When people ask me what my opinion is on something, I scoff and tell them “If you were really my friend you wouldn’t ask me that, because you should know what I don’t stand for.” That’s always the end of my friendships. Opinions ruin lives, wreck homes and destroy relationships. Most wars are started over opinions, and great leaders have been assassinated by people who would otherwise be fine besides their opinions. Values and beliefs have historically been the downfall of civilization, starting with the War of the Roses, and more recently culminating with our current war in Iraq. Teenagers naturally have opinions and adults naturally ignore them. In our own high school many people have tried to change unfair policies or rules and many people have been ignored, turned down, or lured in by the false hope of acceptance until the inevitable slamming of a door in the face. This is not saying that our beloved Ames High administration doesn’t care what the students think, but that most people don’t want to hear what you think. Of course I had opinions once, but then I realized two things. The first being that no one actually cares what I have to think. I had an epiphany two years ago when my friend asked me what I thought about a sports team, or a new movie that had just come out. I realized that people only ask your opinion just so they can disagree and interject their own. Opinions are the children of self-interest and hatred. After I had this epiphany, flowers smelt alright and food tasted adequate. My life hasn’t been the same since. The second realization is that having beliefs wastes energy. Scientifically this makes sense. People who stand for something get tired and end up wasting energy, when they could be sitting comfortably instead of upsetting the status quo. People who don’t stand are free to do things other than believing in causes, such as playing the Pokemon Trading Card Game and Settlers of Catan. The biggest shame about opinion having is that most, if not all people stand for things, yet nothing has changed. I have reoccurring nightmares about people realizing there is strength in numbers. In my nightmare, someone realizes that if they were to unite, civilization could grow as a whole and develop a better world. No racial group is discriminated against and men and women are equal in this world. This nightmare has kept me up many sleepless nights until I realize that people will never truly know that it takes a nation of millions to hold them back.