\u201cI have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends… I\u2019ll put it as urgently as I can:\u00a0 you must get along with each other.\u00a0 You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.<\/i><\/p>\n
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I bring this up because some brought a most disturbing report to my attention \u2014 that you\u2019re fighting among yourselves!\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you exactly what I was told:\u00a0 you\u2019re all picking sides!\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
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For the first time since the leadership of Ronald Reagan, the President and Congress \u2014 led by 2 separate parties \u2014 are united.<\/strong>\u00a0 I know that may surprise you.\u00a0 The government is shut down, but they\u2019re united.\u00a0 They actually wholeheartedly agree on something.\u00a0 They agree that the other party is totally to blame.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yep, it\u2019s totally the other party\u2019s fault.\u00a0 And by reading several cyberspace posts, it also appears many of us have been seduced into the same line of thinking…\u00a0 One party is all right.\u00a0 One party is all wrong.\u00a0 How stupid can the supporters of that other party be?<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Intramuralist believes that this process is not good and not pure and not right.\u00a0 And since both parties are fully involved in the process, I hold them both responsible.\u00a0 Perhaps you favor one party over another.\u00a0 But recognize that both have contributed to this process… perhaps by current tactics… perhaps by previous budget approaches… perhaps by lack of them.\u00a0 Both parties have sufficiently contributed to the now.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll put it as urgently as I can:\u00a0 you must get along with each other.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My sense is that one of our greatest challenges as a nation is that we are awful at appreciating different opinion.\u00a0 We fail to recognize that varied opinion has the potential to sharpen; varied opinion can ironically solidify what\u2019s true.\u00a0 And yet, we\u2019re bad at both allowing and appreciating it.\u00a0 Congress is bad at it.\u00a0 Pres. Obama is bad at it.\u00a0 Pundits and politicians and people on TV are bad at it.\u00a0 Arguably worse, we<\/i> are bad at it. Instead of allowing dissenting dialogue, learning to be considerate of one another, recognizing we\u2019re on the same team and thus cultivating a life in common together in this country, we work instead to squelch.\u00a0 Hence, we don\u2019t negotiate… hence, we keep saying the same thing over and over… hence, we keep saying the same thing louder… hence, we play victim… hence, we become overly dramatic… hence, we trot out in front of the cameras… hence, we quit meeting face-to-face… hence, we work more to rally the masses than to solve the situation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For smart people, we are not always wise.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wise people on the same team do not pick sides.\u00a0 We are not a nation of Republicans and Democrats.\u00a0 We are not any 99 and 1% nor 37 and 63; we are not separate percentages.\u00a0 We are not the rich and poor, the black and white, the majority and minority, nor the educated and uneducated.\u00a0 We are not the Catholics and the Protestants nor the atheists and the Jews.\u00a0 We are also not even Patriots or Saints.\u00a0 We are Americans.\u00a0 We are cultivating a life in common.\u00a0 We live here together.\u00a0 We\u2019re on the same team.\u00a0 Hence, we must learn to allow, appreciate, and grow from dissenting opinion \u2014 as opposed to squelch it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So as for the current shut down, here\u2019s the Intramuralist quick fix:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Such an approach may not quickly solve the shut down, but it would be a good start… especially for people who\u2019ve forgotten which team they\u2019re on.\u00a0 That would be the same.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Respectfully,<\/p>\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends… I\u2019ll put it as urgently as I can:\u00a0 you must get along with each other.\u00a0 You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common. I bring this up because some brought a most disturbing report to my … <\/p>\n\n