Our discourse is broken. If we wish to make it work effectively, it'll take significant effort, but it will be worth it. In my experience, discussions improve when we replace blame with empathy.
Civility! The most cherished 'ideal' in American politics. When I was in the Peace Corps in the 1990s, we all (regardless of our political leaning) had conversations with the understanding that we could all 'agreed to disagree' and still be friends and fellow volunteers. Sadly, this is not the case anymore.
It is happening, but not often enough. Most of the people I meet and/or talk to on a daily basis do not agree with my politics. That doesn't matter. What I'm interested in working with them on has zero to do with politics. I'm convinced that we're not as divided as we too often think.
I agree with you that there are still plenty of Americans, on both sides, that do not let politics dictate all discussions. In the end, we are all humans, with the same aspirations, love, empathy, struggles and all the basic human qualities and flaws. We all want the best for our kids, our neighbors, our communities, our country, and our world. It's a small minority of any group that tend to cause the biggest stir and we must not let that small minority drive the narrative that America is a mean, bigoted, racist and horrible nation.
Civility! The most cherished 'ideal' in American politics. When I was in the Peace Corps in the 1990s, we all (regardless of our political leaning) had conversations with the understanding that we could all 'agreed to disagree' and still be friends and fellow volunteers. Sadly, this is not the case anymore.
It is happening, but not often enough. Most of the people I meet and/or talk to on a daily basis do not agree with my politics. That doesn't matter. What I'm interested in working with them on has zero to do with politics. I'm convinced that we're not as divided as we too often think.
I agree with you that there are still plenty of Americans, on both sides, that do not let politics dictate all discussions. In the end, we are all humans, with the same aspirations, love, empathy, struggles and all the basic human qualities and flaws. We all want the best for our kids, our neighbors, our communities, our country, and our world. It's a small minority of any group that tend to cause the biggest stir and we must not let that small minority drive the narrative that America is a mean, bigoted, racist and horrible nation.