Go Greek

All realms of politics begin with a question. Here is one that I would like to explore: how do babies learn to speak? Babies learn to speak by taking in information, recognizing the patterns within them, like their own name or the sound of the mother’s voice, and then adapting to those sounds. Eventually, they understand the complex patterns and intricacies of their native language and begin formulating their own speech. Most importantly, babies come into the world with the ability to learn any language in the world, only their environment dictates which one they take up.

At this point, I expect you to be thinking, what the hell are you talking about? Political socialization, or how we form our political views, works in the same way. Our political views are indoctrinated into our minds by the world around us. We take in this information from a number of sources, our family, our school, the media, and our religion. We naturally become deeply ingrained in our political beliefs. There is a reason you are advised against arguing politics with people, you are unlikely to find much success.

Why then, do people get so mad when talking politics? In my view, just as you don’t have much influence over the language you speak, your favorite foods, and your sexual preference, you don’t really have too much control of your political beliefs. Agree to disagree becomes the only possible solution. Instead, the rhetoric turns derogatory and no resolution is made.

Instead, go Greek! By that I mean be like Plato, who always tried to see understand things from the opposite point of view. So before you go crazy in your next political argument, remember to go Greek.