Let’s talk politics.

More specifically, let’s talk about why people HATE to talk politics… But HAVE TO all too often.

Remember the wise career advice given in the late 90’s: “Don’t discuss sex, religion or politics at work.”

This was the brief and wonderful window of time between the reckless, misogynistic “Wolf of Wall Street” era… And modern times that require candidates to report their sexual preference and pronouns on a job application.

The reality is: We don’t want to listen to Jordan Belfort’s R-rated rantings where we work. And we don’t want to be interrogated by the thought police just to work there.

Certain opinions are fobidden in the workplace (even when half the country supports them). Other viewpoints are mandatory (even when opposed by a majority). Failure to agree with the right things and oppose the wrong things can get you cancelled: Jobless, unemployable, de-banked, banned from social media, and otherwise tainted.

It is easy to avoid this fate: Just trade away a small slice of your soul. Say things you don’t mean. Suppress your opinions and even your core values. Go along, and get along. Lie all the time. Just like they do in North Korea. (see number 2) .

This short-term individual strategy creates long-term problems for a society. We stop talking TO each other, stop talking WITH each other. Instead we talk ABOUT each other. We don’t give people a chance to explain themselves. To avoid getting ourselves cancelled, we go along with “our team” as WE assume the worst motives of THEM. They are “the other”. We use labels, such as “Far Left” or “Ultra-MAGA” or “Deplorables” or “Snowflake” or much, worse.

After a while, the Overton Window gets so narrow that we are no longer exposed to even minor differences in perspectives. We lose the ability to even think outside of this tiny box we live in.

Here’s the awful part: We start to believe that there is no ethical, moral reason to think differently. People with diverse opinions must be EVIL. They must be DANGEROUS. They should be CANCELLED. If they keep going, well the right thing to do… Is to stop them… By more extreme means…

What if there were TWO populations that felt this way? What if, inside the same country, there was one group that ONLY accepted an ORANGE perspective, and another group that ONLY accepted PINK? What if a typical orange person lived and worked with die-hard oranges, openly discussing exclusively orange perspectives… While 100 miles away, people proudly and openly embraced pink views, never ever acknowledging that even one orange idea might have traces of merit?

What if one day, the orange society found out that some pink-thinkers were among them? At the same time, pink landers heard rumors that orange folks lurked among them?

This would be no issue if we were used to diversity of perspecitves (not just appearance). But when dissent from orthodoxy is treated the way Senator McCarthy treated communist sympathizers… The way Spanish Inquisitors treated blasphemers…

Well it sucks. That’s what happens. We build each other up to be truly evil and dangerous bogeymen. When we find an ACTUAL person who openly embraces the wrong team… Well, what actions would NOT be justified in saving the planet from that sort of evil?

Of course this is madness. That is how civil wars happen. It is avoidable and unnecessary. In reality, most people are good. We just have different ideas about how to achieve the better world we all want.

“The idiot sees the world as Good vs Evil. The cynic sees the world as Evil vs Evil. The truth that no one seems able to see is that the world is, and always has been, a battle of Good vs. Good.”
― Norm Macdonald

Bottom line: Embrace a TRULY Diverse Society. We don’t need to agree. We don’t need to be “unified”. “Consensus” is not practical or even desirable.

Just talk to each other. Ask WHY people think they way they do. Ask what is important to them. Look for things you agree on. Then agree to not over-emphasize areas of disagreement. You can support different policies, politicians, parties, and sports teams… Yet still be good neighbors, colleagues and even friends.

That is the true power of diversity. We are a melting pot. We get smarter by exposure to all sorts of perspectives… And we get happier, safer and more prosperous by looking to build real connections than by looking for reasons to cancel and hate.

Peace and love to all of you, on all sides.