We see you, all of the Aunt Lindas of the world. Your capital letters and angry posts about "democraps" don't go unnoticed. Your exclamation points are always there to greet us like excited police dogs, ready to pounce on any unsuspecting "snowflake". Who could have known that your tactic of screaming louder when people won't listen did not only apply to face to face conversations and gay marriage protests, but to the world of the internet as well.
To the anti-Lindas, we see you too. You come in like an unwanted white-knight, ready to call anybody and everyone a racist or a bigot. You comment on our posts, ready to defend us against Aunt Linda's tirade of doom, yet almost always end up making a bigger mess. You pride yourself on being an ally, while sticking your nose in places that were not asked of you. Don't feel so proud of yourself. Nobody listens to you either.
As much as you both don't want to admit it, you have a lot in common. You both refuse to actually converse with those that are different than you, instead resorting to slander and CAPITAL LETTERS. You both like to barge in and invade other peoples' parties when you were not invited. You both think you're doing the right thing, and you both think the other is the worst kind of person on the internet.
The truth is, you both need to calm down. Facebook is a social media platform, not a battlefield. While it is important to spread ideas, it is also important to share them in a way that fosters discussion. You need to be able to understand the other side and acknowledge that sometimes they may have a point worth researching.
Politics bring out the worst in people, especially in times like these. With the shifting of the political tides, it can be easy to revel in the sadness and anger of those who disagree with you, and to scream and bash the other side when you are disagreed with. However, we must remember that it is more important to unite as citizens, than to divide as conservatives and liberals.
The government works for us, and in many ways, against us. In order to ensure that they do not begin to own us, we must be able to put aside our differences and work together when necessary. We must keep a continuous dialogue of ideas flowing between people from all sides of the spectrum, and we must avoid the echo chamber that is avoiding those who see the world differently.
The existence of political parties has a special way of making us see the world in black and white. We ignore a lot of our own knowledge and feelings in order to align ourselves with our party of choice. It's easy to spread propaganda and pride yourself on using the latest liberal analogies or conservative jargon. However, the world is made of grey. While slogans and chants may produce some noise within your own circle, it only continues to halt progress elsewhere.
Aunt Linda, turn the caps lock off. Anti-Linda, don't be so quick to throw out insults. It's time to step outside the circle and out of the echo chamber. It is the time for discussion, and if you don't want to participate, the world will just continue to ignore your virtual tantrums.
