I Was Born This Way

There is a refrain in this country that goes something like this:

Everything, everywhere is so fucked up.

We are mired in hysteria, confusion and fear. No one is talking. No one is thinking. No one is listening. Instead, everyone fights. It's exhausting and corrosive.

Worth noting, corrosion is not a good better-health strategy. It's the opposite.

The idea that there are two sides to every story has completely gone up in flames. There is literally no more room for an "if, and or, but."

But, that's a problem.

It's hard to imagine that we live in a world where people are no longer allowed to think what they think and feel what they feel. Well, they can, technically, I suppose, but they can't without being vilified should those thoughts and feelings run counter to the thoughts and feelings of another. Differences of any kind have been exploited to fuel a constant flood of brawls, attacks and abuse.

We have got to pull it together.

We must start thinking again.

Our national sanity depends on it.

No matter of measure is going to improve anything in this world if we don’t change the way we treat one another. We are tinkering on the brink of irrevocable madness. If our leaders (and I use the term loosely) won’t (or can’t) think rationally, we need to look elsewhere for opportunities to think together with sound minds and feel together with loving hearts.

People need to be considered, regardless. They need to be visible, regardless. You can’t stifle people and at the same time use their voices to manipulate hate and venom into the national conversation, and expect it to go well. Yet, here we are. I would argue that things are not going well. But that’s just me. I would argue a lot of things, and I do, not in a bad way, but in an exercise-in-logic way. Simply weighing two sides and not acquiescing to authority for authority's sake, has always been important to me.

I hadn't realized, though, that my leanings dated all the way back to grammar school. That is, until found a letter I had written to atone for the sin of chewing gum during History class. Clearly, there was a point to be made, and I was compelled to make it.

Recollecting back, I do remember my mother telling me to stop arguing with her. But I wasn’t. Not in my mind. I was just trying to understand things that didn’t make sense.

Dumb rules, inconsistencies and hypocrisy set off a chain reaction in my brain that I can't stop. What results is what some consider an argument and some consider a conversation. Either way, it's a framework for fairness.

1. Recognize the problem.

2. Acknowledge the feelings of the other party (or parties).

3. Set the record straight if the other party has been misinformed.

4. Question authority being imposed for authority’s sake.

5. Consider expert opinions.

6. Put yourself in the other party’s shoes.

7. Make your point and counterpoint.

8. Offer a solution.

9. Take responsibility for your part and accept consequences.

10. Weigh all sides.

11. Expose hypocrisy.

12. Propose a path forward/offer to meet in the middle.

13. Illustrations can help drive your point home. 🤓

My dad used to always tell me that, “It is what you make it.” Well, if we make argument not bad, but instructive, and start talking and stop yelling, we may actaully create a better future for ourselves and the world.