Side Arms

[rockinlibrarian]

I have a friend from college, vovat, who's a pretty opinionated guy. But here's the thing: he likes to DISCUSS issues. He doesn't just pound his own opinion into his readers, he likes to listen to counterarguments and debate them rationally and thoughtfully. I don't always agree with him, but I know that when I don't I can safely tell him so and he'll

Comments

Yes!!!

[ext_1576347]

Very well expressed!!! I also stand by my statement from a prior shooting episode (which don't get me wrong, I believe there is really something very wrong w our national culture that this keeps happening -- but it is not the existence of guns -- I think it is hate AND fear AND unresolved guilt and hurt and shame -- you know, soul issues) but anyway --

Who wins when everyone is fully absorbed in taking sides and screaming at each other? Not either of those sides, that's for sure. Corporations and big money politicians who quietly pass terrible legislation that strips resources from the poor while everyone is yelling themselves hoarse over guns and reinforcing our collective identity as a hopelessly bipartisan country that can never see eye to eye with itself.

DISTRACTION.

Re: Yes!!!

[rockinlibrarian]

I like your way of thinking. It's yet another Not-One-Of-The-"Two-Sides" standpoint. I wonder how many of those non-binary possibilities are OUT there that people just don't hear about because everyone feels like they have to take SIDES all the time. I guess people don't want solutions as much as they want their own way and no other. :P And everyone loses!

RE: Re: Yes!!!

[ext_1576347]

I like the way YOU think, you non binary soul, you. One might even say we are kindred spirits. :-D

Yes - everyone loses - it is sad. I wish that instead we could ask, what is this heartbreaking pattern a SYMPTOM of in our collective culture? But that would involve much more difficult work of taking responsibility for how we care for the members of our human family and structural change flowing from that ... As they say ... "Ain't nobody got time for that."

Re: Yes!!!

[vovat]

Along the lines of binary thinking, I find the argument that banning guns would mean only criminals have them to be overly simplistic. So everyone is either a law-abiding citizen or a criminal, with no overlap or gray area? What about people who legally own guns and make mistakes with them? What about criminals who might not know how to obtain guns illegally? I mean, I get the point of the argument, but I don't think things are that neat.

[vovat]

To be fair, I'm much more open about alternate opinions on some issues than others. I've known enough responsible people who own guns that I'm not automatically going to go down the "ban 'em all" route, even if I personally don't like them. It does seem like there are a lot of subjects on which you and your husband disagree. I'm not sure I could be in a relationship like that, but maybe that just means you're a stronger person.

[rockinlibrarian]

Politics really doesn't affect everyday life so much, which is one of the things that drives me nuts about the "taking sides" thing. These are all just PEOPLE, you know? Everyone has their own stories and backgrounds that make them believe the things they do, and it makes perfect sense from their own standpoint, and more often than not they're good people honestly trying to do the right thing. If we listened to each other more and tried to understand each other, we could find better solutions for everything. I don't know if I'm a "stronger" person as much as I'm just good at seeing the good in people and not writing them off for the bad.

If society should fall into a post-apocalyptic struggle for survival, I'm afraid our world views would finally pull Jason and I apart, because he'd want to set up a homestead and defend it from scavengers, and I'd want to form a collective and share everything. But until then, our real everyday conflicts revolve more around vegetables and vocal volume.

[ext_1576347]

Like :)