Hear the Other Side

Unless you’ve been isolated deep in a cave somewhere for the past couple of months, you couldn’t have failed to witness the mind-boggling silliness inWashingtonover raising the debt ceiling. The bickering, the mud-slinging, the inability to behave like adults—it baffles me. 

How did we get here? What the heck happened to civil discourse and basic politeness? Do politicians whose sole objective has become re-election have an inkling of what they’re doing to the country they have promised to faithfully serve? Do they realize that their constituents are emulating their bad behavior? 

There was a time when I enjoyed a good, old-fashioned debate about issues—any issue. It didn’t matter what it was; let’s just get the conversation going, exchange ideas, and engage in some true intellectual dialogue. Not any longer. Whether the topic is politics, religion, health care, education, national defense—even sports—I’m not touching it. It’s just too dangerous these days because most people have their minds made up and are not willing to entertain any notion or idea that deviates from their heels-dug-in position. 

One of my students recently posted a piece of writing. The assignment was to choose a topic, research it, and write an article, making certain that it was without bias. I was critical of this student’s piece because she chose a hot-button issue and presented just one side of it. I suggested that if she wanted her writing to be taken seriously, she must examine all angles, even if only to debunk the ones she disagreed with. Her response? “There is no other side. I am correct, and you’re just afraid of the truth.” 

How can anyone respond to that kind of thinking? My favorite saying is from Saint Augustine: audi partem alteram, which when translated means hear the other side. There’s precious little of that going on today, and it makes me sad. I’m sad that the people we’ve elected to serve our interests have only their own interests at heart. I’m sad that safe conversational topics are pretty much limited to the Kardashians and Snooki. I’m sad that I had a student who was so offended by a legitimate critique of her work that her evaluation of my class showed big fat zeros across the board. And most of all, I’m sad that no one wants to hear the other side.

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