I’ve wanted to write a (sort of) diary for a while at dKos but have been a little discouraged at my own writing/communication skills compared to so many great writers there. But since there’s a smaller audience here at the moment, I’ll give it a shot.
When I was in high school, I had a friend who used to laugh at me because, as she used to say, I “philosed” too much. She was right. I have a tendency to want to know every aspect of a situation, think of every possibility, learn every factoid – in short, I have a hard time keeping it simple.
I find that it really is a liberal’s problem. Not just intellectualizing, but emotionalizing, too. There’s no question that this played a part in Kerry’s communication problems. And while the framing debates go on, and the weight of the Republican propaganda machines obscure, the simple fact is that we need to go back to the simple facts again, and work from there. All human beings have common needs, and all human beings have common desires.
The recent bi-partisan objections to the Bankruptcy bill demonstrate that there really are commonalities that most people can agree with. By identifying those needs and desires and then going one step beyond to the level that we can all agree on, perhaps we can redefine and come to a general consensus as to who we are as humans, and as Americans.
For example, some basic needs: Food. Water. The next step: Food – no child should go hungry. Water – everyone should have clean, drinkable water.
It’s the step after that we all have problems with. Who provides or guarantees that every child has enough food to eat? What about the quality of the food? Now we’re into class and politics. Complexity upon complexity.
But it would take an obviously heartless, inhuman, and un-American s.o.b. to deliberately eat in front of a starving child. That is something that anyone who isn’t a sociopath can agree on, no matter the politics.
Some basic desires to bandy about: Fire departments. Education. Transportation.
Too simplistic, perhaps. But until we start again with defining the things that we can all agree on, it seems that we’re all just “philosing” too much for any country wide agreement.