What Ever Happened to Gray?

I remember when I was taught to look into all aspects of something before coming to a hard conclusion.  That the words “always” and “never” were rarely correct.  That we should “walk a mile in another person’s shoes” before making a judgment about them and remember “judge not, lest ye be judged from Sunday school?  In science classes we were taught to look behind actions for reasons, not just take what we were told.  I was led to believe this questioning and striving to understand things was what made our country the engine of growth and invention. 

But things have changed.  Now I am right and you are wrong (or the other way around in your mind).  And I don’t want to read or hear anything that might change my mind.  The rightees only watch FOX and the lefties only watch MSNBC.  Opposing opinions are called names and shouted down.  No one seems to want to learn something new that may be outside their current world view.  And now it is capitalism that is the engine, unbridled capitalism with no government control and limits.  Everyone crows about their freedoms but not their responsibilities.  People on both sides stand on the Constitution and the intent of the Founding Fathers, but few do any objective research or even know what the constitution says.  And what about that pesky Bill of Rights?  It is part of the Founding Fathers intent to protect the rights of citizens and was drafted at the same general time, why don’t we talk about that.

Why is it OK for your government to do things if they are of your party, then wrong if the other party is in office, even if the behavior is the same?  It used to be that we knew that few things were black or white, but that there were variables, shades of gray and possibilities.  Now, it seems many are absolutists that see us who see “gray” as wishy washy or without principles. 

Maybe the problem is social media.  Most of my friends know I am a progressive who normally votes democratic, but until facebook and blogs, I didn’t “rub their faces in it” so they could just ignore it.  Now they seem to get angry, just like the politicians getting angry at each other for holding beliefs they always held.  We used to disagree, but respect the opinions of others.  Now we consider them unpatriotic, delusional or brainwashed by their respective media outlets.  Can’t we take a step back from the edge of total war over; guns, taxes, religion, political party, social programs, the role of government and on and on?  This is the worst I have seen our government in this regard and our social interactions with those of differing opinions is escalating as well.  It feels like our country is coming apart when there is no compromise, no real dialog and no attempt at understanding each other.  We need to look to the center and come back from the fringes.