Christina Taylor Green, age 9, was murdered while going to see her Congressional Representative, Gabrielle Giffords. She was just elected to her school’s student council and so excited about being part of a new world of voting and thinking and decision making. She saw it as pure and fun and the essence of being a helpful, good person in the world.
In his speech at the memorial the President said many things. But the passage that stuck with me, that made me tear up, was the quote I have on the napkin. I agree with it, don’t you?
Let’s do what we can to make our efforts in democracy something our children can be proud of.
Americans are taught, from an early age, the words of those who founded the country. The rhetoric still guides us. Not just the Constitution and the Declaration, but in the wide swath of words our leaders, elected or not, have spoken. We love those words. People on the right, like Rep. John Boehner, people on the left, like Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and people in the middle, like Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, love them. They take them to heart even as they have slightly different opinions of what those words mean in the here and now. But, as naive as some say it is, I believe American politicians, with rare exceptions, do their best to honor those good words from our history.
I don’t start with that assumption regarding those who are not accountable. I am talking about specific people, on both the left and right; Beck, Limbaugh, Maddow, Olbermann, Maher, Hannity, Savage, O’Reilly, Palin and others. They don’t have to be elected, sworn in, questioned by constituents. All they have to do is talk. They are responsible to themselves, their companies and the company’s shareholders. They are not responsible to the citizens. If what they want is money, fame & adulation there is nothing wrong with them wanting those things. They are not responsible to want anything else even though we might hope they have deeper desires.
What is wrong is when you think they have your best interests at heart. They don’t. They have THEIR best interests at heart. They are NOT your representatives, in life or in Congress. Listen but understand that YOU are responsible for not just your words but how you evaluate and act on other people’s words as well.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily Quote by Plato, 427-348 BCE, Greek philosopher
We give ourselves a gentler, more thoughtful talk when arguing within our brain. We can do that with others, even in political debates. If we start with this in mind then we can stick with a conversation, an argument, long enough to move out of the antagonism and towards a thoughtful approach.
What should be asked of our public communicators, in politics and in the media, is to choose words (and images), not only for their shock and attention-getting value, but for their precision and their honesty. Of course that means those communicators have to be honest and precise in their thinking and self-evaluation, not something they often want to do if doing so threatens their position, power or wealth.
That is why you don’t see talking heads pulling back from their excesses, on both sides. They are playing a game, a game of ratings.advertisers, money and influence. They know they are helping to create a toxic dialog, but they are scared of losing what they have, and in some cases they are greedy for more, so they can’t or won’t pull back, even though they know their words are hurtful and denigrating to all of society, not just their political opponents.
I wish it were otherwise, and it can be, if you decide that listening to it is being complicit in spreading that toxicity and decide to not listen.
I don’t care if the guy who shot everyone in Arizona was influenced by right wing rhetoric or not. I knew long before that incident that words are powerful and hateful, disrespectful and violent words used by manipulative people, right or left, for their own selfish agenda of money, fame or power, without regard for the consequences, are dangerous words spoken by dangerous people.
I will not agree with all the media voices. I will not agree with all politicians. But I will trust they are doing what they think is right IF I hear respect and love in their words and in their voice. BUT I will NOT trust nor follow the people who say words that inflame hate, disrespect and vengeance no matter how closely I may be aligned with their political or social position.
I heartily suggest you consider doing the same and boycotting those who have decided to use those rhetorical tools to get what the want. Don’t give it to them. If they want your attention and your respect, make them work for it by using their voices with respect and civility.
When I started having trouble in my marriage, a Pastor gave me a bible. I drew in it when I went to church. I would often look at people and wonder what they were thinking. Here are three drawings that includes what I imagined they might have been pondering.
When you think about it, well-mannered stupid people do tend to make it to the top and rule the world. But I plan a coup soon of well-mannered smart people and will need your help! Are you with me?
If it’s not via an obvious organization, look to see if the individual doing that incredibly stupid act hasn’t been pulled this way and that by a committee of well-meaning fools.
There have been birds falling out of the sky this week. First in Arkansas, USA, then in Mississippi, USA, now I hear it’s happened in Finland.
Of course we can draw the conclusion that the end of the world is upon us. Then again, it’s most likely to be fireworks. Or maybe pollution. It could be a virus. It could be God. It could be aliens.
So, this quote gets to the heart of a certain type of stupidity. It’s not the process of finding answers that makes people stupid. It’s the DESIRE for conclusions without being willing to do the intelligent work to find a logical, reasonable and likely answer. As a result we take the easiest road. We take the road of superstition, whether religious or secular. We take the road that the bandwagon is on. We take the obvious road. AND THAT IS STUPID AND DANGEROUS.
The other aspect of stupidity that is shown in this quote is so many people’s inability to just allow that we may not know the answer. It doesn’t mean we should work towards finding answers and solutions, but if one’s inability to live with unknowing causes them to reach stupid conclusions then they are being, well, stupid.
One of my pet peeves is the deliberate bragging about one’s own flaws or shortcomings. You know, the ‘I am terrible at math’ type comments. They can imprison you in an identity you don’t want or need.
As a drawing instructor I often had new students sheepishly come into the first day of class with head bowed and voice low. The student would say ‘I am not sure you can help me, I can’t even draw a good stick figure’.
My response was: ‘OF COURSE YOU SUCK AT DRAWING, YOU HAVEN’T LEARNED HOW YET!’ You wouldn’t go into a piano lesson with that attitude, would you? You don’t assume you should know how to play a piano. It’s a big honkin’ mess of wires, wood and metal and well, DUH, why would you think you should know how to master that thing without some training. How is drawing any different? You have an instrument you have to master in drawing as well.’
At that point I would stop and raise my closed fist. I would slowly poke my finger into the bottom of the fist and out of the top would come a very small pencil for all to see.
‘THAT is your instrument to master if you are learning to draw.’ I would say to them. Then I would proceed to teach them about that pencil.
What are you consciously or unconsciously cultivating to keep yourself ignorant? No offense, but whatever it is, it’s stupid.
Welcome to Stupidity, my first series of 2011! In honor of all you returning to work after the holidays, I thought you might need some classic quote therapy to help you navigate among your co-workers.
Over the holidays our extended family took a long walk along the Arkansas River. We took our 2 dogs with us. We passed a jungle gym play area with a curvy slide and I thought it would be fun to slide wiggle dog down it. I attempted said maneuver but wiggle dog wasn’t happy with this idea and instead of going down the curvy slide, jumped over the edge of it down to the sand below. Wiggle dog got up, favoring one paw. I was worried she had broken something. But she was alright.
My wife and daughter (and others) saw stupidity in action. They weren’t happy to see it. I apologized to wiggle dog. I apologized to my wife and daughter. I went over to the men in the group and said ‘men sometimes do stupid things’. They all nodded.
Moral of the story, don’t do stupid things, especially to someone else!
