easily offended by even the most innocuous of statements. You voice an opinion and before you know it, people are up in arms, demanding apologies, retractions or financial retribution.

“You can’t say that, it’s not politically correct.” (They say that even when politics and correctness had nothing to do with the opinion expressed.)

“You can’t have that opinion, it’s offensive.” (Even when you were in no way, shape or form trying to offend anyone.)

“You can’t write that because then you’re making fun of a whole group of people. (Problem is, you never even went there, you’re puzzled as how they managed to get there as the thought never crossed your mind, and it’s simply a matter of it being misconstrued or taken way out of context).”

Can you imagine what would come out of something so seemingly harmless as a comment about the geese being plumb out of their minds for taking so long to fly south in any given year.”

On social media, you’d suddenly find yourself pegged as anti-goose. You be labelled an animal hater. You’d become numerous things to numerous people and yet you never imagined yourself to be any of those things when the words came out of your mouth or off the tip of your pen.

In fact, you like the geese.

You always have. Take some national pride in them–even if they’ve come barrelling towards you a time or two on your walks down by the river.

All you really meant was: “Why are they still here this late in the season? They are going to die of cold and starvation once Winter sets in, if they don’t wind up frozen in the middle of the pond in the park.”

I know, I’ve flown way off topic.

Back to the point; those who are in favour of the States new political regime are more than welcomed to proclaim their appreciation and respect.

Those who are in disagreement, should be as equally welcomed and encouraged to disclaim their appreciation and respect.

And those who have no opinion either way, should be able to remain silent on the whole topic without feeling pressured into choosing one side or the other.

The reason all those statements can be true and coexist together, is that we live in an area of the world where we are lucky enough to be able to have differing opinions without having to fear for our lives.

True, some take their beliefs too far and then we run into problems but as long as it remains an “I agree, I disagree” rational discussion, then all sides should be welcomed and encouraged to share in the discussion.

If you ask my opinion on the weather, I’m going to give it to you. I may even give it to you if you don’t ask, particularly if snow and the potential for having to shovel it are involved.  So, why should I be told that I need to zip it and shut up for the next four years on a topic that means so much more than a bunch of cold, frozen water droplets, just because others believe what is done is done and so you might as well just complacently accept it?

Name me a time in history when people have not commented on or stated their opinion on politics and politicians, particularly after they were elected? Name a time in history when a politician held office and no one had a negative or opposing opinion to express; where no comment was made about the decisions they made, or the policies they supported, or the ways they voted on how to spend taxpayer’s money?

. . . You’re having a hard time coming up with one, aren’t you!

That’s because that occurred NEVER!

Even the best of politicians had their opponents and adversaries.

When did the world become a place where we couldn’t have meaningful conversations on issues that actually matter without it having to turn into war? When did we start living in a time where we had to restrict our social media posts to those things which are humorous . . . as long as they are humorous in a non-offensive manner; to things that are generic, trivial, or that avoid anything that could be viewed as too deep or too involved?

Thankfully, our opinion does matter. I’m not advocating for a system whereby we go out of our way to purposely offend or persecute others. I do, however, believe everyone has a right to calmly and respectfully touch on those things that matter to them, whether it is popular or widely-accepted.

With that in mind, no matter where you live in the world, if you do something or say something that I disagree with, I may speak up. I will not remain silent if I feel motivated to voice my beliefs just because I fear the wrath and condemnation of those who would rather keep conversations all about inconsequential matters or on only those topics that are of personal interest to them.

Why can we not have beliefs and opinions on even the most controversial of issues without others becoming enraged, angered, offended or downright disrespectful of our stance? We should be able to discuss a wide variety of topics, from: politics, to religion, to gender identity and beyond, without having others out there trying to quell and suppress that opinion—again, unless it falls under one of my above restrictions. I don’t believe in being mean or saying something to purposefully hurt others. I don’t believe in discrimination, or shaming, or in ostracizing entire groups just to prove a point. I do believe in fairness, equality and a world where all lives matter.

That being said, in it’s simplest form, I should be able to be a cat supporter and my neighbour be a dog supporter, without fences going up and firing lines needing to be drawn to keep us in separate camps. Why not just enjoy the opportunity to share the reasons why we love that particular breed and open ourselves up to the possibilities that there may even be something we can learn from the other person?

We don’t all have to agree on everything to live in harmony with one another. What a really boring world this would be if there were only cat people in it . . . or dog people . . . or arachnid people . . . or pot-bellied pig people . . . or green, blue, red, purple or chartreuse people.

Point made!

By the way, I love both cats and dogs . . . and pigs . . . and colours . . . many, many colours.

Spiders, not so much but I respect their right to coexist in the world alongside me . . . unless they start crawling up my leg.