"Are You Sure?"
More than ever, the world expects us to be full of opinion and ready for broadcast. We should each have a blog. We should have ardent attitudes about the candidates, propositions, and the latest scandal. (However, the wrong opinion, especially if you're a politician, will ensure that you are attacked and vilified.)
It's the polarizing of America and the world.
The latest moment of polarization was the Tea Party on the Washington Mall, a call to "take back America" and return our country to values of God and family. Whether we are Tea Party members or not, the plea spoke to a collective need: can we find a firmer ground to stand on? Will things ever make sense again?
The unstated message is how hard it is to deal with uncertainty and complexity in this modern world. It's the best of times, and the worst of times, to have an opinion.
Of course, "Being sure" is a luxury everyone can afford. Having "faith" is a thrifty way to spend your energy. Keep your own shoes tightly laced, and spend little time in anyone else's.
For me, patience with complexity goes with the territory of being a citizen. There's always another point of view to consider, and it's necessary to do it. PC is good humanity, even if it's energy inefficient.
For me, President Obama today is the Number One Example of courageously putting things to a complicated discussion, yet still finding a way to emerge with a clear statement. Our modern form of discussion is more like a meat grinder, but it's still our democratic process.
One of the most interesting "uncertainties" right now is the debate over the "legalize marijuana" initiative in California, coming up for a vote Tuesday, November 2nd. The pundits say it's going to lose, but meanwhile the use of marijuana becomes so commonplace in our society. What's our opinion, really? We, of course, are divided.
"It's Complicated," the very mainstream 2009 relationship comedy from Nancy Meyers, showcased social exemplars Meryl Streep, Alex Baldwin and Steve Martin all smoking pot, then opening up to reveal silly but (the movie maker intended) more honest pictures of themselves. "(Meryl Streep) was so not herself," Meyers said in an interview. "The pot was the external release she needed."
In our country marijuana (like alcohol), has gone from being completely legal, to almost completely illegal (with alcohol now being quite legal again, with restriction). Now marijuana is turning a corner with its "medical" designation.
Probably our collective mind (the sum of yeas and nays), is not ready for a net of yeas. But moving slowly, painfully, argumentatively toward consensus -- on the pot issue or any other -- is the only way we know how to go.
Will we ever be "sure" of anything? It's simply . . . complicated.
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