"Put On The #@$%ing Glasses!" [re-post]

Had a real John Carpenter moment recently w/someone dear to me. I am irritated that we have let public discourse degenerate in this country to the point where it's no longer possible to have a rational discussion.  People shut one another off w/o hearing the full argument.

Our culture has been taught that every situation must be regarded as polarizing, w/no shades or hues between, w/no degrees of magnitude.  We have been taught that compromise is weak, that only victory is desirable, and anything less than the utter crushing of opposition is a failure.

What an utter load of crap.

We can not successfully live together & solve problems if we are not willing to hear one another out, to at least open our minds & hearts to the point where we're willing to hear what the other person has to say so we can grasp some degree of understanding why they are saying it.

Instead we let vested interests set the agendas that keep us focused away from the real problems & onto petty differences.

I don't know which is more harmful, the vested interests who at least benefit directly from the shift in focus, or the water carriers hoping to curry favor with them.

Put on the glasses.