Dear Editors of The Knight Times,

I write this letter concerning a problem I see within the society of our school and the community that surrounds it. The problem that I see to be harming this community is one of political indifference and herd mentality that leads to ill intended ballots. I have recently observed that an almost flock-like mentality perpetuates throughout Knoch when it comes to political opinions. It seems to me that more and more often, students of Knoch and the community outside this school conform to the ideas of the majority opinion without much question. It seems as though in many cases when it comes to politics in both Knoch and even throughout America, it has become less about ideas presented, but rather more about party affiliation.

I see kids walking down the hallway with stickers for Trump. Yet when I ask them about their reason for supporting him as a president, I am most often met with the response of “Well I couldn’t vote for her” or something along the lines of “He is going to make America great again!” My personal favorite response? “Build that wall!”

It seems to me that no one really cares to look into a candidate for their ideas, but would rather just go along with that person simply because they belong to a certain party or their friends think they are the best choice. The problem with this type of thinking is individuals don’t see candidates for their ideals and policy; they see them for their party. Please don’t misinterpret this as an attack on Trump. If you see it that way and stop reading this letter, you only perpetuate my point because you refuse to hear that perhaps your way of thinking is flawed. I believe you should vote for anyone you want, but you should be informed. If I am being honest, I think that much of our media ruins people’s chances of actually becoming informed on political topics because in actuality, that five minute segment showing the presidential race on television shouldn’t be enough for anyone to make an informed decision on how they vote. Not to mention, the bias that can be found on certain stations and the advertisements that are often shown are certainly more fiction than fact when you do your research.

America is turning into a nation where every person who turns turned on their television and saw one news report or one commercial thinks they are an expert. They believe that their opinion is law, and that it trumps all. Again, I feel the need to explain I don’t hate anyone for having an opinion opposite of mine. In fact, I love participating in both local and national debate tournaments simply to expose myself to opinions that are different than my own. In the end, I believe that the opinions of others are what can make us find what we really believe in, whether that is just a reinforcement of our previous ideals or a complete switch to an opposing opinion. I think the best path to a better more united America is one where people listen to one another and look into candidates beyond that five minute segment on the news to make an informed decision about who they should support. I long for a world built on voters that care enough to be informed and are passionate to express their opinions. All in all, political views are truly great. I just wish that people spent a little less time thinking “red or blue” and a little more time looking into what really fits you.

Respectfully,

Kolten Hilterman

Dear Kolten Hilterman,

We here at the Knight Times have read your letter and have found it to be both truthful and insightful. The uninformed political mentally so often portrayed in America today is not one that I respect in the slightest. I, like you, love to hear differing opinions and perspectives. This is the only true way to open up your mind to ideas, and while I may not agree with all opinions at least I try to understand them.

The majority of people today are too concerned with themselves, and they refuse to see other opinions because they “know it won’t change theirs.” The issue with this way of thinking is that just because you expose yourself to different opinions doesn’t mean you’ll have to change yours in any way.

In my life, I have been fortunate enough to experience two entirely different political environments. In North Carolina, you were either a die hard liberal democrat, or you were an outcast. In Saxonburg, you are either a die hard conservative republican, or you have to keep your political opinion on the down-low. Both of these opinions are equally wrong and I resent them both. We as a people need to understand that there are two sides to every story, seeing from a different perspective never hurts. Tolerance, as a whole, is an idea that calls for more attention in not only Saxonburg, but the whole world. People need to tolerate different opinions, different perspectives and different ideologies if we are going to get anywhere on the path to world peace.

Overall we at the Knight Times would like to thank you Kolten, for your role in spreading the message of tolerance and awareness to others opinions and beliefs. People like you are what the world needs, someone strong in their beliefs but lenient in their listening. While I know from a personal perspective that you’re very stubborn in your beliefs, I am also aware of your ability to learn every opinion you can and understand them fairly decently (even if they do seem uneducated and immature). Keep doing what you’re doing, and we will do our best to spread awareness.

Sincerely,

Your Favorite Co-Editor: Stetson Mead

Dear Kolten,

It’s much appreciated to hear your thoughts about political culture at our school. It’s imperative to me that I showed my gratitude toward your letter and recognized how well it was written. I too feel it’s of utmost importance to stand strongly with your beliefs no matter the circumstance. With this year’s election, it was disheartening to see that so many students were ignorantly following a candidate that they knew nothing about.  It was a problem well worth bringing to attention, and I applaud your efforts in doing so with class.

As an editor, from a journalistic perspective, I know firsthand that it’s hard to express awareness to an issue without somehow sneaking in your own opinion, but you wrote your letter with complete unbiased motives, and it’s so respectable that you kept such a high standard to yourself as a writer.  I often times question what I think being a journalist is… I’ve concluded that in order to call yourself a journalist, you must be capable of being passionate about a story, whatever that may be, but the goal of that story, the purpose for writing it, may never fall back directly onto you. Almost every paper submitted to me was from a student who suffered horribly from one thing that our school lacks, and they complained about how victimizing that experience was for them. Whether it was the lack of funding in our Art Department, or how cutting French hurt their learning ability… That isn’t journalism. Journalism is about spreading awareness to an issue that you are capable of feeling passion for.  And though they may have successfully fulfilled that requirement, they lacked seeing why it was necessary to write. That passion you find in writing an article can’t be fueled by playing the role of a victim. Awareness of news is for the people, and you were one of the very few people who successfully portrayed every aspect of a journalist.

No one’s efforts should go unnoticed, even if it was for just 5 bonus points. You did a fantastic job with the article, and I applaud you for it.

Yours Truly,

Sam Gallagher

Publisher