Do We Really Have A Right To Our Opinion?

Oregon is beautiful and that is not up for debate.

I’ve been thinking a lot about opinions lately.  It’s happening because we are entering our third solid year of daily political arguments about every imaginable topic.  It is a very unique time, where everyone expresses their views on a daily basis, or is at least expected to.  The cycle goes like this: Something happens. A media outlet reports on it.  Social media gets a hold of it immediately after that and millions of people decide how they feel about it at first blush.  Then, they post their feelings and get comments.  The comments become threads and arguments begin, and many times they have nothing to do with the inciting incident. That can happen 3-4 times a week.  Every week.

Buried within these comments and arguments are conversational ‘outs’.  They are ways to stop the back and forth and get back to the business of life.  A popular one is ‘well, everyone has the right to their own opinion’. It’s effective; if only that it is a cultural sign of an agreement to disagree and to end the day’s hostilities. I’m just not sure that’s true.  I don’t know if we mean it, or, I don’t know if we should mean it.

They certainly aren’t guaranteed in the constitution.  If you want to include opinions under free speech, that’s fair, but so is everything else.  You are constitutionally allowed to use racial epithets twenty-four hours a day, and call every woman you meet a bitch, but I don’t know if we’d all agree that falls under the umbrella of an implied right. There is an argument to be made about opinions and social acceptability apart from what’s guaranteed by law.

 We don’t accept racial and bigoted slurs because they are unwelcome.  Despite what the right wing says, political correctness did not begin out of a desire to destroy America. There was a line drawn in the sand that certain types of language were no longer acceptable. That’s pretty much it. We were denying specific groups of people a say in the way they were described or referred to.  It may seem petty to the average white guy but being referred to ‘colored’ was just not that awesome for African Americans.  Grown women were tired of hearing ‘honey’ in the workplace when they had been with a company for a couple decades. Language changes because the culture changes. The culture changes because people change.

I think it’s time to do the same with the unbridled expression of personal opinion.

Let’s not make some obvious misstep here. I don’t think we should interfere with thought, belief, or expression. That is as American as apple pie.  But, just like we try to be fair in our language, I think we should take a moment before we express our opinions.  Is it welcome?  Is it helpful? Why am I expressing this? Am I referring to the topic at hand or my own beliefs/biases? What is this opinion based upon?

Do I honestly know what I’m talking about?

We have all done this.  You get into it with someone and we all reach a point. It’s the point where we are about to step outside our realm of knowledge.  Or, it’s the point where the conversation is heated, and we are about to make it personal.  We realize we are in the wrong but now we are just fighting for the sake of fighting. As adults, we should all know how to say: “Yeah, I don’t know.” But our egos don’t let us. Most of the time we double down, and that’s when the friction begins.

And I say, that friction isn’t worth it.  That friction is what destroys relationships.  Mostly over nothing. It was a series of opinions that didn’t need to be expressed and for which you probably didn’t have much of a stake, anyway.  Now, your aunt blocks you on Facebook and your mom wants to know why.

Okay.

Hold on.

Do you see what I’m doing here?  I’m setting the table.  I’m anticipating arguments and cutting them off before you make your opinion about this essay.  It’s fair.  It’s somewhat professional.  It’s something you’d find on a blog post that would float around the internet for a while, attracting a few thousand readers.  A real think-piece. 

But that was not my intent.  I don’t want to be fair.  Not at the moment.

I just want dummies to stop talking.  I don’t know why we have entertained these dopes for so long.  We have freedom of speech as a people, but we can also control where and when the opinions are welcome. And if you are dumb, and you inhale all of your information from Fox News or blogs written by crazed narcissists, YOU SHOULDN’T TALK. If you have no formal education, you shouldn’t have opinions about topics that require one to understand.

If you are dumb, its okay.  You aren’t lesser than anyone else.  There’s been dumb people since the dawn of time.  But they shouldn’t make decisions or lend their two cents in every debate.  Why?  Because they’re dumb.

Dumb is the gateway for evil assholes as well.  They are the first in line to fall for moronic ideas like racial supremacy or hate or all that simple-minded horseshit.  You should live, thrive, be happy, enjoy yourself.  But most of the time, you shouldn’t talk.

The tough part is, dumb people don’t know they are dumb.  I know when I shouldn’t talk about something, because I’m not dumb.  When someone brings up math, I don’t talk.  I listen.  Why?  Because I am dumb when it comes to math, and anything I would have to say wouldn’t be helping.  If I’m quiet, I might learn something.

Besides, you aren’t fooling anyone. We’ve heard those ideas.  We know they are talking points. We know within seconds that you re bullshitting.  We know that your info is wrong or outdated.  We know that you’ve fallen for hype and spin, rather than science and fact.

If your loved one was going in for surgery, and the doctor had to have a conference with other specialists on the course of treatment, would you want the opinion of the guy who refills the vending machines?  The custodial staff?  Strangers in the waiting room?  They may have opinions on the matter, but do they count?

If you are building an addition to your home, does it matter what your gynecologist thinks?  How about the manager of the Baskin Robbins?  Taylor Swift?  Hell no.  You want carpenters, contractors, and people who know what they’re doing.

I have opinions about every damn thing too!  I have a blog! Still! In 2018!  I just don’t let every damn thing loose when I don’t know the topic very well. I have brains enough to know how a filter works.  I stick to what I know. You think I would chime in on #metoo?  Military families?  Bulimia? Anime? I don’t know shit about that stuff, so I shut the hell up.

I wish we would all do the same.

That’s what I really wanted to say: Shut up, dipshits.