It is interesting being a contrarian.
Why is it that I am always opposed or at best orthogonal to everyone around me?
Yesterday, I had a pleasant evening out watching sports with friends. Not something I am against. I have always enjoyed Sport, Friends and Beer. A Winning Combination!
What was interesting for me, after trying to avoid politics for a good hour, is that we couldn’t avoid politics!
It started off with the now, almost religious fervor given to any discussion around the Corona Virus. I would be quite happy to never discuss the subject again. It’s deftly boring. Do masks work or not? (You may guess where I stand on that one.) If travel should be restricted, if it the virus was engineered, how dangerous it is, how deaths are counted, should kids go to school, etc… etc… everyone has an opinion on what should be plain facts.
Which brings we to a fundamental point.
Why does each person have their own set of facts?
Facts that they believe without too much doubt.
It’s a really crazy situation.
I sat last night observing, as the conversation then moved to a next favorite subject of any gathering. That of Trump, Biden and the US election.
Contrary to almost everyone on the table, I proposed that it actually doesn’t matter who wins. Yes, in direct contradiction to what I believed just 2 short months ago, I barely care who wins anymore and haven’t checked “The News” in as much time.
It’s smoke and mirrors. Everyone at the table I was on, was a college graduate. We were composed of lawyers, engineers, financiers and other such professions with Masters Degrees etc… and (un)surprisingly each person had a very different concept of what was going on.
Some people at the table could read Trump’s mind. They knew what he was thinking and knew they were totally opposed to him, others at the table knew much about Biden’s cognitive capacities (or the lack of it). Some people, really liked Kamala Harris. Others could see through her… Ok, ok… I’ll admit it, that one was me ;-)
Some people thought that America was a spent force, who is dissociating from world affairs. Others thought they were displaying leadership.
It’s really a curious thing. Having held all the above positions at one time or the other, I find it very funny how people truly believe what they think. I no longer believe what I think.
It turns out that I am right only half the time, if that, so why believe anything I think?
As a result, I have come to the solid conclusion that contrary to popular belief, this is not the most important election in our life time. It will matter not, not much anyway, who wins. I am not entirely sure, if I believe myself, but that’s what I’ve got at the moment!
I think people, think it matters who wins because it matters to them at the time. Politics is like sport. I was so happy that Liverpool won the Premier League last season. Now, I realize that it didn’t matter at all. I can’t remember who won the championship 3, 4 or 5 years ago. I barely remember who won it 2 seasons ago!
How did it change anything? I am back to baseline happiness and Liverpool’s win hasn’t changed that.
Do you think the world would have been so different if Gore would have won the Presidency, all those years ago and the Florida results had come out differently.
Did the last Noble Prize winning leader keep any peace?
What did he do for the ‘environment’ or for the Rain Forests? Do you know (or care)?
I think most of us, will continue life as normal, regardless of result. The economic damage created by the virus is now going to be a reality, regardless. It probably makes sense to stay with the same administration than to change it midway through a crisis, however who knows? I certainly don’t.
When you have invested in a result, when you have your team, it’s hard to see the frivolity in it all. The truth is that you will adapt to whatever the result is and it won’t matter who won.
Nobody is going to tell you that except for
The Vikid Truth