I got caught up in the presidential election this year. Everything I read, watched on television or listened to on the radio was tainted by the smell of the election. I felt disgust for my guy, the other guy and all the guys that came before. On election night, all of us watching from home were reduced to red or blue. Not purple or pink. No gradations, no patches of different colors. Just one or the other, our red or blue state became a perfect symbol of the duality of our beliefs. On that night, you were with me or against me, to paraphrase our President. We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak. Epictetus, a Greek Stoic philosopher (55c.135) I wasn't alone though. All the pundits and most of America joined in. My former colleagues in the news business loved it. I left the newspaper business many years ago because Id lost my idealism about the nobility of the profession. Sitting on the news desk as a nightly participant in creating Atlantas agenda for the next morning, I began to see how much information never saw the light of day. I began to see that only the most sensational, bloody, and outrageous events were fit to print. And I began to realize that after reading the paper every day, I was angrier and angrier. Talk radio came along polluting the air waves with pure venom. I would scream at the radio and the callers emmulating the host. Each day, I listened as I tried to work, and became angrier and angrier. Finally, I shut it off. Still Im discouraged by Crossfire, Hardball, and the other screaming "analysts" who talk, but never listen. Since I never watch the programs, I'm contaminated as I pass them in my channel surfing. I began looking for a better way. From high school, I recall that in a true debate, one party presents a point, the other party listens. If red can't talk to blue, how does a resolution that is good for all come into being. What happened to listening? How can we compromise if listening is lost? And can there be any Peace if there is no understanding that comes from listening? |
