Choosing Sides
I'm not skilled enough in polemics to try to persuade anybody to my way of thinking. Most of my arguments are based on "gut feelings" and "wishful thinking" and not on facts or logic. A result of that is having to defend a position that I really don't care to defend. I'll make some strategic error and rather than back down, I値l defend it to the bitter end. That gets rather embarrassing. It is a consolation to know that I知 not the only one guilty of self-induced annihilation. A good example of that would be the error made by President Ford during his debates with Jimmy Carter concerning the amount of freedom the people in Eastern Europe have while under the domination of the communists. Ford said that those people have just as much freedom as we do. Now he really didn't mean that, but he said it, and the flak he got might have cost him the election. The point is, if you talk long enough you値l make an ass of yourself, and anybody within earshot will know you are a fool With that in mind, I've decided it would be better for me to have no opinion and keep my big mouth shut.
There was a time when I was really concerned with abortion and capital punishment and the war in Viet Nam and any other issue that might appear from time to time. But I found out no matter how much I cared, there simply wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. I didn稚 have the money or the power or the intelligence or the influence to change the world. My political impotence led to frustrations, and my frustrations made me bitter and caustic. I couldn't carry on a conversation without becoming a raving Hitler, pedantically beseeching my listeners to accept my dogma. In short, I was a political "kook" and nobody gave a damn. I discovered that I was lonely and unhappy and totally without friends.
I realize now that I won't hang or have an abortion or die in Viet Nam. Furthermore, it is none of my business if you do. If you want to kill or steal or censor or anything, else, go right ahead, you値l get no argument out of me. No matter which side you may choose on an issue, I値l support you all the way. I've learned to be flexible and I realize your efforts will be futile.