Chris+K’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2017

My dad has always said “Opinions are like buttholes. Everyone has one, and they all stink” We don’t judge each other off of buttholes, so why should we judge each other off of opinions. In today’s society I feel like in certain areas of the US, if someone has an opinion that is not the same as the communities opinion in their area, they are turned away from. This is happening in all different cities or states, and can be over things like politics, economics, or more. I don’t believe that this is happening in majority of the cities in the US, because humanity still has some sanity in it, but the America I want to live in has none of this behavior in it. The America I want to grow old in has Americans that treat others with respect without bias towards different races, religions, and especially opinions. I do not care what your opinion is, be it supporting racism or equality, liberal or conservative, or whatever. (JS) But what I do care about though are people’s actions. If you believe in something horrible in your head, but never act upon it, I will treat you exactly the same as the person who believes the exact opposite of you and doesn’t act either.

One of the main reasons I do not support this opinion shaming idea in America is because it can cause people to not speak about their opinions. The first Amendment of the United States grants all citizens the freedom of speech, quoting exactly “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech” This of course has limits, like you can’t go around saying “We should all kill the something population” because that is inciting violence, which is illegal. But unfortunately believing in something like “The something group is better than the something else group” is legal and is protected by the First Amendment. While I would like to see an America also without people who believe this, I see that as never happening as there will always be people who think in every single way possible, be it morally right or wrong.

To me, an opinion doesn’t always define someone. I have witnessed too many arguments where one side doesn’t listen to the other just because they disagree on the topic. I have two friends who argue like their IQ is 50 because all they do is call each other names and completely disregard each other. My America would not have this. I want an America where having a different opinion doesn’t make you an idiot. Where having any opinion won’t give you a label. Where people can have a discussion or argument about different opinions without having to resort to name calling.

Actions on the other hand should define someone. Say I am in-line for Taco Bell or something and in front of me are two people, one of which believes in something as bad as racism and the other believes in equality for everyone. Before either of them does anything, they are equal to me. Even if they state their opinion, they are equal to me. But if one of them treats the cashier like crap, then they are the worse person to me. I don’t care which one they are, their action spoke louder than their opinion did.

Now of course not all topics involve name calling. You and a friend could calmly discuss things like what is the best shoe or best toppings, with the only real insult being thrown if someone declares they like pineapple on pizza. But as soon as the topic goes from food to politics, suddenly everyone turns into insult throwing, name calling lunatics. Now I’m not gonna be a hypocrite here because I too have called people idiots for believing certain things, but I am willing to stop this action if everyone else would. I think that if everyone turned away from just name calling and insulting each other's opinions, our society could get much more done, because instead of hot headed politicians and arguers, we would have problem solvers that can analyze problems from many different points of views and aspects. Also why does there have to be controversial topics? Like when you have family over for Thanksgiving and you always want to avoid talking about politics or some other topic that would make your family go crazy. Why can’t we discuss them? The obvious answer is because everyone will just start fighting, but the America I want to go grow old in will have family members all with different beliefs that are able to sit at the same table all together and eat in peace and discuss their opinions and beliefs in peace. Opinions are meant to be discussed. In no way do I want America to stop discussing, because only through discussing ideas do we come to agreements. But this of course means it must be civilized arguments. The America I want to grow old in has citizens who are willing to accept that not everyone thinks the same or believes the same thing, and will put aside those differences to be able to have a conversation or debate about anything without it escalating into who can shout the loudest and insult the other the most.