Monthly Editorial

By Alexandreu Gavártgic'h

Often have I thought to myself, as I compile the Talossan Voice, “Why am I doing this?” My contribution gives nothing back to society, sure it’s fun, but last time I checked, I was a huge procrastinator (I am writing this editorial the day of the deadline): never wanting to do work of any kind. Then it hit me. Talossa is wonderful because, unlike school or your job, where it is mandatory to do work, you have a choice. Here you can use your creative energy in any form you desire. Writing, drawing, archiving, etc. It’s all here. Here, people are glad to do work because they enjoy it! Because they don’t have to do it, but they would gladly anyway, just to see the finished result.

Talossa is an interesting place full of interesting people. Talossa (and the modern miracle of Skype) allow me to speak with people in Brazil, Sweden, Colorado, Texas, Illinois, and even strangers here in New York City with complete ease. It’s almost as if we’ve been life-long friends, and are just having a regular chat. I can hear Xhorxh’s deep, pleasant laugh. I can enjoy GV’s endless knowledge of the in’s and out’s of Talossa, I can commiserate with Ian Anglatzara about how conservative people are. I can converse with Flip about LRT policy. It’s simply wonderful. I encourage, no, demand, that all of you get on the phones and join me.

But, above all, I think Talossa has definitely made me a better person and, perhaps, a better Liberal. When I joined Talossa, at first, I felt extremely out of place. As many of you know, I live in Brooklyn, NY, and well… pretty much everyone here is at least moderate. Sure, there are some conservatives, but they are a very small minority. I’d never been in a place where no one was there to back me up on a lot of my very liberal ideas. Now, enter Talossa, a nation filled with conservatives. I must admit, it was quite scary for me. I just couldn’t understand how people could possibly not believe the same thing I did, and that, they were definitely horrible people if they didn’t. However, after a few months of Talossa, I now realize that not all Conservatives are horrible people. Not all conservatives are Ann Coulter-backing, Don Imus types of people. They are, for the most part, genuinely nice people, and, although I still definitely disagree with them about politics, and I still feel I am in the right. I have come to understand their beliefs and respect them in a much more mature way than I had been before.