I interviewed my friend again and asked him thoroughly about his bibliographic history and strongly held beliefs. I realized that in my previous interview I had asked extensively about what he thought about a couple of highly tense subjects in politics, but I didn’t really ask him too much about his history and core beliefs.

So during my trip to meet him at his high school, I made sure to keep in mind to ask about his beliefs and history first. I arrived at the school before he did. While I waited for him I visited a few of my old teachers and friends. When he texted me that he had parked I walked out to meet him at the front entrance. From there we walked to the park fifteen minutes from the school. At the park, we sat on a bench and I pulled out my notebook to take notes. When I questioned him on his core beliefs I was sort of shocked, but also amused by his answer. It sounded so like him, yet I had previously thought he held strong beliefs in politics. He told me, “Politics are stupid and pointless,” and later he added, “and I don’t care.” At first, I was indifferent about this belief because I’ve held it myself before. His second belief was, “be neutral.” The third belief was, “know as little as possible about politics.” And an inclination to not want to learn about politics either. So I, clearly confused, asked how he can be democratic if he is so neutral and distasteful of politics. I eventually learned that he isn’t actually strongly democratic and he doesn’t hold any of the strong democratic views. It is just that his opinions and his belief to not care about politics and staying neutral ends up democratic. During my first interview, I made the mistake of just asking what he thought, instead of what specifically his beliefs were. He explained that when he said that he thought the LGBTQ movement should be allowed to do as they please, it was not because he believed people should have the right to do whatever they want. It was because he doesn’t care. Why should he care what LGBTQ is doing, just let them do whatever they want. He thinks that things are just going to be how they are. That you can’t really change them. He said, “If we didn’t have human rights then we would be living in a different world and I wouldn’t be thinking this way. But since we do, that’s great.”

At this point, I told him, “Let’s stop, first, tell me about your history up to the present. Then we will continue on why you hold these beliefs.” He told me he was born in North Carolina. Both his parents were military at the time, he was a military brat, as he put it. He moved around constantly because of the military, staying mostly in the Southern states. He has lived in at least 7 different states, and once in South Korea for half a year. From pre-school to 1st grade he was in private school. 2nd to 4th grade he was home-schooled. 5th grade was at an alternative school. 6th to 7th he was again home-schooled. 8th to this present year, his senior year, he attended ORLA, where he does running start now. He has moved around and switched schools many times. About his family, he said, “I grew up as part of a family that doesn’t actively participate in politics and couldn’t care less about them. Except for major events like presidential campaigns.” So in a way, he picked up his political habits from his parents.

I then questioned what experiences have led him to these beliefs of his. He told me, “Anger– how angry people get around a certain topic in politics (referring to TV, conversations, etc.)” And, “Seeing riots on TV, people getting outraged over things that don’t matter. Why riot over one president being elected over another; over something that can’t be changed.” He believes that politics are causing trouble, and causing a divide in America. He said he doesn’t want to be a part of it, he doesn’t want to become somebody who gets angry over it. So as a result, he has developed the belief to, “stay neutral.” And because of all the trouble it causes, the belief that, “politics are stupid and pointless.”

My friend told me, “All my friends have strong beliefs, and I like to learn from them and about their beliefs.” He explained that the reason he holds the belief, “know as little as possible about politics,” is because he is going to hear about it over and over from those around him anyway. But by not learning or involving himself with politics, he can better keep himself neutral. However, my friend said he likes learning about people. So he likes learning about their beliefs and political opinions.

On the conclusion of our interview, we both walked back towards the high school. About halfway down the road, I had to leave to catch the last bus heading down to the Olympia Transit Center. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. On the ride back home I thought about our interview. Based on my observations and questions, I think that my friend has two inner drives for a lot of his opinions. A dislike for conflict, and a desire for people to get along.