When it comes to politics, the general idea is to steer clear of this topic. "Religion and politics have no right at the dinner table" is how the saying goes, but why? Since when is it rude to talk about opinions? Since when did people find it impossible to simply agree-to-disagree? People nowadays always have to be right and can't even discuss ideas that aren't there own. This is where the problem begins.

My family and I sometimes have very different views when it comes to issues like the economy, immigration, lifestyles, etc, but that doesn't mean I love them or respect them any less. I actually enjoy disagreeing with them sometimes. The discussions that arise from these disagreements are so eye-opening and sometimes help me see another view. This may not work for everyone because, obviously, my generation is less interested in politics and rarely have differing views from their parents. I want to encourage these people to step away from how they were raised and venture into something new completely and start there.

Going to a liberal arts university in Austin makes some of my political views very, very unpopular, but that doesn't stop me from voicing my opinion and having an intellectual debate with people. I of course acknowledge that there are some good ideas within every party, but I just simply have a different opinion on which one is the best, which any reasonable person would agree with. Not being able to discuss politics is pointless and takes away majority of conversation dealing with anything intellectual.

Personally, I think that people are afraid to talk about politics. Today, it is so easy to say something offensive people stop trying to talk about things that matter. This is not a rant about political correctness, but more about the shame that gets thrown on people for simply asking questions. If you're in the middle of a discussion and someone asks a question about a word to use or how to phrase something and it comes off as offensive, they obviously didn't mean to offend anyone. Confusion and the unknown are two causes of these accidents. People go right to being offended instead of helping the person understand, that it causes discomfort as well as automatic shame. No one, who is a decent human being, deliberately wants to offend someone, but things happen.

Instead of being butt hurt right away, how a bout you listen and help people. Politics don't have to be an avoided conversation topic. In fact, politics should be the most fun and interesting conversation you have with people, I know those conversations are some of my favorite.