Erik,
I hope you stick around.
I’m going to inject some thoughts of my own, followed by insights by "experts’ on the subjects of unity and depolarization. Over 5 years ago, I set up a website for the purpose of identifying, acknowledging, and celebrating our common links and connections. This has been rewarding on many levels. Forums like these are a valuable tool for exchange of ideas and experiences, but also recognize the humanity of the individuals participating in the discussions -- regardless of their political leanings. Those with "common interests" often elevate those interests to include "purposeful bonds". In our case, helping others with problems, or expanding one’s knowledge base. The "bonds" often lead to what I call "heartstrings" -- genuine affection, friendship, respect, etc. Those "folks" who merely shared common interests on an audio forum have now become cherished friends. Erik, you have made many friends here, whether you realize it, or not. Identifying and validating the heck out of each other on a regular basis, make us smile, or make a crappy day a little less crappy. The true value of recognizing the humanity of people you’ll never meet (and, visa versa) is impossible to measure. Expand this exponentially and you might have just prevented a civil war. Good friends don’t punch each other in the face.
Now to interject some thoughts from some of the smartest people I know: There are many groups involved in attempting to calm things down including: various groups with "unite" (or in my case YOUnite),More Like Us (enjoying politics free exchanges), Bridging the Gap (discovering that the "gap" between us is not as wide as we thought and what we think the position of others is grossly mischaracterized). As one of my colleagues recently stated: "We don’t have an "issue" problem (we’re not as far apart as we think). We have a "contempt and distain problem." I couldn’t have said it better myself.
So, on these "little forums" we can be sources of "contempt and distain" or we can be the Kevlar that prevents things from blowing up. Our call. We do have compete control of the situation. It’s how we choose to react.
I often ask those who want to inject inflammatory comments into a (peaceful) event: "What’s in it for them?" Not surprisingly, the answer is usually not: "I want to make the world a better place." Dominant personalities, desire to be "the smartest guy in the room", and other factors come into play. When ambushed by a highly emotional, rage-driven outburst, one of my friends at Uniteus recommends saying the following: "Gee. I didn’t know you felt that strongly about that. Thanks for sharing." Or, my own: "You’re a good person, and I know you support your party and/or candidate for the right reasons."
I’m in a car club of people who own a 60’s British car with a Ford V8 in it. Yearly a group of us from all over North America, and some international participants, get together. This group of individuals is made of rural, urban, deep red, and deep blue roots. For the past 3 years, I don’t recall a SINGLE incident of someone being ambushed for their political beliefs. Or, politics being brought up at all. It’s about the cars, the people, the friendships, the food/drink, cruises, competition (autocross) and making our cars safer, faster, and more reliable. The point? This is what grown ups do when they get together. They love their cars and their friends, more than they hate their political leanings. As it should be.
The past 3 major polarizing events that got us fired up to the point where some of us became radicalized (willing to hurt people and property) had some elements of disinformation attached to them. Or, perhaps, the premise, itself, was based on misinformation. The "truth" was obtainable. But, we weren’t interested in obtaining "the truth.". So, there we were. Beating the crap out of each other, over things that were, in some respect(s), not true. Tragic. And, heartbreaking.
It’s been said that democracy only works as well as the mean sanity level of a society. This explains a lot about our current situation.
As much as I want to take the high road here, I’m afraid the days and weeks after the election are going to be quite tumultuous . BOTH sides are doing to be really pissed if they don’t win. We may be looking back yearning tor the "good ol’ days" -- the 5 month period BEFORE the elections, when we just yelled at, and threw insults at, each other.
Erik, you can count me as a "friend". I pledge to never contaminate this space with anything that does not add value to the discussion. Hope you stay with us for the next few months. You’ll be missed.
