Bridging the Divide
The Midweek Conversation
There is a sense that America is more divided than it has been in a long time, and these divides are only growing worse. We can see these divides defined by no shortage of metrics. Vaccine rates. Believing the Big Lie. How we reckon with our nation’s history.
There is also a sense that these divides are being reinforced through physical and virtual separation — that we are more isolated in where we live and how we consume news and media from those with whom we differ on politics. Blue counties get more blue. Red counties get more red. And of course the discourse online gets more polarized and vitriolic.
What I would like to discuss in our midweek conversation is how you are experiencing these divides in your personal, family, and professional lives. Do you see opportunities for bridge building? Have relationships been harmed or healed? Do you see only entrenchment or the opportunity for movement?
There is understandably great distrust. And the stakes that propel our disagreements strike at the very heart and function of our democracy. We will need to find ways to unite that don't compromise core values or come at the expense of the more marginalized groups of our society.
So with all this said, I am really curious to hear from all of you about where you live and what you are seeing. As always, my hope is that this becomes a place for you to share your thoughts with each other while recognizing this can be a difficult discussion.
Some ground rules for these Wednesday chats (and also the comments sections on other posts):
I want a space where people feel safe to express their views, as long as they are offered in good faith.
I want a space where ideas can be challenged, especially my own.
I want debate. But I want it to be civil.
I want people to come here with open minds, and open hearts.
I want this to be fun as well as serious.
We can agree to disagree without being disagreeable.
I have a different take. When I see, "blue counties get more blue," I look at what the "Blue" people want: Clean air, clean water; closing the wealth inequality gap; sustainability of resources; easy access for all citizens to basic services, health care, and voting; gun regulations to keep people safe; funding for education; ending racism and bigotry. That these desires are considered a "Blue" "agenda" is frankly absurd. It's not a Red/Blue divide--that notion to me is propaganda, and the media is too quick to push that to keep the news "exciting." This is a divide between human decency on one side, and white supremacy on the other (and possibly or at least potentially much smaller) side. If journalists would report on CONDITIONS and not on the "politics" we could get somewhere. Report on global warming, report on gun violence, report on racism. Report on issues. Be accurate. Use specific examples. Education, inform, instruct. Quit bringing on "talking heads" to chitchat about garbage "opinions." If the JOURNALISTS did that job (instead of whining that "Biden is boring" for simply governing, for example), it would go a long way toward bridging this supposed divide. A free press really is the key to democratic freedom, but too few news organizations see their duty to this as sacred.
Dan, I take issue with your final comment, “We can agree to disagree without being disagreeable.”
We as a people, a Nation, cannot disagree about facts! But this is precisely what is occurring. Depending upon which media we “consume”, our perspectives of reality are altered respectively.
Until such time as people of prominence tell the truth and news media is once again required to report both sides of an issue, I see no end in sight. The liars will continue to lie. Only, their lies will continue to become bigger and bolder.
Time is of the essence. Our last national election brought about an attempted insurrection due to the “Big Lie”. Our nation simply cannot survive the pervasive lying that has escalated over the past decades. We need accountability and we need it NOW!
But how…?