[FRIAM] The year ahead

[Marcus Daniels]

Gary writes:

“From the standpoint of this on-the-fence liberal, it would be nice to have the luxury to be able to see the "other side" as being evil, so that I wouldn't care how they feel. The problem for me is that I can't, since many of the people I grew up with, including nearly all of my family, are part of that other side. And I see their point of view on a lot of issues.”

New acquaintances are just as good in my book as old acquaintances.   Really, it was blessing to experience the bad old acquaintances as it created a drive to find something else.   (I’ll take the country out of the boy myself, thank you very much.)  Exactly what that `something else’ was, I didn’t know (and still don’t), but it has more features over time.   For example, one feature is curiosity, another feature is a desire to facilitate individual autonomy.   So, it is not a question of evil, simply that (the bad old) acquaintances lack those features; I know they won’t advance any cause I really care about.   Some acquaintances pursue contrary values like suspicion of disagreement or a desire for a group identity.   So, sure, I know people on the other side, but I’ve come to value other people more.   Actually, I would like to think I care less about individuals than I do the features.  Of course, some individuals are extremely good at developing or destroying features, so I have stronger opinions about them.

My experience (as a country boy) is that change isn’t just hard, it is sometimes impossible and often fought to the last breath.   It’s wildly optimistic to think education will make the difference.   More tools are needed.

Marcus

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