It’s been 630ish days since I last took time to post to my blog. Since that time, a lot of things have happened. My oldest child,Cora started pre-k; my second child, Clara was born; my partner and I officially started Cripps & Cox Attorneys, PLLC; my wife now helps part-time at the office; we had a car run through the office; I’ve represented clients in nearly every aspect of the law; I’ve made some clients very happy; I’ve gotten under the skin of a few adversaries; I’ve met wonderful people in many parts of our great State; I finally rode in an airplane; and, most recently, I got an iPhone!
During that time, time has become scarce. Family, business, and other responsibilities leave little room for leisurely writing. But I do enjoy writing. I enjoy expressing my opinions and views with others and engaging in positive discourse. Thus, I endeavor to elucidate my thoughts and expressions as often as they may escape… at a convenient enough time to capture said thoughts and expressions by keyboard or what have you.
For my resurrecting blog, I’ll bore thee with a thought on meaningful debate and disagreement. I’m simultaneously watching/ listening to a televised town hall of the democratic candidates for president. Its interesting to see the differences between the candidates and especially the parties. However, the rigid distinctions drawn between the two major political parties appear to me to be propaganda,… fuel for the proverbial fire that is the base of each party. After all, this is America and aren’t we all Americans. I say this to make a point about political discourse.
No matter the issue raised, if we first box the analysis and discussion into two distinct spheres, we limit the input. And, if the second action taken is to ridicule or otherwise question the motives of those with opposing views, then we get what we deserve… NOTHING! No new ideas. No creative process. No challenge. Without a challenge to the way we think and believe, our ideas, much like the minds from which they originate may become stale.
I can think of only a few good things that come from staleness. For instance, I might get a search warrant suppressed because the facts supporting it are stale. That’s good for me and my client. But, in general, to be stale is to be unwanted. Yet, it seems par for the political course to stifle ideas and chisel the collective into an elite few. This is not America.
Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative or something altogether unique, you are a critical part of our society. It may stand that any one of us could be greater than a collective of two. Some people are very special and have great skills. But it cannot be argued that one is greater than all of us. For, collectively we can amass all skills and talents; all backgrounds and demographics; every niche and specialty known to mankind. No one person, or small group can legitimately make that claim.
So, condescendingly, I ask: why is it that political discourse is fashioned to alienate and isolate? To the keen observer, I think the answer is clear. The goal in politics as we now see it is to get elected and then re-elected. There exists no altruist in either political party. We no longer have civil servants, laboring for the greater good. What we have is a system built to reinforce itself from within and to castigate those outside so much so that they don’t want to participate anymore. A man can only take so much rejection and reprimand before he changes his behavior, i.e., stays away. And if he stays away, those in power stay in power. Rinse and repeat.
Thus, when the vicious cycle of partisan politics runs its course a time or two, we are left only with those persons who chose (or were chosen) to partake in this insolent institution. One might question the motives of persons that would be willing to partake in such a system. That is, if one had not already changed the channel and disconnected. It’s best summarized by the following quote attributed to Plato:
One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
We’ve all heard some rediculous story from Washington and thought, “what the heck are they thinking?” Truth be told, we are at a stage where we are being governed by our inferiors. Not because those elected are unskilled or stupid, but because they possess inferior motives, i.e., getting elected. And sometimes, as I’m sure is a great shock to us all, the motive of getting elected conflicts with the greater good.
Too many people pass on politics. Not because they hate this country or hate to work at it. They are disenfranchised by the rhetoric. It’s depressing to think of the trouble our country is in, and that trouble is sold to us daily by way of breaking news and social media. At the same time, it’s damn near disabling to consider the fact that there is little that we can do to fix it. So, a great number of us retreat, and the collective gets widows down.
So, I’ll digress back to my original point. We should encourage debate and discussion, invite new ideas and thoughts, and foster the collective goodness of our people, all of our people. We should encourage participation from everyone, especially those that disagree with us. We will sharpen our minds, refresh our thoughts and reenergize our politics if we become more inclusive.
So the next time someone disagrees with you, challenge yourself and confront the idea with the open mindedness it deserves. Maybe you are right, and that sentiment is bolstered by this experiment. But, every once in a wild blue moon, you may be surprised to find that your experience is not the only experience. And, maybe just maybe you were wrong! The world is full of people and people are different. Embrace that and accept the challenges that come with it.
Brandon J. Cox, Esq.
The views expressed herein are my own and I’m sure my law partner has differing views. I’ll try my best to get her to write a piece or two.
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