No, this is not a post about Barack Obama.
Despite retrospective goggles, it seems amazing sometimes how far our society has come in recent years. Less than 60 years ago, Black Americans were subjected to legalized segregation. Less than 50 years ago, women were treated like true second-class citizens, unable to rent an apartment or hold a job without the consent of a male guardian (father, brother, husband, etc). Less than 20 years ago, homosexuals were being fired on a very regular basis due to their sexual orientation, and until very recently, most Americans thought the idea of two men or two women marrying each other deplorable.
Yet when it come to issues unrelated to the human condition, we are so much more relentless...
On one hand, the sixteenth amendment was passed 98 years ago, and yet people are still calling the federal "income tax" illegal. There's also abortion and issues of moral perception, which will likely never be solved. For everything else however, we seem to have sunk to a new low. And I am not just talking about politicians.
Last week, we were given an unavoidable reminder of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Osama Bin Laden's death filled Americans with renewed hatred and vigor. Unfortunately it also did not provide us with the same unity and willingness to compromise that we found a decade ago. Man oh man how we needed that.
We have a mountain of issues to fix. We have to cut spending. We have to raise the debt ceiling. We have to fix our schools. We have to find sustainable energy sources. We have to build industry and jobs. We may not agree on the exact ways in which to do things, but something must end, and that's the "no"s.
Some group, on each of the aforementioned issues, has decided to make a campaign of saying, "NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT." This is not American. Americans should be saying, "let's work together and fix this." "Let's make our economy stronger, our schools better, our energy sources more sustainable, and our long-term job market more bountiful." But, alas, we have strayed from the American path. Instead, we have become unwilling to compromise, more prone to personal criticism of an idea than constructive criticism. The more we rely on responding to ideas with "this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard" or "This is complete bullshit", the longer that we remain unable to solve problem. There's no learning that takes place when this happens. No "why" as to the reason for the insult.
Yes, people say stupid things. If they do, tell the person why that thing that they said is stupid. If you just counteract their stated opinion, and refrain from personal insults. Congrats! You've got constructive criticism. The world can now progress.
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