When I was a child, growing up in New York during the 70’s and 80’s, I remember my father saying that “opinions can get a person in more trouble that statements made in haste”, this was a concept that I could not understand, until recent events have shown me otherwise.  Our ability to communicate has its inherent flaw, miss-communication.

Statements made in haste, in the past, were often disregarded as the ranting of a person that is disenfranchised or feels separated from a social way of thinking, often passed of as idle chatter, however, now opinions are being thought of as undeniable fact and we, as a people are starting to take opinion as a way of thinking.

Opinions, that’s what most people have when it comes to how they truly feel about what is going on in our world today. A person’s opinion is often thought of as a well conceived series of thoughts, and can influence how and what others think. I would subscribe to the thought that an opinion is more of a view of what people have rationalized within their own minds, in order to deal with a particular situation and are not “thoughts” that all people should take as verbatim and be prescribed to. 

Now, you may ask “why is he going on about this”, well this brings me to the “meat and potatoes” of what this article is about. 

If you frequent the various coffee houses that are becoming the staple of social activity, you will often hear people talking about everything from their personal matters to the present economic and political issues of our times. Blaming it on employment issues, social issues, other religious groups or races, these people speak to each other without regard to who may be “listening” to their opinions, and these eavesdroppers will take what is said to heart and will either agree or disagree.

I am finding that the people that disagree will interject or make statements to the contrary of the opinions and engage in a “battle of wits”, often unarmed, and you should never engage in a battle of wits unarmed. This enforce personal opinion as fact is causing a backlash of social separations; we are starting to see a new class versus status occurring that is going to cause the drawing of lines between people, those that consider the facts of a conversation and those that will take what they hear as fact without thinking. 

Many people are reading the news or watching television without thinking, feeling that the sources are correct without considering these same sources of information are moving so fast to disperse it, are doing so without verifying all the details, we are getting half truths and here say, considering as fact and proven without doubt.

I would propose this to you, the reader, think for yourself, look at all the facts, don’t take what one group or person says at train yourself on this theory. Have the sense to create your own opinion and look at what is said as only part of the story. However, it is not some foreign country that is out to get us, it is our fear of something we do not know everything about or that we don’t understand that is preparing our way to self destruction.

Our leaders are scrambling to quell the fear that they do not know what they are doing, or that WE don’t think they know, which to some degree, is a definite truth. Once Nobel and well respected, our Country is sinking in debt and the people in power are struggling to keep what power they can, and keep control of the economy by passing “stimulus” packages or “bailing out” companies that are thought to support our very way of life. I find it strange that our government is giving our tax dollars to the same businesses that “messed” the economy up, or giving it to countries that are Anti-America or would rather see our way of life fall apart than assist us in finding a resolution. We don’t need handouts or food stamps; we need a reduction in costs, lower interest rates and affordable health care. Hand a man a check and he may take care of some issues, but if he has a job, he has continual growth opportunities. 

People are loosing the ability to think for themselves, we all have fears, and these fears are starting to determine who and what we believe, we are becoming so eager to cling to an ideal that comes even remotely close to our own that we are simplifying our minds to accept concepts that at one time would seem foreign or less than believable. We are loosing faith, within ourselves, taking hope by latching on to even the smallest chance that we can connect with someone in power that can benefit us. But we forget that these higher powers are often more concerned with their way of living, not ours. 

I would like to leave you with this, “personal opinion”, questioning authority, for the benefit of our futures is our right and responsibility, take nothing for granted and question everything, leave nothing to chance, and we will have a chance.