It's good to talk

I was thinking about something this morning while walking to college. That thing is this.

People don't like to be challenged/confronted/argued with anymore. It seems to me like you can't discuss anything for longer than a minute with someone before you get told to either; shut up, laughed off like its all a big joke or simply the other person loses interest in the discussion. I think this lack of good conversation and arguing (it doesn't have to be a dirty words with connotations of fights) leads to people getting really lazy arguing when they actually have to do it.

For example I asked someone I was living with, why he wouldn't recycle, I'd asked politely for him to do it and given good reasons for it. At first he said something about it giving money to 'big corporations' then something about him doing it in the past but now not believing in it. There are many things wrong with hs argument but thats for another time. After I had questioned all his weak reasons, he admitted he was just lazy and proudly stated it was his right not to recycle. He did in fact recycle after than conversation and thankfully there seems to be no lingering beef.

The point is, and maybe its not the best example, is that if you challenge people, its not just because you want them to do as you do or think the same way for an ego trip. Sometimes good things can come out of people sharing and discussing ideas.

I personally think a lot of the time it's people that claim to be liberals that are the lest open minded and most conservative about certain issue and have the least interest in discussing their views extensively.

It always strikes me as strange but I think of the prominent music orientated social groups, a lot of "punks" are really unlikely to rationally discuss their world views. A lot of the time it seems like a lot of these punks' ideology is ripped from some manual that was written in the mid 70's when socially, and economically things weren't great in England. A lot of these 'punks' see themselves as left wing freedom fighting liberals but when it comes down to the most trivial of things like someone not wearing the right uniform or talking about how they like a band a not playing power chord driven-double speed rock or spouting (often) empty rhetoric they don't want to know.

I'm certainly not saying this is all 'punks' as I know its not, but I'd say a decent percentage odopt this attitude. 'Punks' would argue that they are down with Reggae and Ska, but adopting one style of music and rejecting near everything else doesn't seem like the sign of open minded people to me. Don't get me wrong. I like a LOT of things about punk culture and love a lot of what would be deemed 'punk' music. I just don't like this close-minded attitude that I think sometimes resonates, particularly in the 'punk scene'

I know people just wanna have a chuckle and thats cool. Im all down for a chuck too. But lets talk about things too, educate ourselves and share our knowledge. Of course I could be talking a load of fish brains and if you believe I am feel free to arguee/dicuss/converse with me.