Political ignorance makes opinions less credible

So, I have been stepping out of politics, (i.e., I haven’t been popping my mouth off at people talking about things they do not understand), but I am back for a last hoorah if you will. The debates have come and gone, and people are still going for the candidate that they have chosen since they first heard the nominees early this year.

I would recommend that all students go to YouGov.org and take a look around their statistics. What they will see is that people who strongly support Obama or Romney also believe that their chosen person won the debate. That is like a bunch of people going to a race track, putting money on a horse, watching only their horse race, and then saying their horse won. Even if the horse died on the track, their horse still won (such as Obama in the first debate or Paul Ryan in the vice presidential debate).

So, here I come to say a few things about this phenomenon. The number one thing I have to say to all the apparently recently-changed-to-political science majors is this: Shut up. Here’s a quick view of what I call an “Idiot’s Guide” to politics.

People listen to what their candidate says is wrong and their plans on how to fix it, and now they are the master of that domain, huh? That seems smart. They listen to one man’s opinion on a subject, and now they know the answer. The world is simply black and white. No shades of gray in life. They know the answer, cut and dry, and now they know that literally everything the opposing side has done or said is wrong. The enemy-candidate hasn’t done one thing right the entire debate, or whatever office they have previously held.

Let me put it this way – if someone has to Google what Article Four in the Constitution of the United States is, I don’t think he/she should be talking about anything about states’ rights versus the federal government.

If someone believes that the president is in any way responsible for gas prices, they shouldn’t talk about world economics. If these people cannot tell me (without the help of the internet) who the Speaker of the House, the Minority Leader, or the Majority Leader are, or even what branch of government these officials are affiliated with, I don’t want to be told about how the legislature should be reformed.

If they can’t pass the test to become an American citizen, I don’t want them to even think about discussing politics or history.

Because in the end, the problem isn’t with the wolves living in Washington, D.C., but the sheep that are listening to these wolves telling them that their den is the safest. They’ll tell people that wolf A is better than wolf B, and if one picked wolf A, no matter what B says, they’ll are going to follow wolf A.

But most of all, I don’t want to listen to anyone talk about the United States government as if they know the structure like the back of their hand, while at the same time José from Mexico just passed a test to become a citizen that nearly 40 percent of Americans fail.

I am not a political science major, but at the same time, I am a citizen of the United States of America, and therefore I feel it is my duty to know my country’s past, present, and try and steer its future. No, the person I pick is not going to have all the answers, but he more closely represents what I want. No man, and I mean no single man, has the answers to everything.