“Tick, tick, tick …”

 
 

"The wise man speaks when and where his opinions are
likely to have greatest impact."
~Me, Isabelle Black Smith

 

“The wise man also pauses to listen.” …

 

I've noticed --especially lately, since joining Twitter-- that people have a tendency gravitate towards those who are of a similar mind. You see this sort of behavior most often in subject matter pertaining to religion and politics. And once people are in this ‘comfort zone’ of like-mindedness they seem to find they like speaking at those who readily approve of their opinions/message ... though not everyone has an actual --or meaningful-- message I have found.  I say speaking “at” because of those speaking, those who actually pause for a moment to listen appear to be in lop-sided minority. There are, however, occasionally a few brave –or crazy as the case may be-- souls who will step up to the plate and openly embrace the posing of a counter viewpoint, and when the discussions that follow this posing are conducted in a civil manner, with fact-based truth and non-partisan speak, the potential for meaningful dialogue and enlightenment (the consideration of a previously unconsidered approach to the viewing of a problem) exists.  More often than not, from what I have witnessed thus far, these sorts of opposing viewpoint discussions rapidly degrade into worthless shouting matches and name hurling … which makes me wonder if everyone having a social media pulpit right at their fingertips is truly such a wonderful thing? With everyone shouting the likelihood of making meaningful progress towards solving the real problems facing our nation seems to be lost in the Echo … Echo … Echo ….

 
Respect works both ways.  Perhaps if people would exercise just a modicum of restraint, resisting the initial temptation to shout back when someone hurls a verbal blow their direction, and then stick to the facts, with the ultimate goal being an open and honest expression of opinion married with a willingness to truly hear the other side: then we would finally begin to make some headway in moving forward with the fixing of the multitude of problems plaguing our nation.  The way I see it right now, we have been seriously derailed as a nation. We’ve completely lost the far-sighted vision that once made America so great and are at present sitting in the ditch alongside the main road, merely spinning our myopic wheels while a multitude of highly significant clocks are tick, tick, ticking … Tick, tick, tick: the obvious national debt clock. Tick, tick, tick: Obmacare funding & unleashing … And the clock that should be ticking loudest right now: losing the Keystone Pipeline --our chance for immediate full-scale Energy Independence*, coupled with thousands++ of long-term jobs to stimulate our national economy without long-term government funding-- for failure to act while conveniently being distracted with sifting through the sands of Sequestration.

 
The clocks are ticking where do you stand? But more importantly, perhaps: when and where and how will you speak to effect change? And when was the last time that you stopped to truly listen?

@Copyrighted Essay, March 11, 2013: Isabelle Black Smith.  All Rights Reserved.

 * Energy Independence, meaning freedom from whims of Middle Eastern oil cartels.  Immediate and full-scale meaning a readily translatable into useable energy product, with existing technology and infrastructure to support immediate use on a large scale.