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Last Updated: Jul 10, 2008 - 12:32:05 PM |
I’m going to break the rules a bit this week, and talk about a fellow columnist. For the most part, we columnists at the Village News avoid this (wisely, I think). Our job isn’t to take pot shots at each other, but to share our views on issues of both local and national importance.
We’ve even thought about doing a point / counter-point kind of debate on various issues in this space, but have decided against it for fear it will become too personal. I think that was a good decision.
But I’m afraid I can hold my tongue no longer. I’ve been pushed as far as I can go, and it’s time I responded. Let me apologize in advance to those I might offend, but this simply needs to be said: I like Rick Gray.
I’ll wait while you pick yourself up off the floor.
I’ve actually only met Rick a couple of times, but I feel that I know him through his column, which I read every week after checking out my own column to make sure that the picture still looks nothing like me.
I can tell you this about Rick: he seems to be an honest, thoughtful person who puts his heart and soul into his writing. I enjoy reading his pieces, whether he’s talking about his home life or his past, or whether he’s sharing his views on the current political situation.
What really surprises me about Rick is that even though we disagree on almost everything, our disagreements don’t seem to be “ends” disagreements, but “means” disagreements. Let me explain.
You’ve probably heard phrases like, “The ends justify the means” and “It was a means to an end.” The “end” in these phrases is the desired result; the “means” is how we get there.
With that in mind, I think that Rick and I want the same “ends.” We want a just, free society. We want everyone in this country to have a voice – should they choose to use it – in the political process. We want America to be what Ronald Reagan (taking a phrase from the Savior) called, “A shining city on a hill.” We want the United States of America to live up to its potential.
Rick and I just disagree on how best to get there. Rick believes (and I realize that this is a HUGE oversimplification) that the government should do more to achieve those “ends.” I believe that for the most part government actually works against those “ends.” Valid points can be made – and I think are made in Rick’s and my columns – for both views.
The fact that Rick and I agree on the basic “ends” makes me feel very good about being part of the debate. What it tells me is that most of us – liberals, conservatives, progressives, libertarian, or whatever we choose to call ourselves – want the best for our country and for the world.
There are of course “America haters” among us. As a conservative, I find it easy to spot them among liberals, but I’m sure there are a fair number on my side of the political spectrum as well.
But these are a tiny minority. Most of us have the same goals – and we’re constantly working towards those goals. Our job is to continue doing we’ve been doing: debating, discussing, and learning from history, as we attempt to create a “more perfect union.”
I happen to think that history provides some pretty good evidence – and will continue to provide such evidence – to support my political views; hopefully in time those like Rick Gray who share a desire for the same “ends” will change their minds about the best “means” to achieve those “ends.”
I’m sure Rick feels the same about conservatives – that we’ll see in time that his views are right, and will join him on his side of the political spectrum.
However it turns out, I feel good about being part of the debate, and I feel good knowing that both sides want to create that shining city on a hill. Who knows; maybe one day we’ll get there.
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