Ostrich or Eagle?

Right and left, sometimes reality is too painful for our dearest friends and neighbors to face. From time to time, I have the same problem, going to the dentist for example. Then too, others in our community may be swept along in the frenzy of conspiracy theories du jour, trusting extremist rumors instead of the jargon of evolving science that speaks another indecipherable language altogether, at times confusing us with changes – based on factual analysis – hard to keep up with. I too find hype and spin easier to grasp.

Our polarization bothers me. Though we may for the moment be mystified by their point of view, seeming to bypass critical thought, these friends and neighbors are still the good people who may have pulled us out of a snowdrift last year or lent a comforting ear in a time of crisis just when we needed that. My tolerance falls upon the shoulders of these good people. While not agreeing, I try to understand and hope they feel the same way about me. We always liked each other. Why stop now?

In that vein, I’ll listen to what you have to say. But for the moment listen to me. There are others amongst us preying upon our deepest fears, scaring us to the extent that some of us bury our heads in the sand of any other point of view. They get us to buy into their fiction instead of our “lying eyes”. You know them. They’re the loudest, the most aggressive – they insult, they bully, they threaten, they feed on your fears and create new ones; they promise and never deliver, and they make stuff up. They’re so sure of their hypnotic power over us that at least one of them told us January 6 was just tourists led astray by Antifa infiltrators – and some believe it. Is hypnosis the only explanation I can come to? Our eyes weren’t lying.

There are big issues that we, as a community, have to face. – Really BIG. The virus that’s killed 800,000+ Americans is not spin, global warming is not a myth, and racism is a fact (I know it and so do you.) Together, let’s get our heads out of the sand and deal with these issues. We CAN do something about each of them. Stop listening to rabble-rousers manipulating your fears for their own short-term self-interest and power grabs. They know what they’re doing. Don’t fall for it.

Listen to Fox News. I do. And tune in to PBS or CNN. I do. Don’t take my word for anything, or anyone else’s. Listen to both sides – then use your good common sense, not political agendas, and make up your own mind. Don’t let anyone else do it for you.

Be eagles instead of ostriches.

Jay Buckner
Warren County