We have more in common than you think
This article first appeared on July 25 in my Nice Maker Substack Newsletter. See what else you’ve been missing.
Nothing much will change in the polarization and division of people in the US and anywhere else without coming together in person. There’s just no way to know what’s happening inside someone’s mind without inquiring with kindness, respect, and empathy.
Humans are way better to one another when we look at each other with our eyes instead of via screens.
Case in point, a colleague I hadn’t seen in years recently invited me to an informal meetup in Nashville with folks feeling fed up and discontent with the state of American politics. The group came together through a shared appreciation for a certain podcast and its cohort. I wasn’t too familiar, but I tuned into a few episodes and learned they are doing a decent job, fact-checking to avoid the problems that plague most media.
I did some due diligence ahead of time and realized the podcast and its creators cater to right-of-center people who are more conservative than I am. Fair enough, each to their own. I detest labels and find that associating myself with any one label or political party becomes too divisive and leaves people too ignorant if they blindly follow instead of thinking and deciding for themselves. I vote for the best candidates, not the party.
I’m a pretty new American (“Canerican”) who has voted in only one presidential election so far, and I’ve never missed a local election. In many respects, the local elections are even more important during normal times. Sure, we don’t live in normal times at present, but local voting is still paramount.
If you don’t vote, you can’t complain, not as much, at least.
I accepted the group event invitation because I enjoy meeting reasonable, sensible, intelligent, and civic-minded people, plus I respect the guy running it. As I mentioned in my TEDx talk, we all share the same main concerns for our families, friends, and communities.
I still wish the United States and Americans would get with the times and create two new political parties, as I proposed once on Facebook and was largely ignored by my so-called friends and probably its toxic algorithm.
Two New Political Parties
My concept is for two charismatic leaders, one leaning right (old-school Republican non-MAGA) and one leaning left (old-school Democrat non-extreme), to shake hands and, after some initial discussions and supportive folks behind them, launch the New Democratic Party (NDP) and New Republican Party (NRP) at exactly the same time and on the same day. It’s the only fair way to achieve this and give Americans better, or at least more choice.
We have more to choose from than any other country; just turn on your TV and flip channels or walk through your mall or grocery store aisles - who needs this much macaroni and cheese?!
I took this photo when we moved to Nashville in 2007, shocked by the quantity!
Imposter? Nah
As I sat listening and chiming in with the group, I felt a little like an imposter, not a spy or someone up to no good. If you must know, I consider myself center-left in the American political spectrum. Buy me a (non-alcoholic) beer, and we can talk all about it.
The folks I met were good people, sensible, and fed up with the Republican Party they had aligned themselves with for years. Setting aside the madness of anyone still on the MAGA train (say it ain’t so), who can blame the people I met for feeling distraught? Have you seen who the Republican gubernatorial candidates are in Tennessee?
Blackburn, Rose, Fritts… oh my.
There’s Marsha Blackburn, a hardline conservative with a combative partisan style who refuses to debate her opponents, pledges her allegiance to Trump, is tied to corporate donors, and has controversial legislative votes regarding opioid oversight and internet privacy, and she screams disinformation-lies regarding Chinese ownership of rural TN, which amounts to… zero. You can’t spend millions on ads and not know the facts, right?
John Rose, whose power dynamics include meeting his much younger wife through a youth organization when she was only 17 years old (a high school senior) and he was 42. He voted against awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to law enforcement officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6, and he voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results.
Monty Fritts is a self-proclaimed ‘Christian nationalist’ with a conspiracy-linked agenda who wants to ban non-Christian religions, including Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, from being practiced in the state; outlaw same-sex marriage; criminalize abortion in all cases without exceptions for rape; and deny emergency contraception to rape victims. And he’s one of only two people who voted against a ban on first-cousin marriage.
Please do the right thing.
As I wrote, vote for the person, not for the party. If not the candidate, vote for the future of Tennessee residents like your friends, family, and community. How will the future shape up with one of these lunatics running the show for four long, brutal years? Doesn’t a governor represent all of the people?
In Tennessee, it’s clear in this election cycle who we should NOT be voting for and why rational people are frustrated and meeting up to discuss the state of things. I’m glad I got to attend such a meeting, and while we didn’t see eye-to-eye on everything, we agreed on much more.
The moral of the story is to power off your phone and meet your neighbors even when they come with differing mindsets and views. Actively listen to the discussion and politely share your take. You’re not there to change minds or pontificate; you’re there to learn that we have more in common than the powers that be would like you to believe.
