To me… it appears that there have been differences of opinion and party differences, from the first establishment of government to the present day, and on the same question which now divides our own country; that these will continue through all future time; that every one takes his side in favor of the many, or of the few, according to his constitution, and the circumstances in which he is placed. – Thomas Jefferson
Action
This is a call to action to move from divisiveness to finding common ground, which can be achieved by addressing common societal enemies.
Background
A few disparate events in my life highlight the challenges we have listening to each other.
- My six-month old grandson Matthew was ‘talking’ to me in baby babble. I had no way to understand what he was saying but nevertheless I listened because it was obvious what he had to say was quite important.
- My daughter Noelle’s wedding was exactly one month before the Presidential election. We strongly discouraged political conversation.
- We had a Thanksgiving rule at our house. At the dinner table, phones and politics were not allowed. It was a lovely dinner!
- I have good friends that attended the Inauguration on January 20th, and I have good friends that attended marches on January 21st.
We are not able to communicate with each other because we have vastly differing points of view and refuse to listen to each other. We gravitate to those with the same point of view, but don’t engage in conversation with those who don’t see things the same way. With a few notable exceptions, such as Hitler and Osama bin Laden, people are rarely pure evil.
Yet when there is a crisis, such as a multi vehicle car wreck, we don’t ask about political affiliation, but immediately jump in to help. People are amazed at their strength and ability to work together.
It is that thinking that we need now to creatively solve distinct and different problems to demonstrate how we can work together by starting with things we agree on. By engaging in real conversation, you know the kind where one person is talking and the other is really listening…we can create persuasive arguments.
Here is one to get us started; there is a crisis in quality childcare for many working parents, isolation for many elders, and college costs so high that it is impossible for students to even consider college.
What if we combined the challenges of those groups, and found solutions so they could help each other?
Closing
If you’ve got a better idea how to fix this, I’m listening.
Tina Nocera, Founder
