JH Lillevik

I’m really sorry for not having written anything in my blog for a while, but I’ve had a ton of projects and things happening in my life that has taken away time from this place, but I will endeavor to write something on a more regular basis.

Today a good friend of mine wrote something on his Facebook wall that made me think about how we treat people who have different opinions than ourselves. He wrote a long piece on how he would not celebrate the national holiday in Norway that marks the signing of our constitution. Now that in itself I have no problem with. He is a free man and he should be free to celebrate whatever day he chooses.  I’m not very much of a nationalist myself, even if I love my country and the society that I grew up in.

What I reacted to was the way he talked about politicians and by that his fellow countrymen that voted for said politicians. First I have to explain the political situation in Norway. After the election in 2013 the Norwegian population voted in a way that made it impossible for one party to form a cabinet without the support or cooperation of another. This has become really common after the 1980s as the political landscape has become more varied.

The cabinet that was elected was a right-leaning one, including the political party I used to belong to. I have since divorced myself from any form of party politics because of the reasons I will mention below. This cabinet would still not be able to have a majority in the parliament without the support from the more center-orienteted parties.

Now my friend belongs to the party that has traditionally been in power from the 2nd World War until the 80s, so some people think they have lost the touch with common people. I share some of those thoughts, but I think it goes further than that. The politicians seem to have become more partisan over the smallest matters and only seeking out opinions that agree with them.

Now the title of the post was the importance of being human and I think that means we have to talk to people of different opinions than us and not allow group thought to take hold in public spaces

I have seen people talk shit about creators of fiction or otherwise just because they hold a different opinion on matters regarding gender or religion. We need to allow people to be different in opinion and talk to them. Not shame them or alienate them. People have those opinions for a reason. It is very rare that someone is born completely evil. Nothing build more bridges than dialogue and maybe you might even learn something from seeking out opinions you do not necessarily agree with.

I know I said I would try not to get political on this blog, but I felt like sharing this.

JH