Reasonable Calm Respectful Discussion

I posed a question today on Facebook, prefaced with a comment and observation.  This is what I said.

“Perhaps I have too much time on my hands. I don’t know. But, the question I find repeating itself in my mind this morning is this. Why is it that we must spend so much time, energy, and angst over our differences? Why can’t we focus on those things we share in common and build on those together? The focus on our differences is driving such a wedge in the fabric of our nation that I fear that it will again be torn apart and I’m not certain that any amount of mending will make it better.”

I was quite serious with my questions and about my observations.

We used to be a melting pot of cultures, ideas, and values.  Oh, yes, to be sure there were exceptions and exclusions, but we’ve come such a long way.  Two ethnic groups have struggled for such a long, long time to fit into this melting pot but have met with such little success.  Blacks and Native American Indians have struggled forever to make it onto that so-called level playing field.  While blacks are making progress at breaking through that brick wall to equality, those who claim this American continent as their ancestral home have lagged far, far behind.  But, I’m not totally convinced that they want to be in the melting pot.  I’m not sure that they want to give up their identity and frankly, I’m not sure that I can blame them.  I believe they have an inherent right to maintain their identity. 

As a side note, Native Americans on average have three times the suicide rate as that of the rest of the American population.  On some reservations the suicide rate is ten times the national average.  According to the PEW Research Center, 26% of Native Americans live in poverty while less than half that number of whites live in poverty.  PEW also reports that 11% of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives drop out of high school before graduation compared to 5% of whites (Hispanics have a 13% dropout rate), and 17% of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives have bachelor degrees compared to 33% of whites with that four-year degree (Asians have a startling 60% bachelor degree attainment).  The Bureau of Justice Statistics show that victimization rates for simple assault, aggravated assault, rape, and robbery are double that of the rest of the general population.  One in 30 Native American children under the age of 14 is victim of abuse, which is double that of the rest of the general population of the United States (Earle, K. and Cross, A. [2001]. Child Abuse and Neglect Among Native American/Alaska Native Children: An Analysis of Existing Data. National Indian Child Welfare Association and Casey Family Programs).  I could go on and explain rates of domestic violence in Native American homes (higher), alcohol and other drug abuse rates (higher), and so forth, but you get the picture and this really isn’t the focus of my discussion here.

The point is that we have come a long way toward making this melting pot work and we seem to have stopped that forward progress.  I’m tempted to identify a period in our history when we moved away from the concept of our nation being a soup pot instead of salad bowl as the turning point.  I also think it happened around the time we started talking in terms of political correctness and gender neutrality.

It is no wonder that we cannot seem to attain consensus in the international arena because we can’t seem to find any here at home.  Just look around.  Vegetarians point a judgmental finger at meat-eaters, the LGBT community cries discrimination while those whose moral convictions want to hold onto traditional definitions of marriage.  Pro-choice and pro-life proponents shout each other down. Environmental extremists chain themselves to trees so loggers can’t do their jobs or they spike trees so that when logs go to lumber mills workers are impaled with the spikes that are thrown by the saw blades.  Half of our population wants to impose a greater tax on those who already provide 70% of the nation’s revenues and despise those who were successful in business while the other half of our population stands guard around business and industry.  Many in our country want to send illegal immigrants or undocumented workers or whatever they are called back to the hell holes they came from and then seal the borders air-tight while others want to open the doors to anybody and everybody and give carte blanche amnesty and citizenship to those who came in through the back door.  Then the anti-gun lobby is at odds with the Second Amendment Rights advocates.  Please don’t get me started on racial tensions which are worse now than at any time that I can recall.

It seems to me that as sophisticated as we are and as advanced we are in our knowledge and ability to acquire information that somewhere in the mix there is room for reasonable, calm, respectful, discussion.  Somewhere among all the data we possess are answers.  Surely we have moved to a place in this Twenty-first Century where we can talk in terms of win-win for all those with invested interests.

Perhaps there are issues that everybody can agree upon that can be addressed first before the more difficult challenges are tackled.  Perhaps once we learn how to have productive dialogues with no hidden agendas we could move forward.  This, of course, requires a great deal of trust, meaning that all those who sit at the discussion table must be trustworthy.

Perhaps once we learn how to solve our domestic problems we could move into the international arena.

Perhaps I’m a dreamer.  Perhaps I have too much time on my hands.