I am going to try to write about politics. I am going to sound stupid, uninformed and naive. I don't think that's a problem. We cannot possibly hope to understand one one-thousandth of the problems at hand today. This can be difficult to stomach, because we're being faced with some serious problems. And, it seems that in our efforts to alleviate these problems, we're simply creating more and more of them.

The reason my possible ignorance is not a problem is that I think we are all relatively stupid, uninformed and naive when it comes to issues of the magnitude and complexity we're facing now, whether or not we recognize or care to admit it. And, I think that's the point.

Whether we err on one side of the political argument or the other is not the point, although it seems from today's debates -- both inter- and intra-national -- that this is so.

Our nation has become one defined by schism, with a split between the hyper-nationalists and the George W. Bush-haters, both of whom I have to read about every day. People either see America as a bastion of freedom and a beacon of justice, shining in an otherwise dark world, or as an oppressive economic imperialist, deigning to create a new world order of exploitation and global destruction.

My question is, why? Are any of you so sure that what you think you know to be right actually is so? Are you so sure that you are willing to be angry with those who think differently? Do you know they are wrong?

It is my belief that we all want good. We all want right, and we all want to see our political system serve the nation and the world as best as possible. Is there anyone out there who could honestly claim otherwise? If so, I welcome a response.

So why are we all at each other's throats? Why do people who support a nonviolent solution to today's global problems fight for peace? Why do people who believe in the necessity of military intervention in order to promote peace scoff at those who wish to march for it? This is something that I can't understand and that I'm really grappling with.

This is not to say that we should give up trying to understand the reality of today's world (which, unfortunately, I often am drawn to do). But, rather to say that we should all take a step back from our professed political leanings to realize the issue we're all debating (yes, even if you have purportedly removed yourself from contemporary political discourse, that very act is definitive of a political stance) is not one of wrong versus right, or good versus bad or even progressive versus conservative. It is one of ignorance versus ignorance and of our continual attempts to delude ourselves into believing that we are not ignorant when it comes to world affairs.

There's a great computer quiz game called "You Don't Know Jack" that is not only fun and clever, but at the same time is highly philosophical. If you've never played it, I would try to find a way as soon as possible. After a series of humorous and slightly irreverent rounds of play, a winner is declared. The announcer then congratulates the winner, saying something like, "Great job, player one, you really whooped 'em good. But, don't be too happy about it, 'cause you don't know jack." It really puts you in your place.

So, I'm not the first person to recognize that admitting to ignorance is not as ignorant as it might seem. But, what is so frustrating is that admitting to and embracing one's ignorance is often the same thing as choosing apathy and non-action, or at least seems to lead to these unproductive ends. This is not what I am advocating.

Instead, please continue to learn and grow. Please continue to care. Please, I beg of all of you: Take the energy that the confusion and fear and sorrow and misfortune around us cause and put it to good use.

There are problems out there that can be solved right now, and concretely. There are ways to promote what we are all asking of our political system (better communities and a better world) here and now.

Who would argue that it is wrong to serve in soup kitchens? Who can tell me tutoring a child is pernicious? Who would yell at someone for reusing a water bottle instead of throwing it away? Who would deny that adopting a child, giving her a home and raising her with love is noble? And, who would refuse to join hands for peace?

If there's an issue that you see has only one side, embrace it thankfully. That's your calling. And, above all, let's be kind, understanding and forgiving of each other, for we know not what we do. Or much else, for that matter.