I started this as a pitch for reasoned balance and I guess I still advocate that though I’m not as sure as I was when I started writing the sentence. I’m talking about the way we human beings go about reaching important conclusions in community. If the issue is really important, global warming, health care, recession recovery, and the like, the extremes in our communities begin vicious derogation of each other. They deride not only the others’ reasoning, but often deride the others personally. I think we see that in our Congress by whichever party is not in power.
But that may not be all bad! Our communities, for very nearly 500 years in this Country, have addressed important issues this way and we seem to find innovative and successful conclusions, sort of in spite of ourselves, if we’re patient enough.
Most of my adult life (all of it, I think, except the past about eight years), I’ve been a Republican politically, fiscally, and in my world view of the free market system and values. I’ve never been an extreme, but I did used to listen to Rush—thirty years ago. I think at heart I still am a moderate thinker who leans to the right. But my perception of life is not there today. I have concluded that the free market system just can’t take care of its people morally without meaningful regulation. And that’s just because human greed jumps right in. I, as a once strong supporter of a regulated free market system, have long observed that the system just refuses to find a solution in particular areas, such as health care.
Of course, this is all my perception—perception of reality is all any of us have and it’s what makes it so hard to accept someone else’s good faith perception which contradicts mine. And that’s the point. If we seek balance softly and kindly, will we find it? I don’t know. Do we need to verbally abuse one another and be derisive of each other in order to arrive at right answers? I hope not, but I’m not sure.
I hope some of you share your thoughts, especially Don.
On the right of this blog page is a list of blogs I follow. You may notice I have added some since last time. One in particular, Confessions of a Colorado Conservative, is authored by one of my truly good friends, Don Pettygrove. I recommend you click on that blog and spend some time there. Don is clearly a conservative; Don is also a thoughtful, careful man who is caring and loving. He and I have spent lots of quality time disagreeing with each other, agreeing with each other, getting things done together and studying the Bible together. Politically and fiscally, we’re not on the same page today. Does that mean I no longer value his opinions? Absolutely not. His blog is here because I do in fact value him and his thinking.
I am a disciple of Nancy Kline’s Thinking Environment. www.timetothink.com. Our processes and methods are the polar opposite of “brainstorming” and confrontation. Take a look at that site and you’ll see a different perception of “a way of being in the world.”
I invite your comments and would love to share them and respond to them.
Since I am limited to 4096 characters by Blogger, I will have to post my comments in two posts. Here is the first.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a few weeks to put all my thoughts together but here they are. Right off, Steve, thank you for your kind words. We have indeed been great friends and allowed ourselves to disagree without being disagreeable and I appreciate that as well.
I, too, would prefer that there be some sense of balance in life and, heaven forbid, politics. The reality is, I'm afraid and disgruntled, that it is becoming more and more difficult to achieve that because some degree of civility has been lost in society in general.
Why? I am not sure. My suspicion is that many have forgotten God and his teachings and placed themselves in the center of their lives and everything must revolve around them.
You speak of perception and are correct in limiting the value of our perception since it is just our own perception and not that of anyone else unless others express the same perception of events.
My perception may well be very different than yours because it goes through different life filters with each of us. I think I am reasoned and I know that you think you are also.
My perception is that the liberal wing of society has been very hateful of anyone that does not agree with their way of seeing things. If one does not see things their way they get very angry and will call the others names of all kinds, much like children do in a war of words when they don’t really have the facts to back up their words. It seems to me that the liberals deal mainly with their emotions and are largely devoid of reasoned thinking based on facts. Facts are a problem because so much of the time their thinking is contrary to facts.
It seems that they purposely create everything into a crisis situation and reason that we must pass this or that legislation now to avoid some disaster. This seems to be a standard operating procedure in order to get their way without allowing any debate or reasoned discussion. This has happened repeatedly. I can think of several instances such as pollution issues, climate change issues, health care, and others. If we don’t acquiesce to their thinking then we some how are demonized as not caring or wanting to address the issue. Often conservatives are willing to address those issues but just not in the hurried way that it is presented.
This is particularly true of this health care debate. The democrats with much help from their special interests, put together their plans behind closed doors and often in the dark of night because they claimed it had to be done soon or the end of life as we know it would be right around the corner. This is the same argument that was used for Hillarycare in the early 90’s yet the end of life has not come.
You mention that the free market system can’t take care of things. I still believe it could if we really had one. The system has been so bastardized by government intervention that it is neither capitalist nor socialist but a combination of both. It is my belief that socialism has never succeeded anywhere. Capitalism, our free market system, has provided the best, most free and economically stable and healthy life in the history of mankind. It is less than the best now because government has gotten involved with over-regulation, over-taxation and involvement in so many areas that it has no expertise.
Here is the second:
ReplyDeleteTake the health care system for instance. Government rules are strangling the health care system. Since the advent of Medicare in the 60’s, the cost of care has continued to accelerate while the care has not. This is largely due to Medicare which pays pennies on the dollar for services. General estimates are anywhere from 20 to 40 cents per dollar of service received. The rest of the cost is deferred to those with private insurance. The supposed value of mass purchasing power of Medicare is a false economy. The cost is still there, it is just paid for but others not receiving services because the government controls the purse strings on such a large portion of the health care industry, hospitals and many doctors can not reasonably deny to take those patients under the Hippocratic oath and state and federal law.
The main thought of your writing was balance. To get back to that, I am convinced that as much as wee would like balance, it is not always possible or desirable. Why is that?
Let me put it into God’s realm. He very clearly has rules that are right and anything not meeting those is wrong. There is no half right; it is either right or not. It is either sin or it is not. Is there any instance where God would accept “balance” in sin? I think you would agree that our teaching is He would not.
There may be some things that He views a little differently. Say we are being attacked with deadly force and we use our trusty firearm to settle the disagreement with deadly force of our own. We may have killed another human but would God not see that as an acceptable use? I think he would but some might say we should have turned the other cheek. That likely would have resulted in our own death. I don’t know for certain how God would rule on that but I know how I wish he would rule.
I think we need to also limit our balance. I absolutely do not want to see our country become a totalitarian dictatorship. I also do not want it to become a socialist oligarchy. I am afraid we are already at the latter and the current administration seems intent on taking us further, potentially to the former. I don’t think a balance of a dictatorship and socialism is something we should accept. I also don’t think we should accept anything that is outside of the original intent of the constitution. I don’t believe in the idea that it is a “living document”. It was created difficult to change for a very good reason yet most of our representatives currently ignore whether bills they pass would meet constitutional muster. We have created many things through legislation that would never pass the strict reading of the constitution.
Even the Supreme court seems willing to let too many things pass with all manner of legal justification.
I better cut it off here and post this or I could go on and on and bore you to death.
Don, you ARE the man. More later.
ReplyDelete