Stop selfishness and start unifying
When a society severs its ties with trust, truth is left dangling, blowing in the wind where misinformation is believed to be truth.
We live in a time when trust and truth are no longer held in high esteem by a nation caught in the grips of a pandemic. Is it any wonder that these two characteristics of a “once” healthy nation have lost credibility? The political machines of both parties have chosen to dismiss their callings in favor of nonsensical badgering aimed at division.
History is replete with dozens of nations which lost sight of their purpose and succumbed to leadership that could no longer lead. Many are held captive by influences which mock rational reasoning, others are lead astray by all the worst case scenarios. It is the age of hit-and-run news headlines where individuals have little time to dig into the what of that placed before them. When a society severs its ties with trust, truth is left dangling, blowing in the wind where misinformation is believed to be truth.
Some might dismiss this as just another bit of rumbling as we move to what is next. The fact is a bigger dilemma is being faced by our nation, that being apathy. Apathy does not have a demographic make up, it affects every segment of society. Our belief systems have been shaken as what many held to be sacred has been compromised in favor of what the next news conference reveals.
The future president has asked for unity. Unity is a small word with a big meaning; it implies bringing agreement to the table of discontent. Unity requires exceptional leadership, bringing together individuals willing to seek common ground. This country has seen four years of cut-throat politics. It has left an exhausted nation exasperated, as people take second place to the whims of the big-pocketed who are willing to throw hundreds of millions into the next big fiasco, that of electing two senators from Georgia.
So the next several weeks will see non-stop caravans of contemptuous allegations waged at winning these seats while the next president calls for unity. I don’t think so! The worst part of this is that cable news will repeat the same rhetoric 24-7. Is it any wonder that many have dismissed this continuum of repetitions as a waste of their time?
For news to find a resting place in one’s mind and heart it must bring some level of relevance and civility into the mix. So then where can unity find a resting place? Unity has a way of offering both the good and the bad. Negative unity can be found in a man who unified a nation to perform acts which caused great suffering. His name, Adolf Hitler. On the other hand, a president, Franklin Roosevelt, brought together a multitude of individuals who unified to bring about great hope to a nation caught up in a depression and brutal war. In the past four years, we have experienced the good and bad not allowing unity to fully live up to its greatest expectation.
Multitudes gathered in houses of worship after 9/11. They wept over the lost lives and many today still grieve over the untimely deaths related to that day. Another president, George W. Bush, offered compassion to those hurting; we came together to console one another, no matter what our economic or political backgrounds .
So now today, a vaccine for the virus is on the way and a new president will soon take office, but the dogma that has so plagued the last four years will continue on until these political minds stop with the selfishness and set the table for what future historians might call America’s greatest hour.