The Genesis of a Problem

As I watched the news this morning, I saw something that made me tie the Curmudgeon's last two posts together.

Now what, you may ask, could connect the dots between a tragic school shooting and Russian interference in our political process, intended to sow discord?

The primary point of the school shooting post addressed gun control as a means to end mass shootings.  The primary point of the Russian meddling post addressed how Russia has taken our probably irreparable partisan divide and used it as a wedge to drive us further apart.

Here's how they're related.

What I saw on the news was a student from the high school in Parkland talking about the grass-roots effort being undertaken by students there (and elsewhere) to address the topics of school shootings and gun control (and kudos to them for doing so - would that they didn't have to shoulder that burden).

This was a very articulate young man.  I recognize that this was also a young man who's recently undergone a traumatic event that no one his age should ever have to experience.  The shock, the horror, the this-could-have-been-me fright and maybe guilt, the loss of innocence ... these psychological impacts can be scarring, and certainly evoke strong emotional reactions.

In any event, the young man said, "This isn't about the kids.  It's about the adults.  And at this point, you're either with us or against us."  (Italics added)

This young man - clearly intelligent, passionate about a cause that hit way too close to home, and motivated to make the world a better place - unfortunately opened the door to the kind of irreparable divide that separates us today.  It's the first step toward creating a chasm that cannot be bridged, like seismic fault in our collective common interest.  The kind of fault that can be exploited by those with ill intent, be they a sovereign enemy or an evil element in our community.

"You're either with us or against us."  "It's my way or the highway."  "I'm either all right, or all wrong."  These are extreme positions.

A better approach might be, "I just went through this horrific experience, and I'm scarred by it.  I'm hurt, and I'm sad, and I'm damned angry.  And I'm just a kid, so I want the adults who are in power to wake the hell up and pay attention to this stuff, so I and my friends and other kids like us NEVER have to feel what I feel right now, NEVER have to be afraid to go to school, NEVER have to go through anything like this.  EVER.  AGAIN.

"While I'm just a kid, this has grown me up faster than I wanted to, faster than I needed to, faster than I should have had to.  So I have some ideas regarding a starting point to a solution.  But I don't have all the answers.  So I'm willing to listen to other people's ideas, and have an open, honest dialogue about how we stop this from happening, if we can.  I can accept that you might not be fully 'with me.'  What I can't accept is that we don't talk about it, and we don't listen to each other, and we don't work together to find a solution, despite any differences we may have."

Young man, I am on your side.  I want desperately to listen to you.  I value what you have to say.  I can't begin to imagine what you're feeling right now, and I won't pretend to be able to.  I'm willing to help you in whatever way I can.

But if the only way you're willing to accept my help is under the condition that I completely agree with your ideas regarding a solution, I'm afraid you won't be able to avail yourself of what I might be able to offer.

We need to reach a point as a republic, a people, where, in reaction to tragedies and challenges, issues and inequalities, we all recognize the following:

We may have different views.  Most of those views have some merit.  No one answer or ideology is the only right answer or ideology; there are shades of gray.  So we have to be willing to talk to one another without partisan emotion or extreme us-vs.-them positions, and we have to be able to listen.  And cooperate.  And compromise.

If we'd never had that willingness to begin with, as a people, we wouldn't be here today, as a nation - a civilization or a human race.  Let's not perpetuate the divide by instilling in our youth the same sense of absolutes that has brought us where we are today.  Let's not allow our politicians, our political parties, our media, or any outside influence do that to us.

It is my sincere hope that the youth of today are truly the promise of a better tomorrow, that they lift us above the current rancorous divide that threatens us.  That promise will never be fulfilled by "you're either with us or you're against us."  The simple truth is that we're all in this together.