A Space for Disagreement

I'm a big advocate of building common ground and solving problems together. But sometimes, even in my own mind, I hear myself saying "We can't just sit around and sing kum-by-ah all the time." It's important for me to be clear - I do not think we can or should agree on all things at all times. Nor do I think we should hesitate to fight injustice (or praise meritorious behavior.)

We should do those things. We should care. We should want to make the world better.

One of the paramount reasons for civility is to create a space where those conversations can happen. Such a space requires building a certain feeling of safety and trust. We lose the required sense of safety when opinion editors feel hounded out of their jobs for having an opinion. But we also lose that sense of safety peaceful protests are disrupted with pepper spray and police in riot gear. Whenever we reduce a human being to a simplistic political or cultural label, we lose part of that space that we need for vibrant dialog.

We have a choice -- we can call each other names, or we can have disagreements where ideas are probed and we get closer to meaningful truths. But we generally cannot do both, and as far as seeking wisdom, name-calling accomplishes precisely nothing.