Take the Time
I have decided that there is nothing inconsequential in life. Life is too short and too precious to have a single moment mean nothing. Every event must be a part of the process of determining where we stand and God help us if we then stand still. Every vote (yea or nay) is a piece of the puzzle of governance; every crime or charity is a piece of the puzzle of lifestyle; every conversation is a piece of the puzzle of Creation. I know; I do go on about semantics and folk changing the meaning of words by leaning on the nuances and re-defining as they see fit. The point is that we must use every possible intelligent exchange of ideas and every interaction should be an intelligent one. MisterYodiVa and I went to see the Pixar/Disney flick “Cars” this weekend and began discussing all the hare-brained things the reviewers had said about it. My Mister said the reviewers would have loved it if it had been “Broke Car Mountain” and had been all about dipsticks. I know you’re wondering where I’m going with this…
Let me come at it from the other direction… Some have said that the Republican Party needs to alter how it presents itself and be more amenable to the “African American perspective”. Balderdash and Hogwash.
While the GOP needs to take back it’s own message and be more forthright about what it stands for: it is all pointless if we the people don’t open up our ears and our mouths and educate our neighbors. I propose we interact with more people and help the people that we interact with to know themselves better. I've been thinking about the social imperatives that, in spite of logic, make it hard for black conservatives to "come out". Hard-working normal citizens (black, white, brown, purple, whatever), raised as Dems, may think that they must be the only ones that think their Party is "off it’s nut". (I can't say that about the middle class dems and not recognize that some middle class republicans have the same doubts. In some respects, every professional politician is a bit “off their nut”.)
I point to the lack of "over the back fence" conversation as one of the opportunities for independent and informal non-commercial feedback that are no longer the norm. It is the normal give and take & sound-board aspects of informal relationships that give us the “freedom of input” that reassures us that we are not necessarily crazy and what we see in the news is not all there is. It’s been proven that the impersonal yet invasive influence of the world we see on the television forms the framework of determining how we see the world. Television is an acknowledged tool spoon-feeding a passive audience
Back to the movie “Cars”… More than one reviewer said it was too slow in the middle. For those of you that don’t have kids and don’t borrow kids to sneak into animated movies: the movie is about slowing down. A pretentious character is forced to slow down and then realizes what he’s been missing. He realizes what he hasn’t known about himself. My Mister proposed that the reviewers exemplify the “drive-by media” and the glitterati and those “in the know”… engaged in fast and furious vanity using urgency to
“fast-track” their self-invested importance past the need for validation.
Taking the time to listen to your neighbor is proof of your value AND theirs. Show your neighbors and co-workers that they are valuable as individuals. When they see themselves as individuals apart from their category/stereotype/victimhood then they’ll see how alike we all are in what we want for our families and before you know it they’ll admit where they are conservative too. Most of us are under the skin.
Let me come at it from the other direction… Some have said that the Republican Party needs to alter how it presents itself and be more amenable to the “African American perspective”. Balderdash and Hogwash.
While the GOP needs to take back it’s own message and be more forthright about what it stands for: it is all pointless if we the people don’t open up our ears and our mouths and educate our neighbors. I propose we interact with more people and help the people that we interact with to know themselves better. I've been thinking about the social imperatives that, in spite of logic, make it hard for black conservatives to "come out". Hard-working normal citizens (black, white, brown, purple, whatever), raised as Dems, may think that they must be the only ones that think their Party is "off it’s nut". (I can't say that about the middle class dems and not recognize that some middle class republicans have the same doubts. In some respects, every professional politician is a bit “off their nut”.)
I point to the lack of "over the back fence" conversation as one of the opportunities for independent and informal non-commercial feedback that are no longer the norm. It is the normal give and take & sound-board aspects of informal relationships that give us the “freedom of input” that reassures us that we are not necessarily crazy and what we see in the news is not all there is. It’s been proven that the impersonal yet invasive influence of the world we see on the television forms the framework of determining how we see the world. Television is an acknowledged tool spoon-feeding a passive audience
Back to the movie “Cars”… More than one reviewer said it was too slow in the middle. For those of you that don’t have kids and don’t borrow kids to sneak into animated movies: the movie is about slowing down. A pretentious character is forced to slow down and then realizes what he’s been missing. He realizes what he hasn’t known about himself. My Mister proposed that the reviewers exemplify the “drive-by media” and the glitterati and those “in the know”… engaged in fast and furious vanity using urgency to
“fast-track” their self-invested importance past the need for validation.
Taking the time to listen to your neighbor is proof of your value AND theirs. Show your neighbors and co-workers that they are valuable as individuals. When they see themselves as individuals apart from their category/stereotype/victimhood then they’ll see how alike we all are in what we want for our families and before you know it they’ll admit where they are conservative too. Most of us are under the skin.
posted by Anonymous at 11:32 PM
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