What is it about our country (congress, first and foremost, but people in general) that seems to have us at odds with each other. Right now, we have congress with our entire country poised on the brink of what they say is financial disaster, and they have this lack of ability to come to a compromise and solve the problem that faces us. There’s a certain block of voters who are beyond adamant about getting what they want and they’re ready to bring the country to its knees if they don’t get exactly what they want.
Yeah? Exactly! A three-year-old child who’s going to throw a temper tantrum in the grocery store if he doesn’t get that toy he sees in the checkout aisle.
What happened to us that we are unwilling to compromise? To see the other person’s point of view? It’s almost as of the two (or three, depending on how you count) sides of the table in these debt+budget “talks” are having a holy war. My god is better than you god, so we can’t see eye-to-eye on anything. There is no room for compromise when you’re talking about such intense and overwhelming ideology.
And yet this sort of thing comes down to the personal level, too. I have a friend who has republican (for lack of a better term) take on things, used to like Glenn Beck, etc, and it’s impossible to talk to her about politics. She gets all bent out of shape about what the liberals are doing this and that and it’s just spewing the crap that she’s gotten from television. Yet there’s no possible way of getting her to see that we’re in this situation because one side or the other created this situation.
In another situation personally, someone in my life wants to believe X despite actions of his own that caused things to be the way they are. There’s no reason, no discussion, no compromise. Just “my way or the highway.” Well, can you guess which one I took?
Oh, as for my political views: I subscribe to no party. All of them are crazy. You have to sell most or all of your soul to get into Congress these days. So I don’t trust any of them to do what’s right for the country anymore. Who bought their souls? People with deep pockets. Corporations. Special interests who want only what they want and to hell with everyone else. Sounds familiar?
There was a time when our country did have differences of opinion, but we pulled together for a common goal. Now, this doesn’t happen anymore. I think we won’t come together until things are really, really bad again. Personally I don’t want to see it get that bad, but it will if we continue doing what we’re doing.
But to be honest, my inner anarchist would like to see that happen. Just to see what happens. I feel I’m in a pretty good position overall and could weather another 5 or 10 years of economic misery in the country, but it would be hard to watch others have a much harder time than me. Who knows, it might happen anyway if things in congress continue going nowhere.
–J
