If you are choosing to read this blog, please pay close attention to my next sentence.
I AM A NON-PARTISAN MODERATE INDEPENDENT in my politics, in my religion, in my lifestyle. Should I repeat that ? I AM A NON-PARTISAN MODERATE INDEPENDENT.
I have voted Libertarian, Green Party, Republican, and Democratic throughout some 60+ years. My favorite vote is often a write-in. And, yes, I am aware that it has been said that if we write in, we are throwing away our vote. Maybe so, but I am keeping my integrity, and that’s pretty important to me. If you read my NO POLITICS blog, you will remember that I drove my mother-in-law from Winder to Carnesville to cancel my vote. That pretty well states how I feel about the process.
So, please take off your partisan hats, leave your labels and loyalties behind, and read this in the sense that it is written……..no stones being tossed .
I am uncomfortable with extremes.
Let’s start with language. Facts rarely support such over-riding words as never, best, always, etc. The ” est ” words often put a question mark in my mind. Says who, in other words ? There are descriptive words, adjectives and adverbs, which modify but still send the message. But they help to eliminate the assumptions that everyone agrees and this word is final. For example, saying “rarely ” instead of “never ” sends the same message without the finality. The same is true for ” almost always ” as opposed to “always “. Language is powerful and abuse is dangerous.
I am uncomfortable with extremes.
And then there are current news sources. Information is power, and we all know that. We see it at every level and not just in the profession itself. I can recall during my tenure as a high school administrator that there were many incidences of misinformation being handed down simply because of internal power struggles. And then the demand for instant communication ( following our culture of instant gratification ) tends to create an environment of over-stepping. Breaking news is a gauntlet, thrown down, enticing other sources to follow——-and to add—–and to enhance——and, ultimately , to editorialize. And then add to that, the fact that the internet has handed us social media, which offers so many an opportunity to give opinions without facts and so many others, to believe any and everything.
I am uncomfortable with extremes.
I worry, too , that we are living in a world of negatives. It saddens me that too many people are looking for, pointing out, passing around only what is wrong even when they are successful in their jobs, happy in their relationships, financially comfortable, and pretty much living the good life. There’s a profound culture of ONLY BEING HAPPY WHEN WE’RE UNHAPPY. I am no Pollyanna. I’ve been around the block a time or two, and I realize that we have plenty to worry about : a pandemic, turmoil in our government, joblessness, riots, and on and on. I even did a blog on things that make me grumpy ! But it’s more than that. It’s some kind of insidious trend of looking for the negative rather than a healthy balance of recognizing that when a single coin is flipped, it shows two different pictures.
I am uncomfortable with extremes.
No more “heavies” for awhile. Just had to get it out of my head and writing does that for me. Back to the stories, observations , and anecdotes………
Well said!
I think your comments in language are right on BSS. I think when we moderate our tone, most of the time it is more likely to cause another to reflect on the meaning instead of reject it out of hand. What I find to be a huge challenge in these times is the need to speak the moral truths even when they are unpopular.
Thank you for this post. I have always been pretty ignorant of how politics works. The past 34 years has taught me a lot. Your calm perspective has helped me throughout those years. You have made me realize a lot about myself on this subject and why I couldn’t decide where I stood. . You made me realize that I don’t have to identify completely with a “side”! Thank you.
Thanks Diane for that inspirational declaration.
It was a well written, rational, and viable philosophy for life.
If more people embraced your approach, it would be a better world.
Words from the woods are refreshing but could be forcing me to think to hard…. well maybe that’s good. A thought on voting So often when we go to vote there are only two choices that have a chance of winning. Whether you agree with either choice one is usually a better choice as you view things. What if that choice lost by one vote because you chose to write in or a choice that had no chance of winning. Just once I would like to have the opportunity to vote libertarian when they had a chance. Until then i will keep forcing myself to vote the better choice for the country, state, city. etc..