Discourse Survival

This is something I’ve written about before but it continues to plague too much of today’s media – the lack of civil discourse.  This isn’t a new trend of course, hence the old saying, “the two things never to bring up at a party – politics and religion”.  While I am truly in awe of the ability for the internet to connect people – it’s also led to an increased opportunity for the less civil to fully expose their lack of consideration. 

All too often people will engage in a political discussion online and it will descend into name calling and the worst kind of elementary school b.s.  The internet’s anonymous and safe which frees the less intellectually blessed to disparage any and all who have the temerity to disagree with a stated opinion.

One of the things I love about my father’s family is the wide range of political beliefs.  I have two cousins (brother and sister) who could not be much further apart on the political spectrum but that doesn’t mean there can’t be a lively discussion and disagreement which is never disagreeable and actually kind of fun to watch, because of the missing rancor.   It is possible to state opinions without spite.

I love my sister and brother in law. I know they’ve always seen me as somewhere right of Attila the Hun while they hold the red banner of the left high but we still have a great relationship.  The Cantankerous One (who takes that banner even higher) has been engaged in a lively online discussion with one of our high school classmates which was kind of amusing to watch.  Both of them offered interesting and insightful points to bolster their arguments.

Another guy joined in and could not consider the fact he might be wrong and descended into making idiotic personal attacks which only undercut the validity of anything he might have to say on any subject.  This is what I mean about the intellectually challenged, if you’re not even willing to consider another person’s opinion then you shouldn’t be allowed to participate in a debate because then it’s a shouting match and that’s just noise.   

I know I’m spitting into the gale force wind of internet trend and current political status quo but it bothers me.  I mean here I am offering my insignificant two cents to an argument that people around the globe can consider.  That’s kind of earth shaking really (the ability not the opinion).  Listen for content in a message not any attendant diatribe which only saps relevance in increasing amounts the further it descends in civility.

Speaking of messages, I saw the movie Lone Survivor last night which is an elegant film about the sacrifice young Americans continue to make daily in the furtive, hidden parts of the world.  You know going into the movie what the result is so its kind of painful to watch the real life story of a SEAL team's desperate battle for survival in Afghanistan which earned one a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor.   A 4-man recon team is compromised and tries to fight their way out of danger against a much larger force of Taliban.

What emerges is the nobility of spirit amongst these warriors as they pay the price for a humane decision.  The devotion of the men to each other even when they might disagree is an object lesson about what I was preaching about above.  I caught an HBO special on the making of the movie which had the real life survivor who played a big role in making the film and keeping the movie from descending into typical Hollywood jingoism.  The Afghans are given their place in the story and allowed to show some of their own nobility. 

It’s bloody, heart rending and yet somehow ultimately uplifting.  The sacrifices these gallant young men made on that remote mountainside will never be forgotten now, even if the mainstream media would like to ignore the fact we still have a shooting war going on.  I was literally choked up at the end and said a prayer of thanks for those guys and to a country that can produce such heroes.