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Caban
I have to admit something: I really don’t like the fact that our public discourse has fallen into such a state that name calling and insults are acceptable. This is particularly true when it comes to the people talking about politics.
Let me be clear: I’m not talking about politicians right now. Let’s put them aside.
Rather, I’m talking about us as a society. Specifically, how some people use both social media and verbal communication to share their disgust for people who have a different view.
Thankfully, in my time in Marshall County, I haven’t experienced such behavior.
Rather at group lunches for the Chamber, Rotary or Lions, people here have other stuff to talk about. As far as I can tell, most folks around here have bigger fish to fry.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not naive enough to think no one ever says anything rude when it comes to people with the opposite political leanings.
Trust me, I know how bad it can be. It’s one of the reasons I don’t spend much time on social media. I have enough going on as it is to read vile comments and whatnot.
I don’t like seeing posts where parents are teaching their kids to make faces or voices to mock the President or Speaker of the House. It may be funny in the moments, but is it really the example we should be setting for our children?
My daughter is young enough that she doesn’t understand the discord in our country or the insults used by leaders of both parties.
However, I’m a believer in engagement. One of my favorite T-shirts says simply, “vote”. It has not party or candidate name. Rather, it is the concept of having your voice heard.
I’ll be engaged in democracy cause America is rad like that. And I’ll be teaching my daughter about voting just like my parents taught me.
For the next year, we’ll be hearing from candidates running for everything from president to dog catcher. There will be a lot of talk and a lot of opinions. There may be more opinions shared by the talking heads than the candidates themselves.
Honestly, there is enough talk on the national news to make my head explode. What’s more is when people use social media to share the version of news that best fits their views with comments that are designed to either hurt others or pick a fight.
Whereas it would be nice to bury my head in the sand, I believe engagement is another word for participation and I have to participate in the conversation. It means patience and listening even I don’t want to.
I would like to be a person who can have respectful and fair conversations with someone I disagree with.
I’m a bit of a political junkie and some of those conversations are hard because many people have deeply held beliefs on different policy issues. A lot of times passion comes across as just that, but it’s when people turn to personal attacks that I have a problem.
In my brain, I think that politicians and policy should win based on merit. However, I know branding is more likely to get something across the line when something actually gets done in Congress or the State Legislature.
I say the last sentence not to gripe at any one person or political party.
Rather, I don’t understand how we as humans and as Americans have an ability in recent years to not get along.
I’m old enough to remember watching Bill Clinton’s inaguration on TV at Sooner Elementary in Oklahoma City. I was aware of the news and eventually had an idea who my parents voted for over the years. Maybe I was too young, but I don’t remember there being an open disdain between our the elected officials of our political parties and those parties’ members who lived on my street.
I feel like my lifetime has seen a sharp increase in bad feelings when it comes to public policy.
Although Rodney King famously said, “can’t we all just get along,” I don’t think that phrase is some people’s thinking.
When I see people from opposite sides of the political spectrum, I wonder if they ever before forced to cooperate before. As an example, I wonder if any of them have been part of a large group of people that can’t decide what to eat; say after church. At least, in my experience, we eventually figured it out and picked a place. There was no naming calling.
It seems that some of us have lost the ability to do what Dalton from Road House told us to do: be nice.
Matt Caban is a managing editor of The Madill Record. She can be reached via phone at 580-795-3355 or email at matt@madillrecord.net.