Politics vs Community

After years of working on political campaigns and blogs I came to realize, quite slowly by some accounts, that there is a vast difference between politics and community and the two rarely have anything to do with one another.

I first got into politics because of my hatred of those that would turn a blind eye to someone in need. I didn't know that hate was my motivating factor until someone pointed out political groups are defined more often by what they hate rather than what they like. That caused a deep introspective look into my past and I came to grips with it.

Having this new perspective of all that came before was hate, as witnessed by my rather dark political works, I was able to see community for the first time free of politics. And I liked what I saw: Neighbors lending hands on each others farms, sons and daughters staying at home and going to school and working a job all just to help out their folks, people stopping by to share their knowledge of the property and what apple trees produce the best apples, you get the idea.

Now, I still get sucked back into the game from time to time, and I can't always see eye to eye with folks, but the odds are getting better that I will. If you are considering getting into politics before you do be sure you are getting in to share your likes and not your dislikes.