But, I do like to listen to others occasionally – both those on “my side” of the issues as well as those offering another perspective. And occasionally, when provoked, I will rattle off my latest reasons for feeling incredulous at the way constituents and political leaders shuffle around and arrange themselves prior to a major election.
And we are before a major election.
But mostly, I stay quiet.
Today, I biked to work using a different combination of paths and roads. Up Observatory Drive and down Bascom Hill, approaching the Law School from the Hall, over where Lincoln sits. It offers another perspective on the Mall and the green spaces where students bring their books, their laptops and their feelings of affection for one another.
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"...I like to stay silent. Arguing is so exhausting!" I completely agree, and am so happy that "Ocean" remains an oasis of calm sanity.
ReplyDeleteI'm so tired of people spouting partisan "talking points" past each other. Both sides shouting. Nobody listening. No communication. Everybody loses.
Life would be more civil if more of us paid attention to the following lines by Harold Loukes:
"We have to forgive each other for being so infinitely less than we ought to be. We have to learn to give where we had hoped to get and understand where we had hoped to be understood."
I am fascinated by your statement "Being born to a very political family...". I would love to know how that played out during communist Poland. I'm equally curious whether your political family learned to stay silent for practical purposes or whether that's part of the reason your family spent time in the states. Of course, I only know of truly communist states from generalizations taught in school and a bit from reading your blog, so I could be way off.
ReplyDeleteEither way, I do agree arguing is exhausting; an exercise in futility even, unless both sides are willing to listen. Right now, I don't have much hope for the political system or this election.
Ah, life in post war Poland! The subject of my book. Look for it .... maybe next year. It's gettin' there.
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