Who? What? Why?

I’ve been meaning to start a blog for quite a long time. I’m just one of those people that has a million and a half things on their mind every day and until now nowhere to really share them in an effective way.  The only thing holding me back for so long was the notion that it’s pretty egotistical to assume that anybody would care about what I have to say. But as a friend pointed out to me, I make the same assumption by being active on Twitter or Instagram or Snapchat. So if I’m already egotistical, I might as well go all out. And it’s not like anybody else is humble nowadays either—let’s be honest.

So who am I? I’m a lot of things and at the same time not a lot of the things that seem to be so relevant today. Let me explain what I mean. We live in a time of enhanced tribalism where our human extinct to find a group where we feel we belong controls our behavior more than ever. Don’t get me wrong, there are A LOT of good things about having a community of people like you to support you. But without a doubt it can cause some problems, namely creating echo chambers and in many cases hostility towards the “other”. It’s so easy for people to get lost within their “tribe” and forget how to look at the bigger picture. That’s where I come in. I see myself as somewhat of an impartial third-party to most of the issues that we face in America today because I don’t feel strongly about belonging to any of the “tribes” that we see having growing influence. Don’t buy it? Let me go into detail.

1. I don’t identify as liberal or conservative. I think putting yourself into one of two boxes to define your viewpoint on a plethora of serious issues that are often unrelated to each other is completely bananas.
2. I don’t identify with any prominent ethnic group in the US. My family is originally from Serbia but there aren’t quite enough Serbian-Americans for us to have any real sociopolitical agenda or influence. And yes I’m white but what comes to mind when I think “White tribe”? The KKK? Nazis? No, thank you…
3. I don’t identify with any religious community. I have the utmost respect and tolerance for all religions and the people who practice them. I just didn’t grow up with any of that. This doesn’t make me an atheist but it does strip me of any bias that inherently comes from growing up in that kind of system.
4. I’m straight. I have several awesome gay friends and I consider myself an ally but that certainly doesn’t make me part of the LGBT community.
5. I don’t identify as a Nationalist of any kind. I am grateful for all that the US has given me but I’ve lived and traveled abroad often enough that I could never ignore the global perspective and its relevance.

The list could go on but I need to get back to what I was saying. The point is I like to think of myself as fairly unbiased when it comes to the majority of issues that Americans debate over today. By the way if you’re thinking that I’m ignoring my privilege as a white male whose family had enough money to send to college, you’re wrong. I fully admit a certain level of advantage that just being white or being male has in this society. I fully admit that it was no success of my own that allowed my parents to finance my education. They were immigrants to this country. They worked hard for every cent they earned after fleeing a country in the midst of civil war. But what I can say for myself is that my parents made sure I understood how lucky I am. Every year I travel to their home country and I witness what true poverty is for people my age—how easily that could’ve been me in another life.

I’m not trying to convince anybody that the things I say are always correct. Lord knows I can be erratic and say things that are absolute nonsense. But I thought I’d take some time in my first blog to give a little context to the nonsense to come. In any case we live in a time where everybody talks but not nearly enough people think. People get so angry at each other without recognizing their own biases. It’s time for more people to take a step back and be an impartial, rational voice above the noise.

And don’t worry. This blog won’t usually be about politics.

PS. If you find me annoying, it’s okay. I annoy myself too 🙂

Filip, again.