Where Has It Gone?

Another note from 4 years ago on FB. I think Tavis and Dr. West's dialogue has hardened since then, but by and large the question still remains...

Where has the constructive political dialogue gone? It seems to have been reduced to name calling and schoolyard antics if we disagree on an issue. At a time when things appear to be dire for many people in the states and abroad the collective willingness to dialogue intelligently has all but disappeared. As I watched Brother Cornel West on Tavis Smiley last night explaining what is position was and is as a Black Intellectual I was both inspired and humbled by his compassion for humanity. It also has me wondering if this type of thoughtful compassionate dialogue is a thing of the past? Has the need for ratings corrupted the willingness to share ideas to get to a common ground? Aren’t we as individuals allowed to (supposed to) have differing views on ideas and not have to be labeled “hater”? I have seen that word used more today simply for folks asking questions. Watched people threaten to kick people off of their friends list and the whole 9 simply for not agreeing. As someone who has watched and listened this morning I think there is validity in both sides of the discussion, as there are with most discussions. The issue for me arises when it turns from a respectful discourse into some WWE ranting about nothing in particular. We are in critical times right now. So much beauty happening, while simultaneously being undermined by other forces who do not share the view of a global community. We will not always agree on issues, but it is what happens after that that is most important. Do we reach a commonality or continue the polarizing behavior that has kept us stagnant and without the necessary improvements to our collective quality of Life? Will we bring more compassion to our activism or continue down the self destructive road of limited thoughts and ideas? I say let’s broaden our dialogue beyond the scare tactics and defensive generalizations.