it occurred to me, upon reading several right leaning blogs today- and reading a post on the future was yesterday, that it is fun to get caught up in negativity. it feels good to belong and it feels free to cut loose and bash others. all of that pent up crap comes gushing out and you can just slice and dice to your heart's content. dan posted about his experience on a message board a few years back- and how everyone eventually left because of the intense negativity. he tells it much better than i, so go have a look.
so, here i was tooling on the right and getting more and more frustrated at what i viewed as extreme stupidity- when it hit me- these folks didn't want to hear any debate or other perspective because that doesn't feel good. who wants to hear that they are wrong? when you are on the winning team, you get caught up in the excitement and giddiness of being the best. the right leaning folks are still in the 'we're in charge nah, nah, nah, nah, nah' stage and are apparently still swept up in the nationalistic movement that has taken over the republican party. go to any right leaning blog and see all of the 'god bless america' banners alongside of the american flags on the side- right next to the 'let's annhilate all muslims on the planet' posts. i have seen anti-jihadist sites, anti-mexican sites, make-the-democrats-leave-the-country sites, etc. nowhere have i seen- let's meet some middle ground- or even any let's not censor the liberals sites.
lest i seem one sided- i decided to take a look at the left leaning sites. sure enough- there were plenty of 'dubya sucks' sites; plenty of save gays and abortions and the whales sites- and right folks are stupid sites. plenty of censorship there too- lest we get "trolls'.
now, i want to belabor the fact that these are entire sites devoted to one subject often with multiple authors so we are sure to get the point. not very many of them turned me on- they weren't interesting or productive. my point is- what's the point? how much fun is it to have people agree with you all of the time. yes, it feels good to pat each other on the back and say- "yeah, that's what i'm talking about"- but what comes from it?
the reality is right leaning folks- that we aren't leaving the country. we aren't going to france or anywhere else- we are here to stay. the reality is left leaning folks- we live next door to people who don't immediately see our point of view and you can't bludgeon them with it. disagreeing doesn't mean talking louder than the other person and it doesn't mean that the other person doesn't 'get' what you are saying left and right folks. what disagreeing means is NOT AGREEING with each other. we are so used to just divorcing our problems that we can't or won't look our problems in the face and deal with them.
so- here i am telling both sides simply this- grow the hell up. stop with the yelling on the right and the whining on the left and deal with these problems in our country. stop blaming the muslims and the gays and the christians and the rich. we middle class folks are the ones in charge and if we don't stop yelling at each other and cutting each other down- the fringes have won. we don't need fringe- we need middle of the road. that is what has worked for 230+ years to keep the united states of america united. we don't need the conservatives telling us that we are not real americans and we don't need liberals climbing more trees. we need to boot the bases and start mobilizing the moderates. the fringes have their place- on the fringe- not mainstream.
4 comments:
Amen... you and I seem to be more alike than apart... though I'd be inclined to assume I lean more right and you lean more left.
i would guess you are probably right(ok a little pun intended :) i like to have different perspectives here because of the reasons i outlined. i do lean left but that doesn't mean that i shouldn't attempt dialogue and reach out to the folks on the right. obviously, it isn't possible with people who are close minded on either side- but i am taking a leap of faith that there are more moderates than the fringe- they are the silent, sleeping beast- and we need to wake them up before it is too late.
To hear Limbaugh say it.. (yeah he is one of many i listen to..) moderates have no conviction of beliefs and therefore have no moral clarity as to what it is they trully are fighting or voting for. In some way I "know" what he is talking about or at least I understand how he of the Right or she of the left can feel that moderation is selling out, giving up or simply apathetic to your own compass.
I think moderates are the "silent majority"... the biggest untapped resourse of voters. If there ever comes a day that the power of moderates equal those to the left and right, then the fringe elements will be but a spec in the electoral radar.
couldn't agree with you all more. no- moderates don't have as much passion as the extremes- by definition. i think that the fringes have their place- on the fringe. what you need are people who are willing to talk about issues rationally- and come up with a consensus- and sometimes comprimise. your extremes will not do that. i agree with your assessment that the left is as bad as the right when it comes to screaming their point. that doesn't give the right license to ignore an entire segment of the population- i say that because they are the party in power. nothing could have been a bigger divider than when bush said that he had capital and was going to spend it. completely annhilated any dialogue with anyone other than the core. the bases are a small percentage of the population- and the issues that we are divided on are ones that we will always be divided on- abortion, gay rights, etc. there comes a time when we have to agree to put those aside and concentrate on actually getting something done somewhere.
my point is- moderates have a shot of listening to each other- or at the very least recognizing the need to do so. if- you can get them involved. you need the energy of the fringe but the rationality of the center.
Post a Comment