These days, persuasion seems to be a lost art

When did old-fashioned hatred become so popular? It would be easy to blame it on Trump, but it was alive and well before he stoked the flames. Nowadays, hatred is everywhere.

1. You hate people who wear face masks, and hate those who advocate it. Imagine sitting on a plane and seeing a stewardess attacked by a passenger because she told him to put on a face mask.

2. You hate people who are in favor of abortion, or you hate the people who are against it.

3. You are so tired of our do-nothing congress, you just hate the whole body.

4. You hate those who are concerned about global warming and you believe the idea is just another big lie.

5. You hate school teachers who speak out in favor of wearing a mask, or hate those who don’t believe it is necessary.

Back in the good old days (you know they really did exist) people had differences of opinion, but were willing to discuss their ideas with an open mind. Nowadays, you either get your way or go to war against those who oppose your ideas.

The political leaders of both parties stand by and watch our house burn down rather have the guts to make an honest effort to reach a compromise. It is past the time for a politician who is willing to stick his neck out for the good of the country to step forward, and run the risk of shouldering the blame for his ideas. Only the voters can solve this problem.

Today you have a country that has allowed our educational system to be dumbed down so far that you have high school graduates with a B average who are barely able to read and write, yet the public really doesn’t want to hear about such complaints. They still believe that anyone can be a teacher, and if you are not satisfied with your meager salary, go teach at some other school, an idea that many of our better teachers have taken up. Remember the old adage “you get what you pay for.”

Maybe our country should follow the example of many other industrialized countries that outrank us in the education field, that spend less money on bricks, mortar and electronics, and pay their teachers a much better salary.

How can you expect someone who has a marginal education to be able to articular his or her ideas with someone who is well educated? It can’t be done, which results in such a person bringing a club to the argument.

Until we do something about improving our educational system we are doomed to witness the use of force in the argument rather than the art of persuasion. Some join a gang, not for the sole purpose of committing criminal acts, but because the spokesperson of the gang can better present their point of view.

BASS TRUMBO

Fayetteville