Beliefs vs. Facts

"We see the world, not as it is, but as we are - or, as we are conditioned to see it."
- Stephen R. Covey

Over the last several years, as I've considered many of the things that have been said/written/posted about the president, I've been reminded of the grandmother of a friend of mine.  It seems she loved to listen to Charley Pride on the radio.  She had no recordings and hadn't ever seen him on TV.  She just loved to hear his music on the radio.  When he came to town, the grandkids took her to the concert.  She was thrilled.  When he took the stage, she asked, "Who's that?"
"That's Charley Pride, Grandma!"
She was indignant.  "I'm old, but I'm no fool!  What are you trying to pull on me?"
"Really, Grandma!  Just listen to him sing!"
After a couple of songs, she stood up.  "Take me home. I'm not about to sit here and listen to some black guy pretending he's Charley Pride!"

If you and I always agree ...

... one of us is unnecessary.  In fact, if two people always agree, somebody's just not thinking.  If we're paying attention to what's going on around us and considering it thoughtfully, we will disagree from time to time.  Disagreeing is not a problem.  How we choose to respond to the disagreement may very well create BIG problems.

I've created a list of things that I would do if someone waved a magic wand and put me in charge. I also have a list of things that I would do if I won the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes. I haven't prioritized my lists ... I'm not THAT delusional.  But there are a couple of things on my list that have been on my mind today, so you get to read about them:

1)  I would make Debate a required course in America's high schools.
     When high school debaters go to a competition, they don't know which side of a question they will be supporting until they walk into the room where they will be competing.  They have to be prepared to argue both sides of the issue.  An informed, engaged electorate would do the same thing in preparation for election day.  And be informed to at least the same level.  How can I expect to make an informed, rational decision if I haven't explored both (all) my options?

2)  I would eliminate from the ballot on election day that little box at the bottom that allows me to
     vote a "straight ticket".
     If I haven't done due diligence in my role, I should at least have to acknowledge to myself my ignorance and negligence and go through the motions of voting for each candidate/issue.  I'm always a little offended (and saddened) when I notice that voting a straight ticket is even an option.

I'm concerned about our use of labels as a substitute for thinking.  It seems to me that once we've hung a label around our necks (politics/religion/music genre), we quit thinking and just do/think what others with the same label seem to do/think.

The more I learn, the more I learn how little I know. -- Socrates

Idealogical purity ...

has made our political system virtually inert. In the attached piece, Campbell Brown talks about bi-partisanship in regard to support for Planned Parenthood.  I believe her point applies to our government equally as well.

http://mojoe.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/17/12791685-brown-im-making-a-plea-for-bipartisanship-regarding-planned-parenthood?lite

Gratitude

I was out of town for the weekend.  (Aretha still brings it.  GREAT concert.)  I was reminded of the only good thing I've ever discovered about living in a state dominated by one political party: We're not relentlessly subjected to inane, insulting (to the viewer) political ads. It would just be a waste of money. See!  If you look hard enough, you can find something to be grateful for.

Patriotism

I love this country. Independence Day elicits a host of emotions.  I'm very grateful to have been born in the USA.  I'm hesitant to say I'm proud of something I didn't have anything to do with (the place of my birth), but I'm definitely glad I got to spend my life as an American.  I'm moved by the parades and ceremonies celebrating our history and all the patriots who have served and still serve this great country.  While I'm uncomfortable equating patriotism with militarism, I am certainly humbled by the service of the military.  I am equally humbled by the brave patriots who have served our country in countless other ways.  Today, millions around the world fight for an opportunity to participate in a democratic process in their homeland.  That fight was fought here many years ago. Our fight is to keep the democratic process functioning. I need only participate.

"In his famous little book, On Liberty, John Stuart Mill argued that silencing an opinion is 'a peculiar evil.'  If the opinion is right, we are robbed of the 'opportunity of exchanging error for truth'; and if it's wrong, we are deprived of a deeper understanding of the truth in 'its collision with error.' If we know only our own side of the argument, we hardly know even that; it becomes stale, soon learned only by rote, untested, a pallid and lifeless truth."*

Absolutist ideology gums up the works. Our two party system demands rational, reasoned, respectful discourse. It just doesn't work if one side or the other is vilified or demonized. We can all do our patriotic service to this great country by participating in that process.  If we don't exercise our rights to a free press and free speech, we might as well not have them. The more of us who participate in the dialogue and in the voting booth, the better the democracy operates. Let's get as many people involved in the process as possible. Let's listen and read with an open mind, share our thoughts and ideas and do our patriotic best to keep this a government of the people, by the people and for the people.  God bless America.

*Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, "Parade Magazine", Sept. 8, 1991

The Seventh Stage

As I begin my seventh decade in this life, two things seem clear:  1) Old people have lots to say.  2) Nobody really wants to listen.  So I'm hoping that by putting my thoughts down in this form, I can satisfy both.  I'll get it out of my system and no one needs to feel obligated to pay attention.  Kind of the twenty-first century version of writing one's worries on a piece of paper and tying it to a helium balloon.
Erik Erikson called the seventh of our stages of psychosocial development "Generativity vs. Stagnation". It happens to us sometime between 45 and 65 and amounts to trying to find some way to stay relevant  or productive in the world as our capabilities and capacities fade.  Usually by trying to share what we've learned or help others navagate the waters we've already experienced.
So here we go.  Life through the eyes of a sexegenarian who, after stumbling through the "Peace, Love & Brotherhood of Man" Sixties, the "Looking Out For Number One" Seventies and the "Greed Is Good" Eighties, looks around himself and asks (perplexed), "How did we end up HERE?"