I Claim Switzerland.

While staying in Cape Canaveral, during inevitable times of dispute, my friend Erik would often state "Hey, I'm Switzerland" as a way of voicing his neutrality or ambivalence at whatever subject was at hand. A great deal of the time, I found myself wanting to claim Switzerland as well. It isn't that I can't be bothered to care strongly about any given debate, it is simply a matter of entertaining opposing notions in my mind simultaneously. I have mulled over this trait of mine considerably and have yet to assess whether it is a good or bad thing - some more neutrality.

This is simply the way of things for me. I find that when I survey someone beating their drum loudly and with vehement judgment about a topic which they have not bothered to research much, I feel a sort of disdain. At times I feel like the reckless fanatics, zealous and less-than-studious of their subject matter, simply compel me to withdraw from the social engagement entirely. Instead I assume the role of a passive observer, and only as a matter of invitation from someone else would I interject with my thoughts. Thoughts are so fickle, and I don't always enjoy playing to the whim of judgment, because historically my judgment has been amorphous.

There is a bumper sticker that a co-worker of mine had in the past. It stated: "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything." The imperative that I have gathered from this bumper sticker is that I should race out and declare my values forthright and stick with them arbitrarily despite the fluid nature of reality. The reason you cannot nail down values and keep them in one place is because life is less like a stop and go traffic jam and more like a flowing river. Life flows, it doesn't fall into slots, move forward at a predetermined speed, stop, and proceed again. It snakes surreptitiously around bends, down falls, it ripples and then sometimes is placid. Why should I want to immobilize my mind by making affirmations about the various values in life?

There is a necessity in certain circumstances to stand by your beliefs, of course. I would not suggest that we stand for nothing, but rather that we play the role of a limber mediator, capable of truly opening a dialogue with someone and all the while, being open to change as logic permits. It may do us all a great service to one another to be more diligent and deliberate in forming opinions. Innumerable times I have reconsidered my stance on various topics, and surely as I age I will continue to go back and forth.

Switzerland is a beautiful and happy country, and I don't mind claiming it. I find that a baseline disposition of neutrality makes the presence of strong opinions/debate seem less inflammatory. Nothing really bothers me any longer. You have your thoughts and feelings just as I have mine. Sometimes we agree and sometimes we disagree, and life goes on all the same.