walkers walk… but runners fly

Do Politics Belong on a Running Blog?

Good question.

Politics nowadays are so divisive.  The whole point of blogging is to build connections and bring people together.  Do we really want to alienate fellow runners because they didn’t vote for the same person we did?

How many of you have had that sinking feeling when you realize a person, who you thought you liked, voted for the wrong person- and then you start to think that maybe you don’t really like them so much after all.  I know I have.  It’s come to the point where being a Democrat or Republican is comparable to rooting for a sports team.  I grew up in a north suburb of Chicago, and we were all Cubs fans.  I literally didn’t know one single White Sox fan growing up, and nothing you could have said to me would have convinced me that the White Sox were a better team.

Cubs forever!

People vote Democrat or Republican in a similar manner.  Most people (including myself) couldn’t actually discuss in detail any specific policy their candidate supports, but we all know who we’re voting for- we won’t vote against our team.  And there are a lot of factors that go into becoming a Democrat or Republican, and interestingly, recent studies have shown that some of them are inherited.  Certain characteristics, like a craving for novelty, the propensity to feel disgust, and the tendency to sense danger all influence whether people are conservative or liberal, and these are things we’re born with.  It’s probably a good idea to have a mix of these characteristics in a society to balance things out.  In this post I had my little rant about how politicians and the media are trying hard to polarize us- but in the end I still believe our similarities are greater than our differences.

I say, put whatever you want on your blog!  Personally, I like a strong, well-stated opinion. But I’m also wary about writing anything that will enforce the “us” versus “them” notion.  In the end I believe we all want the same things, and especially in this blogging community, we need to build each other up and not alienate people.

Hey, but this is a running blog after all so I’m going to share this clip of Joe Biden running!  Not bad for a 78-year-old who isn’t actually a runner.  And of here’s one Kamala Harris out for a morning run- and here she talks (briefly) about her workout routine: “It has nothing to do with your weight… it’s about your mind.”

 

I sure we’re all united in hoping for a peaceful day tomorrow.

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16 Responses

  1. Like you said, it’s a personal blog and you make the rules about your own blog. I personally choose not to discuss politics on my blog. I keep it running and fitness. I learned from “running” our MRTT group that running is what brought us together and people can go other places to read and discuss politics. Those are my views and I totally respect those who feel otherwise and that’s their choice.

    1. I think a lot of people read blogs partially as an escape from the current events, and probably appreciate a “no politics” policy!

  2. Like Deborah, I try to keep the politics off my blog (and all of my social media for that matter). I think some things are best discussed face-to-face or else there’s a high risk of misinterpretation of what’s being read. That said, I respect everyone can (and should) set their own boundaries as to what they want to share. I don’t mind hearing the opinions and views of others, even if I disagree with them. What I don’t care for, though, is when people badmouth those who don’t share their exact same convictions. Fortunately, you don’t seem like that kind of person 😉

    1. I agree, no badmouthing! I’ve learned that when someone has a different point of view, they’re just seeing something you’re not. No reason to attack them personally.

  3. People can blog about whatever they want, and people can choose to read or not. 🙂 I actually think keeping your different views to yourself — whether its politics or religion or whatever — is counterproductive. We can’t get over our us vs, them culture by burying our differences. We need to know that people we have things in common with (running or other things) have different views. If you only know people who agree with you, that makes it easier to disparage people who don’t on that basis alone.

    1. You have a point. I can’t remember who said it- it was during the inauguration this week- but someone (smart) said ‘We have to listen to the people we agree with, and the people we don’t agree with.”

  4. Personally I don’t understand the “like them less” mentality toward people with different views from my own. I try to understand where they’re coming from, how they formed their opinions, what media they read or listen to, etc. I think sports is a lot more good natured than politics have been recently. I’m very sad it is the source of so much hatred, because, as you said at the end of the day we all want the same things.

    1. Yes, it’s really important to understand where people are coming from. It can be hard these days but we have to remember that everyone has an opinion that makes sense to them.

  5. My blog is my blog but I also don’t want to offend anyone, so when I do post about ‘politics’, it’s more general. I hate the divisiveness that was sown by the previous administration. I don’t ever remember such an ‘us and them’ mentality ever in my life. But I also dislike when people say that they ‘aren’t political’ because like what Coco said, you don’t really ever get to know them. There’s a way to talk about these things without being confrontational. But I’m open minded, so there you go…

    1. Well, I also find that if someone doesn’t talk about politics at all, my little detective hat goes on and I start looking for “clues” about who they really voted for! I know it shouldn’t matter, but there you go.

  6. I read Dr. Biden’s book recently and I loved her chapter on running. She might be a high profile former Second Lady (book was published before Biden even declared, I think, or right then) but is also a runner just like you and I.
    I try not to get into politics too much on my blog or Facebook as both can be escapes, but sometimes it just happens. I’ve found what people think are politics is just an activity I’m proud to participate in, i.e. Pride march.
    I’m OK with your Cubbies, so long as they’re not playing my Yankees

    1. I didn’t know Dr. Biden is a runner!!! Yay! Your Yankees will only meet my Cubs in the World Series, so we probably don’t have to worry too much about being rivals anytime soon.

      1. Yep. I actually saw Yankees/Cubs in the exhibition game at the “new” Yankee stadium in 2008. That was fun.
        Dr. Biden ran Marine Corps. I think there’s an article or two floating around. Worth reading.

        1. I read a couple articles and it’s so interesting that I’m going to talk about it in a future blog post- thanks for letting me know!

  7. Politics are definitely tricky, especially in this day and age! I had some thoughts about recent politics that I wanted to speak about but honestly, I cleaned it up because I didn’t want to offend my readers. I think context matters with anything that you share on your blog but I love you raising this point!

    1. It really is tricky. Some people recently have expressed their opinions and I’m like “You go girl!” But then I imagine if it were the opposite point of view and well… I think it would be a turnoff. Maybe we all should get better at listening to one another!

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