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Last Updated: Nov 14, 2008 - 7:05:43 PM |
In the county I grew up in, the competition between the only two public high schools was harmless for the most part. Kids would paint their face in their school color on the day of the big game and the pep rally would be loud and rowdy. My school, Campbell County, served a rural population, while students closer to town in a well-to-do suburb attended Highlands High School.
We called the kids at Highlands “cake eaters”; we were “plowboys” to them. Even though civility reigned most of the time, there was the occasional water balloon or egg throwing foray into their territory, or the Friday-night scuffle at the drive-thru hamburger joint both schools’ students cruised. No one got hurt, and it was all in good fun.
A little competition is a good thing; it adds a little excitement to the drudgery of studying, although the distraction can get to the teachers. The civility argument was made here a few years ago when some decided the term used for the annual Thomas Dale – Bird football game be changed from the Battle of Chester to the Friendship Bowl. Talk about taking the fun out of something. It didn’t last. The Friendship Bowl was really an oxymoron for what actually takes place on a football field during a game.
Like the Hokies and the Wahoos, the Skyhawks and the Knights, or the Redskins and Cowboys, the competition is harmless, and off the field, a little sarcasm or friendly jab actually helps people connect in some way.
Politics has become another matter. I must say that this year’s presidential election has been anything but presidential. And I’m not talking about the mud-slinging between the candidates. That is to be expected. I’m talking about the vast chasm that has developed among those of different political opinions.
Left and right, liberal and conservative, Democrat and Republican monikers have disintegrated into more denigrating labels like socialist and fascist. It’s not just the talking heads or the pundits I’m talking about; it’s neighbors, friends, and those we work with every day.
It’s not just the economy or the war; I fear that there may be a paradigm shift taking place that could separate the people of this country like never before. Why do we give those who have different ideas than we exaggerated labels? To me, it seems that this country is based on the idea that while we may not worship in the same way, share exactly the same political views, or be of the same economic lineage, the structure of our great society allowed differing points of view to be heard, respected, and considered.
I find it so ironic that our current tax system, in which those who make more money pay a higher percentage of their wages in taxes is an acceptable capitalist practice, but if someone suggests the percentages be adjusted, that is raising the percentage on the higher earners and lowering it on the short end, some call it redistribution of wealth or socialism. But it has been done that way since the federal income tax was invented. Whether you believe in doing it or not, call it what it is and don’t spin it into some unsavory label.
Just because one person doesn’t like our country going to war doesn’t make him or her unpatriotic; it only means that that person thinks, and believes, like the founding fathers did, that Constitution is a living, breathing document that is liquid and should always be reviewed, amended, and discussed, as is the will of the people.
Just prior to the Bill of Rights, the Virginia Declaration of Rights stated that “a majority of the community hath an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish [the government].”
No one I know wants to abolish the government, but most would like to see it run more intelligently and with more of our freedoms in mind. So we should be able to openly state how we feel about our government, express our own feelings about our favorite candidate or the opposition. And no one should be considered unpatriotic because they don’t agree with the current state of affairs or the opinion of some political party or pundit.
Voltaire, the French writer and philosopher, said, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Voltaire’s statement must have influenced the authors of the U.S. Constitution. Freedom of speech, contained in the first amendment, has always been an integral part of how this country has remained free, embraced a discussion of issues and not only allowed change, but encouraged it.
That’s why it is so disappointing when I hear discussions go beyond just arguing the issues but somehow calling it treasonous or un-American to disagree with the status quo. What have we become? Why is what I believe the only way and your ideas tantamount to embracing something anti democratic? Is it that we have become ignorant of our rights? Have we allowed ourselves to follow and embrace spin from manipulative gasbag radio and television personalities?
It really doesn’t take a whole lot of work to find the truth. And no matter how we filter it, it is still only our own personal truth, and because your neighbor doesn’t own the same truth doesn’t make him unpatriotic or treasonous.
I hope and pray that we will soon become more tolerant of each other, not only politically, but ethically, socially, and economically. We cannot allow these personal rifts to grow deeper; they will be our undoing long before any political candidate.
mfausz@villagepublishing.com | 751-0421
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