The Need for Dialogue

My main motivation for starting this website (other than to give myself a platform for venting my opinions) was to start conversations. What this world desperately needs is more dialogues between people of opposing world views. We can see this in our own country with public figures denigrating each other. We constantly hear things like: “Republicans are backward, racist, misogynistic, bigoted, ignorant homophobes”, or “Democrats are arrogant, elitist, micromanaging, bigoted, ignorant dictator wannabes.” While the volume of these mutual accusations increases, the tone becomes shriller, and pundits on the opposite sides of public questions disparage each other. If you do not believe me, watch MSNBC for a while. We can also see the same ideological causes for conflict between different cultures, particularly in the confrontation between islamic jihadists and all of Western civilization. If we wanted to catalogue the human conflicts caused by the differing models of reality in our heads, the task would be never ending.

From what I have seen over my 69 years of life, I believe down to my very core that this is not just a phenomenon of elites. It is not just politicians, editorial writers, and pontificating blog writers who are engaged in this ideological warfare. There may be a few innocent souls who do not think badly of some of their fellow citizens, but in my experience such saints are very rare indeed. If you are not such a saint and if you do any thinking at all about the nature of reality, then you have models in your head about how society should be ruled, about how economic problems should (or could) be solved, and about how we should relate to the rest of humanity outside of our country. On these and many other aspects of reality, you have opinions. When you interact with other people with differing views of reality that can not be reconciled with yours, it is natural to feel threatened and hostile. So we bicker and fight and vote for politicians from different political parties.

What results? That depends on how we decide to interact with each other. Every human generation before us from the very first ape that decided to walk upright has had to make such choices. Sometimes the choices led to war. Sometimes they led to civil war. Sometimes they led to foul dictatorships that have murdered millions of people or oppressed millions more, or even worse they did both.

On a few, very rare occasions, the result was to give a modicum of independence and freedom to every individual. The cost of such an arrangement, however, is very real, ever-present, and very demanding. When the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia finished on September 18, 1787, a departing Benjamin Franklin was confronted by a woman who asked “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin replied “A republic, madam – if you can keep it.” Keeping our republic is a project that has many demanding tasks that ask much from each of us. The first among those tasks is to avoid killing each other for differing opinions. Second, if we can not persuade some people to our point of view, we should try as much as possible not to force our view of life on them. This is not always possible, as our own Civil War taught us. Clearly, the cost of failure in this second task is very dear, indeed.

Third, we must talk to each other about our differing views of reality. To keep our republic and avoid civil war, then either one side must persuade the other of the truth of their views or a modus vivendi must be found. Neither goal can be obtained if opposing sides do not talk to each other. Because we are a republic, these conversations can not be merely between members of the elite. Ordinary people must also take a part in the conversation so that they can do their duty in maintaining the republic at the ballot box. I have been told by a great many that ordinary people are either too stupid or too ignorant to be a part of the conversation. Both my personal experiences and the continued existence of the republic give the lie to that claim.

What is disturbing me increasingly, however, is the way many people are trying to avoid participation in the conversation. It is understandable why there is such an avoidance: conflict with others, particularly if it is hostile, is tremendously unpleasant. If such avoidance continues, however, the polarization of the electorate can only increase, and the polarization of the political parties most certainly will increase with a lack of a modus vivendi. A blog like this represents a perfect opportunity for anyone to participate in the great conversation. Unlike an ordinary conversation, the participants are not in each other’s physical presence, which removes much of the tension and emotion involved. You can more easily think about how you should respond. Also the response need not be immediate; you have time to do a little research, perhaps on the internet, to compose the best response you can. These are real advantages, and they take much of the threat out of an encounter.

Conversation in a blog is composed of comments on a post’s subject together with any replies to a comment. On my blog anyone can post a comment or a reply, and both are encouraged! Registration on the blog is not required as it is on some other websites. I will, however, act as a moderator of the conversation for several reasons. The first is to ensure that the conversation has at least some connection with the subject of the post to which it is related. This also serves the purpose of ensuring that any spam getting through the spam filters is eliminated. Second, to keep the process of the conversation as pleasant as possible for everyone, I will edit out any name-calling, ad hominem remarks, and any profanity. Since I must approve every post, you may not immediately see your comment or reply posted. Please be patient with me. Information on the mechanics of posting a comment can be found under the “Site Navigation” selection of the main menu at the top of the blog. The most important thing to remember is to click the  “POST COMMENT” button after you are finished making your comment. Since I am using the Disqus comment system, if you have not already logged into Disqus, you will be offered three options after clicking into the box that will hold your comment:

1. Login as a member of Disqus.
2. Register as a new Disqus member.
3. Login in as a guest commentator. In this case enter a name in the name field of the login form (it does not have to be yours; it can be your nom de guerre.) so that the comment system has something to call you, forget the password field, and click on the little square with the label, “Login as guest commentator.

Then compose and post your comment. Just as an encouragement to join Disqus, consider this description of the Disqus community. Disqus membership can be very rewarding  in opportunities to learn in discussion with others.

One of the major reasons for writing this post is the disappointing number of comments placed with the various posts. Analytics tell me that I am gathering an increasing volume of traffic from all over the world. I have visitors from a number of cities in China, South Korea, Japan, Russia, Turkey, Australia, Austria, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and of course the United States. There are a number of other locations I have yet to figure out. It is rather astonishing the reach that my blog has had after a little less than two months of operation. Despite all this traffic, however, I have so far had a very small number of comments. Since my major ambition for the website is to stimulate conversations, this is very disappointing. So please visit and leave comments! And come back later to check for replies to your comments to which you would like to reply. Keep the conversation going!

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