Ignorant (my thoughts on the election -- gasp)

I am ignorant 

I don't know even close to enough 

about this election 

or those who run it

or where it's headed 

or how I truly feel

my knowledge is bound 

by suggestive

well, not-so-suggestive

Facebook comments

or by casual conversations 

as people shake their heads in disdain

sigh 

moan

UGH... 

[insert name of candidate on the opposite side of their political party]

And I used to nod along

like I understood

and agreed

but I didn't 

at least not really

it's not too cool to seem uninformed

out of the loop

unsure of your stance

so I hid in plain sight

behind second hand opinions

but now I just don't get involved

I sit in my own corner

gray and slight lost

in all the smoke and mirrors

it's not the best

but I am ignorant 

in the face of it all

because it turns me off

it makes me cringe

I don't like shouting

and boy are they shouting

people are yelling from the rooftops

without saying much at all

at least nothing new

and what is getting resolved 

by all the noise?

nothing but blazoned paragraphs 

of replicated words

from swayed warriors 

seeing red

or black

or white

and surrogate apathy

(as far as I can see)

the energy draws me 

to jump in

how EVIL 

*this* person is!

or that person!

or everything's going to s**t

or I'm moving to Canada

or the "other side" is lost

or stupid

or dumb

or too sensitive 

or sexist

or ruining our country

I could get into long diatribes

with people I haven't spoken to 

face to face 

since high school

just to make myself feel justified

but I know I wouldn't be contributing

with true facts

with knowledge 

with enough information

with words that aren't fueled 

by nothing but emotions

to really know

if I'm putting down my fellow people 

for a reason that makes sense

And I see people being SO angry

so fired up

they can't control themselves

they just see RED

their candidate is going to save us

but the OTHER ONE

OH THEY ARE SCUM OF THE EARTH

DEVIL INCARNATE

ruining us all

and anyone who agrees more with them

IS A F-CKING IDIOT

who doesn't deserve a brain

so it goes

and I wonder

if they are the same way 

if they are ignorant

truly uninformed 

and regurgitating words 

they hear around them

without giving another opinion

without being sure 

they know their stance

is solid 

in the face of every angle

every situation

if they think about people 

born in a body that isn't theirs

if they've ever been willing 

to entertain another standpoint

without taking time to wonder 

if they're projecting 

personal problems

exaggerated propaganda

the news commentator's latest spiel  

onto their neighbors

and if these people are indeed 

as ignorant as me

while acting like they know best...

who else is pretending?

How much of this is hearsay 

and bias 

and copying 

what their parents said

and passing on that propaganda 

without another thought

and then I wonder 

if anyone really cares 

about the actual truth at all

do they really care 

what anyone else has to say

or is every mind made up

hand on the trigger

before the show has even started?

and if that's the case, my friends

I'd say

we're really

going nowhere fast

'cause nothing can be repaired

in the middle of a storm

but what do I know?

I'm ignorant