Openly discussing what has not traditionally been spoken about is disruptive, and sometimes dangerous. Yet it is more dangerous, in many ways, for us to act in ignorance, unawareness, and in the absence of accurate information that could affect our decisions.
The decisions which we think affect us directly, and shape our lives most profoundly, are usually simple to identify: they are the ones we pray about. We go to a place of worship to ask for blessing and enlightenment about forces we may not understand, to clarify our way forward. We consult our family, friends and mentors, and our doctors, lawyers and astrologers. But I suggest at this juncture that we need to not only ask the advice of those we trust: we need to ask direct questions, and engage in self-learning on these issues, understanding that our significant choices shape our lives, for better or worse.
So caught up are human beings in the daily processes of our personal and professional lives that we sometimes do not have the time - or take the time - to educate ourselves about the society in which we live: its structures, and the laws by which our conduct is governed, monitored, disciplined and judged.
Very few young people are taught from a young age how to manage money: how to balance a personal budget, and how to save money, and accumulate wealth. Banks and lending institutions offer them credit and loans at high interest rates, and those people without a knowledge of the system in which they are operating can get caught in spiralling and stressful debt traps.
In most conservative and traditional society, sex education was not taught, beyond a biological diagram of the human body and a focus on the reproductive system. Very little explanation was ever given about the practical information relating to the emotional and social contexts in which people actually have intimate relationships with others. If these connections are not made, young people act in ignorance, and in a state of vulnerability. They can be manipulated, and taken advantage of, and they are at risk, because of their ignorance. 
Their consent is given, but it is not really informed consent, because they are not aware of the alternatives to the choices they make, or the outcomes that could result. They are not able in such a situation to make the best choice, in their own interest, even when given the choice.
Politics is something many people talk about, but do not actually participate in. Many voters in many participatory democracies do not actually know their own rights and responsibilities under the electoral system they live in. We all offer our opinions, about whether we ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ a particular candidate, but often we do not actually know the truth of the facts on which our opinions are based. We often believe what we are told, and what we are shown.
Some of us do not vote, some vote foolishly, or cynically, some vote out of loyalty - blind or bought. But we live with the choices we make - and do not make. Because a bad choice, an unwise choice or a non-choice also counts in the reckoning of an outcome.
To question these aspects of life takes time and energy, and a wish to be truly informed, as well as the skill to engage in critical thought. Often we make choices in our political lives as citizens much less seriously and thoughtfully than we do the choices in our professional or personal lives; and yet the consequences of these choices are powerful and significant. They make the difference between survival and fulfillment; between lesser or greater choice and happiness.
This is a crucial question time for us. What sort of individual financial resources can each of us build? What sort of personal relationships do we want to create, to sustain our happiness? What political choices do we make, in supporting the people we choose to lead us, and whom we will empower through our votes in the upcoming election, to design the structure of our society?
Every one of us has to take personal responsibility at some point in our lives, and cease to blame our parents, our elders or the ‘authorities in charge’ for those issues which negatively affect us, and which we can change.
We act in ignorance of these basic facts at our own risk. Mindfulness, self-evaluation, and self-education, in relation to the three ‘impolite’ topics will help us personally act for not only our own well-being, but that of those we are connected with.
Our consent should be fully informed consent, to be worth its exercise.
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