We need leaders who will see all sides, find middle ground
Several weeks ago the Albuquerque Journal ran an interesting political cartoon that showed next-door neighbors talking in their front yards (Journal Aug. 22 and above). One of the neighbors had two signs in his yard, one of which proclaimed that Black Lives Matter, the other expressed support of police. In the caption the sign owner said something to the effect: “If you have a problem with these, maybe the problem is with you.” That cartoon has been on my mind ever since, and I think it emblematic of the challenges facing our city and country today.
I have a young friend who is a second-year APD officer, and I know a number of retired police officers, and can tell you that the only thing that frustrates them more than the public not fully appreciating how difficult their jobs are is the very small percentage of their fellow officers who are rogue cops and who, through their bad decisions, make every officer’s job that much more difficult. Regrettably, they all get painted with the same brush when things go wrong.
Conversely, with the seemingly endless and tragic stories of violence against Black individuals over the years and the significant and notably thoughtful journalism recently in respected and non-partisan publications exploring the root causes of that violence, I have come to realize that I’ve never really known just how deep and oppressive the issues facing Blacks have been over the years. I suspect that the vast majority of other whites don’t either. We maybe say all the right things, but we don’t really understand. Regrettably, many of the issues and challenges facing us today are characterized by this same lack of true understanding. The list of these challenges, the sum of which has taken on what almost feels like an existential threat, is lengthy: global warming, an economy that has the potential to devolve into a verifiable depression, continued racism — both the unknowing and blatant versions, and a virus that has completely redefined normal.
Yet, much like the neighbor in the Journal cartoon, we have elected leaders who can’t seem to find a way to accept the fact that there is more than one perspective to every difficult, complex issue. Driven possibly by a need for position or power, they adopt an intractable belief that their views are absolutely the right ones and the only possible ones, completely eliminating any room for compromise or shifts in their perspectives.
The world has become impossibly complex, with changes happening so quickly the truth is sometimes hard to see. This accelerating dynamic is both daunting and challenging, and as a result I think people have a tendency to over-simplify things in an attempt to deal with them. It’s hard to hold two seemingly opposing ideas in our minds at the same time, much less chart a course between the two. As a result, we adopt a point of view or an opinion that is simple, clear and comfortable — and frequently, or at least partially, wrong.
The question has become: can we find it in ourselves to acknowledge that today’s truths are both complex and not always easily seen? And just as importantly, can we find leaders who are willing to do the same thing? Because I am as guilty as anyone else of trying to simplify things, let me suggest two over-simplified alternatives. Can we find a way as a country to seek a middle path to today’s complex challenges or do we further entrench ourselves in our over-simplified views which could ultimately result in an untenable degree of discord and chaos, forcing us to work together whether we want to or not. The good news? We have a choice.