This article is precisely what the title suggests: why you should give up political Viewpoint articles for Lent. I address this to both the Viewpoint writers as well as the readers. All of this may sound hypocritical of me, that is, me explaining why you should stop writing and reading about politics in the Viewpoint section as I have – and am – writing an article about politics in the Viewpoint section. And you would be exactly right! But, nobody is perfect, and somebody has to say this.
To the Viewpoint writers, I completely understand why you might be compelled to write a political Viewpoint article. It’s an opportunity for you to express your deep convictions about what is going wrong (or right) about this country and how to improve everyone’s situation. It is an admirable endeavor, and the quality of your writing and argumentation and style are apparent in your work. I too have contributed to the political dialogue to this campus via my previous political article. Your opinion on politics is meaningful to you, and my opinion on politics is meaningful to me – that’s how it should be. But the only issue is that nobody else really cares. Okay, I don’t mean “nobody” at all. There is always high viewership and interest for our articles among our respective Instagram close friends stories. There is also high viewership and interest for our articles among Notre Dame alumni ages 70 years and older. Aside from these two demographics, the broader Viewpoint audience is indifferent to this over-saturated topic.
I would even dare to argue that giving up writing political arguments for about two weeks could yield many personal and spiritual benefits. Perhaps, refraining from verbal fist-shaking could give you a peace of mind that you otherwise would not have. Ignorance, in this situation, could be bliss. Though it may be argued that writing these political opinion articles yields some catharsis for the writer, that is divulging one’s opinions on a student newspaper is a way of preserving peace of mind. In this case, I suggest yoga, or something else. Moreover, in this time of Lent, maybe you could focus on the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but this is just a friendly, optional suggestion.
To the Viewpoint readers, I apologize for my brazen participation in the very course of action that I now discourage. In my poor defense, I am only writing tangentially about politics, that is, the extent of my discussion about politics is, in fact, just the very word itself. I would not dare to use the T-word, for that would further undermine my already unsubstantiated argument. When I first joined the Observer nearly three years ago, I was inspired by the Viewpoint section’s creativity and originality. The articles with a strong personal narrative always engaged me, for they were a window straight into someone’s mind, which is quite interesting. Articles were often practical, especially during midterm season and for freshmen. I regularly kept up to date with the new articles even while I myself began as a column writer. To me, the Observer, and especially Viewpoint, was a platform for diverse, interesting dialogue, provocative at times, yes, but it still seemed all fresh and original. This was what kept me reading the articles. But now, I fear that I suffer from PFS (Politics Fatigue Syndrome), and I also fear that many of the readers suffer from the same ailment. There is nothing to look forward to reading since the topic is the same as it was last week and the week before that, and it will continue to be the same until 2028.
I have no other productive, well-thought-out suggestion other than this: stop reading and writing about politics in Viewpoint. Trust me, there are no conversations that we need to have. There is nothing valuable that we can add to or learn in the political discourse that we currently have. Please believe in the reality that you could be a happier, less angry person if you were to put the keyboard or cellphone down. All of this is seriously not that deep.
Jonah Tran is a junior at Notre Dame studying finance and classics. He prides himself on sarcasm and never surrendering. You can file complaints to Jonah by email at jtran5@nd.edu.
