We live in a world with many opinions and cultures.  One of the greatest things that we can do as humans is make choices.  Some might argue that our entire existence is about making choices.  When we go to school, we learn how to think, and in my opinion, critical thinking is imperative to making healthy choices.  In order to make good choices politically, we need to be exposed to various ideas and be able to compare and contrast these ideas.  In fact, a great tool for finding personal expression is looking at the pros and the cons of ideas and choices, which help us to recognize not only how complex life is but it helps us make choices that work best for ourselves, our families, our communities, and even our countries.  A list of pros and cons for buying a new car, a list of pros and cons for wearing make-up, a list of pros and cons for the death penalty, etc.  These lists should be open-ended, for we may uncover more layers and we may want to edit some of our list.  It is extremely important to realize that there are always pros and cons to anything, and it is my opinion, being unable to find an opposing point of view is where danger, poor choices, and where ignorance and extremism lives.  What Americans tend to do is get stuck in very fixed opinions about things and have a difficult time even experimenting with different principles.  The best example is that it is difficult for people to imagine that there are pros and cons to Capitalism and that there are pros and cons to Socialism.  Sitting down and actually writing a list of the pros and cons of both types of economic principles is a great idea.  Being unable to see the flaws of Capitalism is extremely dishonest.  On Earth, we have seen many examples of the short comings of Capitalism, one of which is the destruction of the environment.  There has been much writing, discussion, and observation of the cons of Capitalism, but many Americans have a hard time even considering it.  I believe that Capitalism has some wonderful qualities, yet it is not perfect.  Only in fiction is it perfect.  And to be fair, Socialism is in no way perfect either, but it does have some compelling benefits to society.  All we have to do is look at places on Earth to show us these pros and cons.  It is essential to be aware that perfectionism is impossible.  If anyone tries to tell you that an ideology is perfect, be weary.   If anyone tells you to question your morals or ethics while they are trying to convince you that something is perfect, walk away.  That is a cult and it will change your connections to reality and your personal relationships.  It will create an extremist and robotic frozen thinker.  Pros and cons are your trusty friends always.  No one can control you if you practice these skills.  It makes you the ultimate political thinker and problem solver.  It makes you part of the political arena that will help you be present to reality and your own personal power.  And ultimately, there is little fear or worry when we acknowledge the pros and cons in reality.  There is an incredible amount of peace of mind with being able to see all sides to an issue and being comfortable living in the reality and the truth of the grey area.  Multiplicity can be very comforting, far more comforting than propaganda and fear.  There is no mental, individual, or social well-being in absolutism of any kind.