We don’t get to end our arguments getting drinks together. Well, I imagine some of you do, since you happen to live near each other. But the rest of us are scattered to the four winds and we don’t get the chance to bond after a passionate discussion.
Remember how congress used to be able to fiercely disagree with each other, but still get normal work done, because after the disagreement they went to get drinks together and talked about sports and family. And nowadays, they just show up and yell toward each other and then leave and all they ever have in common is how much they disagree and how resentful they are of being yelled at by the other.
They let their disagreements divide them into “us and them” and the end result is that they can barely agree to keep from shutting the government down. Meanwhile, voters get angrier and angrier that congress can’t even get along to at least get normal shit done.
All because somehow everyone became convinced that politics should be more about fighting over power than about working out differences among neighbors to get shit that everyone needs done.
I’ve been married for 15 years. That isn’t long enough to be handing out wisdom, but it’s long enough to know a couple of things about being married.
1. If being right matters more than being together, then you won’t be together for long.
2. Make time to have good times together, otherwise, all you will have is the hard times to define your relationship.
I think those are probably true of all relationships. Including political relationships.
We all need good times with each other. We need like... an after hours call in live podcast for kossacks to tell jokes and talk about movies and music and kids and shit that makes them happy. And live blog diaries for chatting about the shit. So we can bond with each other after yelling at each other. :)
I live up and over in Bellingham, WA, but just an hour and a half south is Seattle and there’s a local late morning radio talk show hosted by a liberal and a conservative and they argue about politics and shit, but then they talk about everything else in life and it’s wonderful, because all of those happy times makes it worth it for both of them to actually listen and respect each other, even when they think the other is an idiot about something. And it helps the listeners to do it too. Not to change who they are or what they believe or value, but to be able to be good neighbors with people who disagree with them.
The show is called… The John and Curly Show… and it was an instant huge success, because so many people here don’t want to let disagreements be the only thing that defines their relationships with their neighbors (or their family or their friends).
I think we need something like that here. Just my 2 cents.
Friday, Jan 22, 2016 · 6:03:07 AM +00:00 · AntonBursch
There are place's on this site you can go, kitchen table kibitzing, Friday night beerblog, PWP, street prophets, BF Skinners nightly blog, and others, thats what I love about this place, its full of intelligent eclectic people whose interests are as varied and interesting as the people who write here.