With the extraordinary stressors that we have today, many of us are circling the wagons and thinking of others as outsiders. Some politicians are all too willing to use this human tendency in order to put together a base of support and to keep it motivated.
Lately, I have been following the online public pages of our elected representatives. It is disheartening that most representatives follow partisan talking points and put up misleading arguments. People who comment follow suit, and the conversation is anything but civil.
In fact, people often urge those they disagree with to leave the state. Of course, this will not happen. We will all be living here for many years yet. How much better to understand each other’s ideas and experiences, and to work out solutions that we can all live with.
We must conclude that our representatives owe us a better presentation of ideas. We citizens owe more respect for their office in our comments – and we all owe one another a serious hearing. We need to understand how policies impact the lives of our neighbors – however different from us they may be, because we really are all in this together.
Gail Trenfield
St. Ignatius