{"id":383,"date":"2019-03-27T17:50:06","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T17:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidwilsonupnorth.com\/?p=383"},"modified":"2022-10-21T23:49:11","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T23:49:11","slug":"we-used-to-talk-until-we-wouldnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kyledwilson.com\/davidwilsonupnorth.com\/2019\/03\/27\/we-used-to-talk-until-we-wouldnt\/","title":{"rendered":"Casualties of the Mueller Report, et al."},"content":{"rendered":"

We Used To Talk, Until We Wouldn\u2019t<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve lost a lifelong friend (50+ years).<\/p>\n

We’ve known each other since elementary school, and for half a century we shared countless moments surrounding school, play, work, travel, entertainment, sports, food and beverage (probably more beverage), friends, family, and eventually, politics.<\/p>\n

As with all normal friendships, especially ones of this duration, we have long lists of commonalities and differences.\u00a0 Years ago those differences were largely complimentary, where one\u2019s strengths would make up for the other\u2019s limitations when needed.\u00a0 For example, one of us is very creative, while the other is not.\u00a0 One of us is very organized, the other, not.\u00a0 In those situations that called for creativity or organization, we\u2019d cover for each other (rather fabulously I might add) much to our mutual benefit, and with mutual appreciation.\u00a0 The complimentary differences were as foundational to the friendship as our similarities, and perhaps even more valuable.<\/p>\n

Again, as with normal friendships, there were also differences that were not complimentary.\u00a0 However, while those differences were often in conflict, the conflict remained isolated to the behavior, or the attitude, or the idea.\u00a0 We usually did not allow the conflict to rise to the level of being divisive between us.\u00a0 And on those occasions when it did, we worked through it pretty quickly, because the friendship was more valuable to us than whatever is was that was the source of conflict.<\/p>\n

Sadly, over time that changed.<\/p>\n

And why?\u00a0 I\u2019m sure you can guess\u2026 21st<\/sup> century politics.<\/p>\n

I think of all of the other conflicts we had over the years; ego, cliques, work ethic, drug and alcohol use, money, family dynamics, girlfriends, too many hours of close proximity, too many months (and miles) of separation, and even 20th<\/sup><\/em> century politics.\u00a0 Decades of all that were nothing compared to the devastation that has occurred largely due to recent political discussion.\u00a0 In fact, discussion<\/em> isn\u2019t even the right word, for there is no more discussion.\u00a0 There seems to be only posturing, pretentiousness, denial, arrogance, self-righteous outrage and narcissism, all of which make for terrible discussion.<\/p>\n

My friend and I are a microcosm of today\u2019s American society, and it\u2019s a shame really, for all of us.\u00a0 We\u2019ve become so polarized that even the most prominent, deep-seated similarities no longer matter.\u00a0 All that matters is the degree to which we can ardently defend our respective positions to the point of conquering (and even humiliating) anyone with the gall to have a view that differs from ours.<\/p>\n

Differences used to be just that, differences.\u00a0 Nowadays, it seems that any difference is taken by some as disrespect, an offensive form of aggression that constitutes genuine violence to some.\u00a0 Most of us were raised with \u201cDon\u2019t hit me!\u201d which we all agreed was wrong, and doing so often resulted in one getting (rightfully so) hit back.\u00a0 Now, it\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t say<\/em> that to me!\u201d or \u201cDon\u2019t even talk<\/em> to me!\u201d \u00a0We\u2019ve witnessed an increasing number of people respond to free speech with physical violence.\u00a0 In the cyber world, former friends now block each other on their phones or on facebook, not because of a threat, not even because of a perceived insult, but over a simple difference of opinion.<\/p>\n

This has to change, and that change begins with each and every one of us.<\/p>\n

When it comes to taking a stand regarding current political topics (regardless of however contentious they are) we have to decide just how important is this really?\u00a0 Is this in fact, a hill we want to die on?\u00a0 If we choose to do battle, we do so fully aware that the outcome is in question, we may win, or we may lose.\u00a0 However, one thing (and only<\/em> one thing) is certain, eventually we will<\/em> die.\u00a0 When that moment comes, do we want to be standing tall, triumphant atop the kingdom of our own making, or do we want to be shoulder-to-shoulder, hand-in-hand, and heart-to-heart with our comrades in life, differences and all?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We Used To Talk, Until We Wouldn\u2019t I\u2019ve lost a lifelong friend (50+ years). We’ve known each other since elementary school, and for half a century we shared countless moments surrounding school, play, work, travel, entertainment, sports, food and beverage (probably more beverage), friends, family, and eventually, politics. As with all normal friendships, especially ones … Continue reading “Casualties of the Mueller Report, et al.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cultural-commentary-and-perspective"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyledwilson.com\/davidwilsonupnorth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyledwilson.com\/davidwilsonupnorth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyledwilson.com\/davidwilsonupnorth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyledwilson.com\/davidwilsonupnorth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyledwilson.com\/davidwilsonupnorth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kyledwilson.com\/davidwilsonupnorth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1109,"href":"https:\/\/kyledwilson.com\/davidwilsonupnorth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383\/revisions\/1109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyledwilson.com\/davidwilsonupnorth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyledwilson.com\/davidwilsonupnorth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyledwilson.com\/davidwilsonupnorth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}