Agendas

Have you noticed that, more and more, people all seem to have an agenda? I mean, people just can't help but relate everything they talk about or hear about or see to whatever their pet peeve is.

I'm not sure if it's really true. It seems like it to me, but I don't know. Maybe I'm just hanging around the wrong people. Maybe it was always this way and I've just stumbled into it (finally). Maybe I too have an agenda. Actually, I probably do, several in fact.

Remember way back when. I don't, but I like to pretend I do. Remember when people said the topics not to talk about at dinner included politics and religion. I think those topics should be able to be discussed politely too, but let's face it, they're a far cry from reasoned discourse in most people's books. But it used to be just those two (and various other unmentionables) topics which were acceptable in polite society but unacceptable dinner conversation (so I guess the unmentionables don't count, since they weren't acceptable in polite society).

Now, you can be talking about a movie you saw and the topic of conversation inevitably shifts to politics or religion (or, if you're with me, both, since I like to muddy the waters and drive other people crazy, but that's just me). You see it a lot on Internet forums. Someone will start out talking about cats, and the conversation inevitably degenerates into a shouting match between liberals and conservatives, or atheists and theists (or all of the above). There's that law about calling people Nazis online, but there should be another law which says that every single online conversation will be used as a forum by someone to discuss something partisan. And that's caused by agendas.

I don't think there's anything wrong with having a cause, or believing things strongly. I also don't think that online forums mimic real life to the extent that some people seem to believe. But real life does it too. And the problem isn't with the agendas, it's with people not being able to lighten up about them.

Maybe our agendas have gotten more serious. I find myself unable to laugh at certain things (which is depressing) simply because they are mocking a point of view I happen to support. Why do I take it seriously? Why does everyone else? And why can't we take a break from it all on occasion?

Just as you can't be on the job 24/7 without going crazy ("All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"), polite conversation is on the verge of being replaced with constant agenda. That can't be healthy. It certainly doesn't let us enjoy things, and it makes it hard to eat when you're arguing all the time. But we have to be able to talk about something besides the weather (and don't try talking about that either).

I don't know what the solution is. This isn't one of those times when I have a solution. It's one of those times when I have a problem.