With all the hoopla about our nation’s budgetary worries, I guess I just had to say a few words. But where to start? So much to say, so many angles, so many, many different opinions. It’s a huge sinkhole that we really don’t want to venture into.
Why? Because at the bottom of that sinkhole, we’ll find those self-same unexamined money beliefs that we never learned to talk about in any productive way. One side talks about the bleeding heart liberals only thinking about more and more handouts while the other side of cold-hearted rich people only thinking about themselves.
Every one of us is somewhere on the spectrum radiating between these two and because our beliefs have been with us so long and are reinforced with news rhetoric, we have this constant tug of war. We’re so ingrained in our stance that we shut down before we allow ourselves to really examine our own beliefs, much less theirs!How do I know this? Because it happens to me. More and more, I notice that who and what I listen to is mostly from the people on my side. And, if that’s all I listen to, that other side is always going to look suspect to me. I will have only heard the message that I want to hear–my side is the right side, the only side that makes sense.
As difficult as it is, I’m trying to open my viewpoint to understand a little more to see where the other side is coming from. What are the beliefs and values underlying their perspective? Most importantly, is there any room for a deeper understanding and, dare I say, appreciation of their point of view?
Without at least trying, we’re never going to find that middle road or common ground. And that place between the two polarities is where we as a country really, really need to start moving. Do you agree?
I’m willing to try—how about you?
