Let’s Try To Work It Out
Us humans really like to point fingers at others, don’t we? Doing so lessens our own guilt about the way things are going – whether in our family, our job, or our country.
As a United States citizen, the political climate can seem overwhelming, because it is. That overwhelm is perhaps experienced by our loss of sleep, increased anxiety, or even blaming one whole group of people for the country’s ills. But for most of us, that overwhelm is contained and instead of doing bad, we endeavor to do good.
The recent violent acts towards a political candidate were the actions of mentally unstable people; they were not representative of me and they were not representative of you. Individuals, not a group of people, carried out those violent acts. Those individuals made a decision to take the law and my country into their own hands. I don’t support those actions, nor will I ever support making a point by using violence.
I certainly do support choice, however. Although sometimes difficult, I choose to accept that others have differing opinions than I. And accepting that fact doesn’t mean I agree, rather, I acknowledge a person’s right to think differently, as long as that person is civil towards myself and others. Can we please start a movement to acknowledge our many differences without engaging with each other on a battlefield where absolutely no one comes out as victor?
Thirty-three years ago, Rodney King was severely beaten after an attempted arrest in 1991. The acquittal of the officers involved in that beating sparked the Los Angeles riots of 1992. The recipient of that beating by the acquitted officers made a television appearance during the height of the riots to plead for peace and calm. Rodney King is quoted as saying,
People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along?…It’s just not right. It’s not right. It’s not, it’s not going to change anything…Please, we can get along here. We all can get along. I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s try to work it out.
PLEASE EVERYONE, PLEASE. LET’S TRY TO WORK IT OUT.
Living: the ultimate team sport 