Reply #11: I have to say I agree. [View All]

[whometense]

Maybe it's a generational thing. Jane Fonda said and did some mighty stupid things back in the day. But se wasn't alone. There were a lot of us young people angry and scared and trying to change things. And very very few of us were smart and rational and strategic (in fact, maybe only John Kerry was that way).

My particular argument is with people who are bullies and who are unwilling to listen and discuss. I'm a great believer in compromise - in the sense of people finding common ground, some kernel of an idea that they can mutually agree on, and on which you can build a larger consensus. The problem of the 60's - and of today - is polarization. When everyone is forced into their left or right hand corners there's no way meaningful discussion AND LISTENING is going to take place. The freepers - left AND right - love the polarization because a climate of anger and alienation allows them to rage at will.

I want the grownups back in charge. People who think, who read, who reason, who discuss, and who have an idea of what a greater good might consist of.