A Requiem for the U.S. – Do We Even Know What We’re Doing Anymore?
I’ve taken to my computer less than 24 hours after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. My heart is conflicted.
On one hand, I am ever grateful for the near miss that spared Trump’s life. No one attempting to serve the public should be a target for cowardly deeds such as this. The shooter’s motive is yet to be revealed, if it ever will.
On the other hand, I am saddened that innocent bystanders were injured and killed. Senseless. They each started their day likely thinking they would participate in the most American of things to do, attend a rally for the candidate they choose to support. That is democracy. Little did they know they would be hit by stray bullets aimed for others.
The Great Divide
I am concerned for our country. It is not clear to me where our chasm of divide started. Throughout my life there have always been two sides to things. Schools have rivals. Pro sports create rivalries. Heated though those may be, seldom do we see senseless killing or attempts to do that. Most sane adults realize there is the heat of the debate, the tug of the loyalty, one side vs the other. It’s been like sibling rivalries. Intense, but able to come to dinner together. When enemies from outside attack the family, we rally together.
Somehow it feels we are losing that connection, that resilience. One colleague even texted whether or not the shots in Butler, PA were the first of the next civil way. God I hope not.
This extreme thinking on either side of the issues needs to stop. We need to calm the heck down and rethink our beliefs, our principles, and for sure, our values.
Think Again
In the amazing book “Think Again”, the author Adam Grant, makes a strong statement about all the things that can go wrong when we “double down” on our views rather than open up to new thinking. He says we live our lives either as preachers – evangelizing our beliefs to everyone who will hear, professors – trying to teach others to believe what we think or politicians – debating the matters and jockeying for position to win the day. Grant argues it is the scientific mind who is open to ‘what if’. They pursue new truth by experimenting with theories to prove or disprove what could be, and in the process, often discover new truths heretofore unknown.
I want to be a scientist. I am tired of ‘preachers’, ‘professors’ and ‘politicians’ telling me how and what I should think. What happened to being curious? What has happened to thinking for ourselves and not being guilted into feeling one way or another?
Above all ,how did we collectively get so angry about everything? Is it really that bad?
I spent the past week cleaning up from the damage caused by Hurricane Beryl. Mother Nature at her wildest. Now that’s a force to think about. Beryl made no choice which side of the political aisle my neighbors were on. The eye swept over my neighborhood with hurricane category 1 winds, torrential rain causing severe power outages and non-specific, non-biased havoc for everyone in its path. In most places I’ve seen neighbors coming together to help each other. No hostility. No agendas.
Those who lost power for several days got a little tense as they rightfully should be. But people got resourceful to make the best out of a very bad situation. It proves to me we know how to do that. Why not more of it.
Our country is, in my humble opinion, at a crossroads. We can choose to stay terribly divided and let it get worse, or we can attempt to heal wounds. Repair damages from former battles fought over welfare, Social Security, taxes, oil, and whatever else gets your blood pressure elevated. Find the understanding from others before we double-down on our own limited biases and beliefs.
As most of you know, I am a man of faith. I don’t force it on anyone as most of my ‘preacher-minded’ friends would have me do. Rather I choose to live my life with a few somewhat non-negotiable beliefs that direct the way I want to show up to serve others. But everything else I know, believe and live by is open to new thinking. I seek a seat at the table when a smart debate is happening between minds who are likewise curious and want to know more to serve a greater good.
My prayer is that we find that approach as a country. Not because I am being a professor about the idea, but because it’s the easiest thing I can explain to my grandkids who one day, will inherit this mess we’ve created. (BTW they are already asking questions about what is going on?)
May God Bless America, save us and protect us from enemies without and within.
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