Anyone who does not notice that our American culture goes through cycles isn’t paying attention. Today mirrors the late 60’s so much it is scary. An extreme distrust for anyone in power or government, a paranoid view of society and a willingness to accept multitudes of conspiracy theories. Global warming and polution control is at the forefront of discussion and hard drug use is on the rise. Holistic and herbal medicines are the craze, with colonics and enemas making a comeback etc. We are the new hippie generation.
There seems to be so little ability at the moment to be moderate in anything. Moderation is my motto, yet it seems to be the worst way to get an audience today. People are pigeon holing themselves today in everything. What happens is they gain a loyal and fierce, but narrow following who they then pander to. Whether it be the far left Democrats, the far right Republicans, or the Libertarians/Constitutionalists. The Democrats say all the Republicans are evil, the Republicans say all the Democrats are evil, and the Libertarians/Constitutionalists say both sides are all evil. Gone is the day for rational discourse and finding common ground, because for most, their ground is the ONLY ground. There is a big difference between presenting your ideas and standing by them, and tearing down everything someone else believes. When you approach things that way you will get nowhere and have effectively neutralized any affect you could have on the situation. It is like when someone who doesn’t smoke walks up to someone on the street who is smoking and says, “You shouldn’t smoke, it will kill you.” You have immediately ruined any positive impact you could have on the person. I do not advocate being weak, or changing your personal views, but the presentation of these ideas is a huge issue.
People throw around the word “evil” way too easily today. Most of the people tossing it around are not in any position to make that assertion and especially to publicly announce someone as such. And on the other end people are calling the other person evil. It is a huge cycle to the point that every single person is evil in someone’s eyes, but for some reason you are supposed to trust one opinion over the other. In reality they are ALL wrong. I can find over 90% common ground with about anyone I meet. I have met multi-millionaires, politicians, homeless, whoever, and I have realized just how similiar we all are. Unfamiliarity breeds ignorance, and because many have less direct contact with CEOs of large companies or politicians, the average joe has demonized them all as evil or puppets of a giant conspiracy. Maybe you should meet their family, actually find out about them. Instead, we make large sweeping judgements based on personal biases and a desire to blame someone or to make something simple complicated to boost our own importance or to make our place in time more “important”. It is somehow difficult for people to believe that we are all so much the same, so instead there is some mysterious “They” who is controlling all. Some vast conspiracy that is controlling our every move. We have become amazingly neurotic.
I know that people will call me a “sheep” or naive for my views. But my views come from people I have actually met or talked with and realizing that everyone has a reason for what they believe. It has allowed me to have a lot of impact on people I normally would never have been able to talk to. In the end, what we are doing reminds me of my favorite Dr. Seuss story, The Sneetches. They were all the same, but branded themselves different. That is what we are doing, as soon as “the other side” is getting too close to your own views, you change them just to be different. In The Sneetches it says ”
- until neither the Plain nor the Star-Bellies knew
- whether this one was that one or that one was this one
- or which one was what one… or what one was who.
”
We are all so similiar, afford everyone the benefit of the doubt and realize they are probably looking back at you the same way. Hold your own viewpoints, but allow others their own too. Otherwise you will enjoy a life of little influence on others.
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