I am receiving emails lately that are from people wanting to exterminate all the people in the other party. In fact the most recent email I received reminded me of things said about Jews when they were rounded up and put into concentration camps. Have some of us really come to this? I have friends in both parties and have always been nonpartisan myself. I hear about good ideas from people in both parties and actually find my friends from both parties usually want the same things as the "other side" but they are often not educated as to what the individuals in the other party really want. Each party focuses their attention on the radical outlying wings of the other party and they imagine that the whole party is like those radicals. Sadly, they often do not want to talk to, or know people in the other party, so their uneducated ideas about each other remain and the divide gets bigger.
There are creative and positive thinkers talking about bipartisanship thankfully. (Things were not always this divided.) However, some would thwart such attempts. I am now getting emails that seem to want to take us into a a very ugly space, even though the two main party leaders are talking about bipartisanship. I received an email today that said, "Naive thoughts of bipartisanship will quickly fade. "Sharp knives" will replace kumbaya in no time." Additionally, the email quoted another person saying, "Those that remain in the "other" party are "bad people." They went on to say we are in a civil war. I have been ignoring these emails trying to divide people as I thought they would disappear, but that is not the case. I feel I should share a wonderful, creative, bipartisan solution that could make these dismal ideas fade away. It involves putting aside the emotions that are leading people to this divide and using critical thinking to examine each others and our own ideas.
I think this new movement is going to sweep through our nation and I am hoping sooner, rather than later. We do have the ability to create our future. Which future would you like? Do we want civil war or do we want to take a few hours of our day and learn more about each other? Preventing a civil war seems worth the time to at least take the step to learn more. I actually think bipartisanship can work. It is simply a matter of some of us (We know there are some people who will not want to do this and that is okay. It only takes a few of us to get the ball rolling. ) taking some time to actually examine our own ideas and other peoples ideas in a well thought out manner. Seeing the ideas anew and without the emotions attached allows us to critically examine them with an open mind and heart. When we do this there will be some surprised people.
There is an organization that has formed to use education as a way to bridge this divide between the republicans and democrats. They are called Bridging.Online. You can invite them to your area as they are happy to come talk to people. I listened to them on this podcast from Jefferson Radio and found they had an uplifting point of view and it is my belief they are starting a new movement that could take hold very fast.
What will you learn from them - Critical thinking and getting beyond the left and the right. I suggest you listen to their podcast and take a look at their website or go to their facebook page.
We create our reality by focusing on what we want to happen. Creating bridges is a good point of focus and a good place to put our energy.
