TO THE EDITOR:
I’m on a bus between Uganda and Kenya, before returning home to the USA, and I’m troubled by the political and social rancor I’ll be stepping back into.
If we hope for a healthy, prosperous nation, we cannot continue demagoguing our neighbors because they see the world differently. Such behavior is immature, anti-social and un-American. Politics is not the central battleground between good and evil.
There is an awful lot of grey area in public policy ripe for negotiation and compromise. Unfortunately, many of us dive into the cesspool head first and carry the torch of division and demagoguery to Main Street. We’ve successfully created a country of warring factions, and it’s ripping America apart at the seams.
My humble prescription: listen. That’s it, listen. I borrowed the idea from God because he’s smarter than I am. “Be quick to listen, slow to speak.”
We have a moral responsibility to listen and gain an understanding of the other side’s position. Too often we engage in mutual reinforcement parties with friends of like mind. We call this pervasive American practice confirmation bias, and it is dangerous.
What if we turned off our favored news source, sat down with someone of a different, fresh perspective and listened? While we’d still hold different, even competing, views, we’d be able to move beyond slander and seek common ground, each with a newfound appreciation and respect for the other side. It’s time for a new day in America; it’s time to listen.
Pearce Godwin
Chapel Hill, N.C.
