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Looking Outward, Searching for Peace

Time heals many wounds. Forgiveness seems to come slower. Forgetting may be impossible until a number of people die. I think of the way our society is today with its multifaceted divisive issues. Some say the problem is the internet and social media. I disagree to an extent. I believe the divisions in our society over many issues has been in place for a long time. However, I will grant you not having to face our neighbors face to face, by inventing an online identity name with the randomly drawn letters from a Scrabble game and being able to imitate the many talking heads on television Social media provides a place to exercise our frustrations.

We all look outside of our silo for a world we wish would exist. When we don't find it, we are disappointed which can fester into anger. When we find people that don't agree with us, we question their intelligence and motivation. Even in the face of good evidence, facts become disputed We use and invent derisive names for our opponents. 

I believe this kind of atmosphere also is prime ground for ripping the scabs off of old wounds. People, who weren't even alive in the nineteen fifties wish we were back there with its appearances of ideality. Others might look back to the nineteen sixties when the disruption that took place during those years, as a time of battles well fought and won. You can find people that are still fighting, in their own way, the Civil War which ended in 1865

I've come to the conclusion that the challenge is to live in the world we have. We have to admit, no matter what sacrifices have been fought and won on the battlefield, at the ballot box, and in the courtroom, we have not perfected the dream of democracy. 

The weakness we have right now is not how involved and angry we are about the issues. It's that we can't find common ground on any of the issues. We can't seem to find one thing that we can say that we are willing to give some ground on if the other side will in order to find some way forward. 

We've come close, criminal justice, immigration,  and infrastructure were issues that we came close to having a serious debate and a meeting of the minds. Then the seeds of doubt grow like weeds. Every compromise is not a respect for the other sides concerns but surrendering to their militancy. Belligerent and bombastic those in fear of looking weak and those that lust for power go to the streets and build barricades. If they can't resolve these issues, about which there is the considerable citizen and bipartisan support, how can we move on the tougher hot topic's?

We, the citizens of the United States suffer by being the beacon of democracy in the eyes of the world. We are the grand experiment. If we can't make it work then it can't be done. The direction we are going in right now is not a journey many will want to duplicate. The people in power are either not considering the consequence of their decisions or they truly believe that some people are disposable and of no value. No one gives up Power. In a democracy, the way we take away power is with our vote.

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