What is a Healthy Discussion? How is this blog really going to work? Those are great questions.
It’s certainly going to be an evolving process. We will make every effort to operate with civility and some degree of decorum, but everyone ought to expect to be challenged. Offense may be taken. Misunderstandings can happen. Such is the nature of pointed and condensed, written communications.
We here at Only America expect our positions to be challenged as well, and our opinions to be criticized. No one gets a free pass.
Thus, it is to be understood that Healthy Discussions will operate under the seemingly forgotten, but increasingly important rubric, of “Sticks & Stones.” Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. Yes, words can hurt, but not every written or verbal criticism is the crushing blow that it is often made out to be. Crass rudeness, profanity, or personal attacks for no other reason than a lack of poignant commentary or an appropriately intelligent retort will be highlighted as such and not well-tolerated if repeated. Bottom-line, don’t whine – speak up, and speak clearly.
But how is this back-and-forth exchange, not restrained by every sensitivity under the sun, going to proceed without devolving into mayhem? Well, because one can disagree with a fellow citizen, on virtually anything, and still be respectful. We all have our own opinions, and in the United States of America we are all allowed to have our own opinion. Comments on Healthy Discussions will be moderated, and while there will not be content- or position-based censoring, personal attacks, threats and calls for violence will not be tolerated. Any idea can be called idiotic, any point challenged or torn apart, but that doesn’t mean its advocate needs to be called the same or torn apart.
Healthy Discussions truly are about finding common ground – cutting through the rhetoric and the extreme, binary positions we get offered in today’s world. More often than not, perhaps even most of the time, it’s never really this way or that, it’s somewhere in between and there are a multitude of aspects impacting how any one person views a topic. When people are forced to pick between black and white, the infinite shades of gray in between somehow get seemingly lost. Every such option creates an artificial, and often unnecessary divide.
When we remove the artificial divide and accept that important topics are all so very multi-faceted, we can recognize that maybe we really only disagree on one of many points. For example, a fellow citizen, with whom you have drawn such stringent lines of distinction because of some arbitrary political identity, might actually agree with you on Points A1, A2, A3 and A5 – it’s only Point A4 (one of five) on which you really don’t see eye-to-eye. But now, based on some (perhaps limited) agreement, there’s common ground. Now, an intelligent, civilized debate on the actual disagreement can take place. This is hugely over-simplified here for the purposes of example, but you get the idea. Meeting in the middle is what’s best for moving forward … but meeting in the middle can’t happen without mutual respect and an OPEN MIND. Listen to one another. Consider how something truly affects you, and how it might affect another. Instead of shouting, … stop and listen, think before you speak and write.
Discussions lead to better understanding. Understanding another person’s opinion does not mean you have to agree with their position. Often, it doesn’t even really matter if you agree. Do you have friends you care about that you don’t see eye-to-eye with on every issue. Guess what? That is perfectly fine. If you lead with an open mind, listen with open ears, and consider others’ perspectives and experiences, maybe we can all simmer down.
No one has a monopoly on being correct, and for every piece of “statistical evidence” there is a counter-piece. Virtually every news offering nowadays reeks of bias, regardless of its source. It was well-said in a comment to an online post way back in 2018, “[o]ur geographical ideology has given way to echo-chamber ideology, where we are invisible to our neighbors and allies with the like-minded across the country and across the globe[, w]e have lost the neighborly talents of compromise with the respected friend with whom we disagree, and developed the will to resist the ideological enemy in our midst[, and t]hat is the national tragedy that George Washington foretold, […] putting ideology over community, over people.” [(Emphasis in bold added), Only America is happy to specifically cite attribution here, if the author reaches out to confirm identity, as the preceding quote was found in an online forum with incomplete/potentially inaccurate citation.
The foregoing having been said, Healthy Discussions may well become heated. We will discuss difficult topics, but we will also engage in pressure relief mechanisms. We here at Only America can be very opinionated, like everyone, but those of us here at Only America are not steamrollers.