I Am Not A Bridge-Builder

At the top of this blog it says All People Matter. I believe this. Everybody has value.

At the same time, I am not a bridge-builder. I have the resources of time and effort that I have. These resources allow me to reach the people I can reach. There will always be people who don’t agree with what I say. That’s just as well because I’m often wrong and because people have minds of their own.

I would not restrict the ability of others to say what they wish. I’m for as open a society as possible. If my view loses out in public debate and at the ballot box, so be it. That there is an element of nihilism in that view may or not be apparent, but life is what it is.   

I think that in this country, as much as it has offer in many regards, nothing is so awful it can’t be true. Our history bears this assertion out in many respects. As do current conditions for many. I’m not going hide my views that many in our society are as mean-spirited and as selfish as could be.  

Disagreement, and partisanship, is natural. I’m not a strict partisan for the Democratic Party because I’m open to third parties, such as Greens, and because I often criticize the Democratic Party for its frequent disregard of poor voters and minority voters. I view my blog as ideological more than partisan.

When I say “All People Matter”, I’m telling you, among other things, that I support universal health care, decent wages, a fair criminal justice system, and peace instead of unnecessary war. I’m telling you I support the rights of people to have the beliefs they choose, follow the religion they choose, and live pretty much as they wish. ( As long as you pay your damn taxes. You can’t have a civilization without raising sufficient taxes.)

What I’m telling you with this post is that I’m not going to go out of my way to make my views more palatable to others. If you agree with me–Wonderful. If not—maybe I’m mistaken—but maybe you’re wrong. 

What we do with the people in our personal lives is one thing.  We’ve got to reach out when possible. How we conduct our political lives in a country that has made so many wrong choices at the polls in recent years is another thing. I only have so much energy and, as my time grows shorter, so much willingness, to engage in debate with people who believe mean and crazy things.

It is often only mean and crazy things that are on the table anymore when you are dealing with modern conservatives and Republicans.

I will, however, include below a picture of a good-sized ferry to show that while I’m not a bridge-builder, nor do I feel we can fully cut off communication. I will use the ferry below to bring others back on over to my point of view.