Too moderate for my own good, it seems.
Jun. 2nd, 2006 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bladesparkI have a hard time taking a stand on a lot of issues. I have opinions, but... I see both sides of a lot of things, and I just don't care on a lot of other things. And it feels futile most of the time. I'm just me. I will never have a career in politics. If I make a huge difference, it will be on a individual basis, not on a larger level. And mostly I'm fine with that. Some people go out on grand ethical crusades, some people have to stay home and see to the more mundane stuff.
But when I do have an opinion, it's generally a pretty middle of the line one. And you know what that gets you these days? It gets you spat on by both sides, mostly.
Which is a big part of the reason why I don't usually discuss political issues. No matter who I'm talking to, we're going to disagree somewhere, and if I put it out in public, I have this paranoid certainty that I'm going to get flak from left and right.
The other reason why I don't discuss it much is because the solutions I think of as ideal are impossible. Ideally we'd solve the problem of abortion by not having anybody get unintentionally pregnant. Heck, ideally you wouldn't be able to have kids at all until you prove you can actually parent. And if somebody can tell me how to actually pull that one off, well... *shrugs* not going to happen, unfortunately. So even though I think that last thing we need is people having babies from irresponsible sex, I also don't think that it's right to kill a potential human being just because you fooled around. You did something stupid, you got pregnant, you're now responsible for it, and you should have the kid and see that it's taken care of. But the kind of person who has an irresponsible pregnancy isn't going to be a responsible parent terribly often. (Rape is a whole different issue, mind...) It's just this nasty tangle. You've got a child who would be better off not concieved at all. But you can't "unconcieve" it, so... so what? It's there now. Killing it is wrong. Bringing it into the world into a life where it's not wanted, nor loved is wrong. You've got no right choices here. Which is why I say ideally we'd prevent it from happening at all. But no ammount of good sex ed is going to overcome the stupidity of some people and it's still going to happen.
So here I am, left with no opinion. I don't like abortion. I hate the very idea. And yet... can you see my dillemma? I can always see both sides of something. I mean, if I have to come down on this issue, in a broad sense, I know where I come down. If it's "ban all abortions, everywhere, in all circumstances" vs. "legalize all abortions, however unneccessary," I have to come down on legalization. And that makes me squirm. I hate the idea that my "pro-choice" vote might enable some idiot to get out of the consequences of her own stupid actions, at the expense of a life. The way I /want/ things to be is that they wouldn't be needed at all. *sighs*
Bleah. If politics weren't so freaking polarized things would be much easier. But either you're a murdering abortionist who kills third trimester babies, or you're a raving anti-abortionist who makes rape victims keep their pregnancies. They won't let you have the middle ground anymore.
Apparently Yin gets to be spokesperson for the political arguments in my head... (Which is a whole 'nother topic there. I think I'm seeing both sides of things because I've got enough voices in there to have differing opinions on everything.)
But when I do have an opinion, it's generally a pretty middle of the line one. And you know what that gets you these days? It gets you spat on by both sides, mostly.
Which is a big part of the reason why I don't usually discuss political issues. No matter who I'm talking to, we're going to disagree somewhere, and if I put it out in public, I have this paranoid certainty that I'm going to get flak from left and right.
The other reason why I don't discuss it much is because the solutions I think of as ideal are impossible. Ideally we'd solve the problem of abortion by not having anybody get unintentionally pregnant. Heck, ideally you wouldn't be able to have kids at all until you prove you can actually parent. And if somebody can tell me how to actually pull that one off, well... *shrugs* not going to happen, unfortunately. So even though I think that last thing we need is people having babies from irresponsible sex, I also don't think that it's right to kill a potential human being just because you fooled around. You did something stupid, you got pregnant, you're now responsible for it, and you should have the kid and see that it's taken care of. But the kind of person who has an irresponsible pregnancy isn't going to be a responsible parent terribly often. (Rape is a whole different issue, mind...) It's just this nasty tangle. You've got a child who would be better off not concieved at all. But you can't "unconcieve" it, so... so what? It's there now. Killing it is wrong. Bringing it into the world into a life where it's not wanted, nor loved is wrong. You've got no right choices here. Which is why I say ideally we'd prevent it from happening at all. But no ammount of good sex ed is going to overcome the stupidity of some people and it's still going to happen.
So here I am, left with no opinion. I don't like abortion. I hate the very idea. And yet... can you see my dillemma? I can always see both sides of something. I mean, if I have to come down on this issue, in a broad sense, I know where I come down. If it's "ban all abortions, everywhere, in all circumstances" vs. "legalize all abortions, however unneccessary," I have to come down on legalization. And that makes me squirm. I hate the idea that my "pro-choice" vote might enable some idiot to get out of the consequences of her own stupid actions, at the expense of a life. The way I /want/ things to be is that they wouldn't be needed at all. *sighs*
Bleah. If politics weren't so freaking polarized things would be much easier. But either you're a murdering abortionist who kills third trimester babies, or you're a raving anti-abortionist who makes rape victims keep their pregnancies. They won't let you have the middle ground anymore.
Apparently Yin gets to be spokesperson for the political arguments in my head... (Which is a whole 'nother topic there. I think I'm seeing both sides of things because I've got enough voices in there to have differing opinions on everything.)
