Imagine that you were born into a conservative family in a conservative town, taught by many teachers who had rarely traveled more than 50 miles from home. Imagine hearing war stories from four out of five male family members and then watching a brother go off to Vietnam with the Marines. Then imagine you became a 17 yo private pilot only to have your dreams of flying in the USAF crushed because of a pair of glasses.
That was me, but my second dream was to become a doctor. Instead of following in my father's and brother's footsteps, I became the black sheep of the family and went off to a liberal arts college for my undergrad education. To make matters worse for family relations, I learned to ANALYSE and QUESTION. I had to read twenty books for one mandatory class the first term and learned that few things are as simple as they seem, and that truth often lies in the details.
Fast forward to 2022. I'm frequently tempted to demean, if not despise, gullible people who believe anything and then pass on emotionally laden lies as fact. However, if I had had perfect vision in high school, I could have easily become one of "them" - immersing myself in the same fear-mongering, anger provoking news and social media that so many well- intentioned people are addicted to. Our own experiences, insight, intelligence, education, family, and local culture effect how we think, yet most of these aren't earned. Fellow Americans have different filters, but they are not our enemies, regardless of the pressure to believe so. Our challenge is to truly listen* to their concerns, and maybe dislodge the filter or two that are blinding them (or us) to reality. This is admittedly a difficult task, but our country's future is worth the effort.
A wonderful book to help prime the pump is:
No comments:
Post a Comment