I’m going to go on a bit of a rant.  I’m hoping to keep it focused, but if I veer off, stay with me, I’m sure I’ll make it back at the end.

 

Today I am frustrated with the divisive commentary I hear during just about every speech or forum on TV and online.  When I start to hear phrases like “Some people”,  “Those people”, “Those other guys”, “They say”, “Some people say”, “They’d like you to”, “They want”, “They think”, etc… I see red and pretty much stop listening.

You may wonder why I get upset before someone has even made a point.

Well, I am a fact-based person who pretty much lines up everything I hear from that perspective.  So unless you can trot out statistics and are willing to name the “they” or the “some”, I don’t want to hear it.  Making up nameless, faceless enemies of anything just diminishes any real argument and makes you look petty to boot.

“Some people want to tell you what you can and can’t do with your hard earned dollars”  Ummmm… ok… who?  Oh, wait…that’s you…the federal government.  You want to tell me what I can do with my money.  Or is that you just want to take my money and give it to others?

“Some people think we should give tax breaks to the wealthy”  Who in their right mind actually believes that BS?    No one wants to give Warren Buffet a tax break BUT we also don’t want to overtax the small business owners who help create jobs.   We also want you to balance the dang budget and put us on the road to pay off the almost $16T in debt or at least bring it down within manageable norms.

I am tired of the “they” and “some people” arguments.  Tell us who THEY are and who SOME PEOPLE are and give us some real facts and then maybe, just maybe I’ll listen to your message.

Until then, stop the class warfare.  Stop pitting neighbor against neighbor.  Stop hypothesizing that the haves want to screw the have nots out of the pursuit of the American Dream.  (notice I said pursuit and not guarantee.  We have the right to pursue the dream, not the right have it given to us in entitlements)

I don’t know a single American that wants our country to fail or to not take care of the poorest of the poor or to not educate our children equitably or to not provide opportunity for peace & prosperity to every American.

We really need to rebuild this great nation upon what we all have in common rather than perceived differences.  We have more in common than we will ever have different.  We want the same basic things, the difference may be in how we get there.  The journey is a long one though, so we should step on the path together and begin with what’s the same.  I think people will be surprised by how much easier and nicer it is to get things done when we focus on commonalities.