I was listening to talk radio (both progressive and conservative stations) this week and heard about all the Douche Bags, Fools and Idiots in our world.
I have come to a conclusion:
There is no way we’re going to have a more civil society, a more cooperative country or a more well functioning world with all the douche bags, fools and idiots around.
The only way to solve problems, take risks of hope and overcome our fears is to get rid of the DBFI’s.
So, how do we get rid of these people?
It’s simple.
Stop believing people are douche bags, fools and idiots.
The only way to a more perfect union, and world, is to trust that people who think differently than us are not fools.
The only way to solve to problems is to believe that people with wildly different tastes, opinions are not idiots.
The only way to NOT continue repeating the problems of the past is to be ever reminded that people who make dumb decisions or are motivated by impulses of “humanities lesser angles” are not douche bags.
As long as we see others as DBFI’s we will be condemned to a world of conflict.
No reasonable person is going to compromise with a douche bag. No one pursuing serious endeavors is going to spend time listen to a fool. No one with big plans is going to spend time with an idiot.
Only when we become convinced that other people have their reasons for concluding as they do can we assume goodwill from them.
Only when our natural impulse is to see other people as legitimate as we are, even when they are espousing ideas we find ill-informed, ridiculous, and downright looney will we be on our way to a more civil society.
I know this seems idealistic to some and ridiculous to others, but the path forward is not firstly about right ideas or behaviors. It is not about getting the media to “tell the truth”. It is not about organizing.
The path must start with a default assumption that those who differ from us, even on the most profound level are not douche bags. They are not fools, They are not idiots.
They have just as good reasons for their way in the world as we have for ours.
Believing they are anything less is a death sentence.
Or, maybe on the other hand we are all douche bags, fools and idiots. And in that case, grant your fellow DBFI’s a little slack and let’s get on with it.
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