Zach+P’s+OpEd+Article


 * I'm an opinion writer for the Dragon Press. I'd like to say, after 2 years of writing opinion pieces, I'm pretty good at this stuff. But the entire point of this OpEd piece is point out how utterly stupid OpEd pieces are, especially for professional publications. **


 * The point of opinion articles is for people to be exposed to a diverse range of political/social/economic views, so that they can understand, or at least hear the other side of an argument. The problem though, is that after a particular amount of time in an OpEd writer's career, he/she begins to run out of topics that the writer can legitimately and authoritatively write about. **


 * Let's say a Ventura County Star opinion piece writer wrote on how disgusting and undemocratic Guantanamo Bay is. He has never seen the place with his own eyes. He has never even known anyone who has actually been there. The only reason he even knows what the place is, is because he watched some biased piece about it on a major news network, during some two minute special. (And we all know how factual those media outlets are.) **


 * How can that writer develop a serious, factually based opinion on Guantanamo when he has never even been to the place? How am I supposed to write on any major political issues, if I've never even been in a political class at the high school level? Yea, I may have an opinion, but that doesn't mean it is backed up with facts, and a deeper understanding of the issue due to prior experience it. **


 * All in all: opinion pieces are stupid. Unless the writer has a professional background in the topic he/she is writing about, the article is trivial and pointless, especially in professional publications, where the writer is paid to write about something he/she knows nothing about. **