THE PATH TO RECONCILIATION
Our dilemma is that too many of us not only don’t consider two sides but that the evaluation of two sides doesn’t fit the narrative of Americans pitted against each other, one choosing to deify Trump, the other to demonize him. It is essentially a primitive mode of combat and decidedly embarrassing when we reflect about the manner of our disputation and the inevitable polarization we suffer as a consequence.
The legacy media and the media outside the mainstream compound our dilemma of intractable division by spoon feeding us, the public, with junk food. We come not only to rely upon this sub-standard fare but become addicted to it, to the detriment our personal impartiality and the well-being of our nation.
If we are informationally malnourished it is because we are chewing on and swallowing empty calories. We are stuck with an inadequate diet upon which we detrimentally rely. We are like mice in a maze in which stimuli have been planted to reflexively determine our scurrying, hither and thither, to locate our reward: finding the cheese by this method, again and again, convinces the mice and us that our choices are free and independent. The challenge is to recognize we are in a maze being manipulated and to reject the menus which we have not ordered, but from which we partake.
Reading the likes of Finola Hill is like indulging in comfort food, rich in flavor and ingredients. It is upon us to develop hearty appetites for digesting both sides, only then will the “salt not have lost is savor.” Like Oliver Twist we will be compelled to ask for “more.” Then we will become less pugnacious, more conciliatory and respectful, finally to reach gradual consensus leading to reconciliation. Consider this article written by Fiona Hill and as appetizer preceding the main course. Bon Appetite..