I really want us to get to the place where people do calm down and live a little. And I think that most reasonable people feel the same. Unfortunately there are very loud, angry factions on either side being egged on by the obnoxious, sensationalized media-both mainstream and fringe-that are hampering that progress.

I'm with you, totally sick of it.
And generally I agree, it belongs in the box with politics and religion. The problem is all of these things are no longer in a box.

Growing up my conservative family never spoke about politics when my liberal relatives were spending the day with them because they knew it would only lead to fighting, no one was likely to change their mind. I sincerely want it to go back to that, where everyone just quietly, respectfully accepts that they have different views on things. Instead they've been brainwashed into this idea that someone who disagrees is their enemy. It was already slightly out of control during the Trump presidency, the pandemic blew it sky high, and now it's one big, horrible mess. And I have to think it's intentional..For example why on freaking earth would they address Roe VS Wade right in the middle of a tidal wave of other chaos? Unless chaos is the goal.

I'm hoping that maybe if more and more people like myself and Eric can show that it's really easy to reach across the divide and clasp hands- that the majority of people are not evil monsters, just doing their best with the information they have- it could get better. Any progress is better than the backsliding down mountains we've been doing :)