Blacks vs. Reds

Dear Friend, 

I’ve been following your opinions for a while now. You really seem to care a lot about your opinions. You protect your opinions like they’re your greatest achievements – almost like they’re your children or something. I heard you broke up with your friend over your opinions. 

I was surprised to hear you had such a strong opinion on the war. It seemed, just yesterday, you had no opinion on the war at all – and then suddenly you did. 

Where did you get your opinion? 

It must have happened so quietly you probably didn’t even hear it coming in. Maybe you caught some chatter on the news you like to watch. Maybe you just clicked on something. Either way the opinion got inside your head – and from there it just spread like a virus. Your opinion became a very important part of you, to the point that you replaced your face with your opinion. 

We all saw what happened after. A lot of people praised you for your opinion. This meant they were good people and could be your friends. A lot of other people disagreed with your opinion. This meant they were bad people and so became your enemies. 

That is how you lost your friend – I mean the one you’ve known since you were kids and traveled on the road of life with. Only he had the other opinion on the war. And he cared a lot about his opinion, too, even though he also didn’t know where he got it from. So on account of opinions that were neither his nor yours, you both lost something that was. 

Who won? 

The people who gave you your opinion, of course – bought it for you, more like, at a very modest cost per acquisition rate. And they knew you would like it, too. 

Buying your opinion was actually the best investment they ever made. You wouldn’t believe how important your opinion was to all the research they developed and the deals they made. And they are still profiting from it – the longer the war goes on the better, actually – it doesn’t even matter who wins.

You care too much about your opinions, friend. Your opinions aren’t as important as you think. They are not more important than your friends, for example, even though they’re easier to care for and keep. And your opinions don’t make you a good person. Your opinions aren’t the same as your values – which have to be worked out through the daily action of your life. They’re just your opinions. They are hardly even yours. 

Sincerely, 

Garin