If you are anything like me,
the list of subjects that modern society has deemed unsuitable for polite conversation, may have become a bit vague and out of reach in your mind.  This vagueness may be, in no small part, due to the substantial size of the list. It seems we have gone squeamish here in America, and the list is growing every day. 
    In my mind – I have it narrowed down to a small group.  A select few of which my mother would be very proud.  Admittedly, no one has every accused me of being terribly concerned with appearing to be politically correct.  Accordingly my list may be a bit smaller then the average,  though I am inclined to guess that, that fact makes it all the more representative of the population as a whole.  By now, I bet you have taken a guess at my list or perhaps rattled off your own. The common ground we share should be substantial – thats the way a culture functions after all, with collective neurosis and phobias.
Lets take a look at my list:
Politics, Sex, Race, Money and Religion.
    Heading up the list is the odd man out, Politics.  I cannot rightly attempt to find fault with the other four, they seem downright sensible as far as axioms go.  Politics on the other hand seems misplaced on a list of topics that are best left out of the mouths of civilized people.  After all, Politics can be quickly defined in the language of the common man as: a means for having a civil discourse between members of a society who hold opposing view points.  It should go without saying then that the stated goal of our governance, and those who seek its auspices, should be to directly benefit the American people as a whole.  Anyone who uses their elected office in a way that solely benefits their own constituents and corporate campaign benefactors – should be tried as criminals.
    The fact that Politics has found its way onto the list among otherwise sensible taboos speaks volumes about the failure of the political machine in this nation.  We have simply given up on Politics because we deem it to be too messy, unsolvable and un-resolvable.  Is that the reality of the system, or is that merely the way it is portrayed?  Sensationalized media coverage gives voice only the fringes of society – and puts their fringe issues and talking points at center stage.  The polite majority is then relegated to public position of passive indifference. In this country there is a large percentage of people who are only loosely divided by party lines. We tend to identify ourselves as “Moderates” or “Centrists” however pundits from each side are fond of calling us “Idiots”. 
   However few people are true Centrists.  Most who feel compelled to wave that flag are simply embarrassed by the arrogant, bumptious blathering within the fringe element of whichever party he or she otherwise most identifies with.  The clash of these opposing fundamentalists, has pushed our substantial areas of common ground to the margins – it prevents us from from doing right and perpetuates wrongs.  Ironically because these very fringe elements are obsessed with gotcha games and who is right and who is wrong.
    The campaigns for the mid-term elections are kicking into high gear this year.  America, it is time for us to reclaim Politics as a subject for polite conversations with one another; we can do it.  Remember if it is not polite or reasonable it is not “Politics” it is “Demagoguery“.  It may also be prudent to suspend the ban on conversations about Money – but perhaps only as it pertains to questions about who is paying these career criminals we so lovingly refer to as politicians.  I think you and your friends can handle that without killing one another over your individual wage discrepancies.

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