Our Shared Future
As a US/UK dual citizen, I have been immersed in the news of the two surprise votes of 2016 -- for Brexit and for Donald Trump. What’s genuinely disturbing is the increasing polarization of rhetoric and positions in both US and UK society. There is an urgent need to reverse this trend of polarization.
People should speak out for what they believe in. The issues that divide the UK and the US are real issues. Broad agreement on these issues will not be easy to find. But discussions of the issues must not routinely descend into acrimony.
I often have productive discussions with people with whom I do not agree. I learn things. We find common ground, and identify the reasons for our differences, which are often based in differences of experience. Even where our values turn out to be fundamentally different, I still usually gain understanding and, with understanding, greater skill in making my views heard.
For those now engaged in discussion of the issues that challenge our society:
1. Listen to those with different points of view, and respond with conviction but never anger.
2. Seek common ground, remembering that we share a future and that win-win outcomes are often possible.
In my lifetime, I have seen some apparently intractable political conflicts improve markedly -- notably in South Africa (where apartheid was ended by the mutual courage of Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk) and in Northern Ireland (where once bitter enemies Ian Paisley and Martin McGuiness cooperated to build a shared peace).
This evening, I walked home with my wife from a London pub dinner, and we played a game of discussing divisive issues of the day, taking turns with one of us right-wing and one of us left-wing on each issue. It was instructive to feel that when one is arguing a disliked point of view, the views one expresses may seem wrong, but not evil or deserving of scorn. I highly recommend it.
My own desire for finding common ground is based in my own study of Eastern philosophy and religion -- Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. This approach is not for everyone. Many tell me that they feel a need to be (and some say that I should be) more adamant in taking on those who are "in the wrong". Perhaps. But hard times demand tough choices. I choose a determined search for common ground to build our shared future.
People should speak out for what they believe in. The issues that divide the UK and the US are real issues. Broad agreement on these issues will not be easy to find. But discussions of the issues must not routinely descend into acrimony.
I often have productive discussions with people with whom I do not agree. I learn things. We find common ground, and identify the reasons for our differences, which are often based in differences of experience. Even where our values turn out to be fundamentally different, I still usually gain understanding and, with understanding, greater skill in making my views heard.
For those now engaged in discussion of the issues that challenge our society:
1. Listen to those with different points of view, and respond with conviction but never anger.
2. Seek common ground, remembering that we share a future and that win-win outcomes are often possible.
In my lifetime, I have seen some apparently intractable political conflicts improve markedly -- notably in South Africa (where apartheid was ended by the mutual courage of Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk) and in Northern Ireland (where once bitter enemies Ian Paisley and Martin McGuiness cooperated to build a shared peace).
This evening, I walked home with my wife from a London pub dinner, and we played a game of discussing divisive issues of the day, taking turns with one of us right-wing and one of us left-wing on each issue. It was instructive to feel that when one is arguing a disliked point of view, the views one expresses may seem wrong, but not evil or deserving of scorn. I highly recommend it.
My own desire for finding common ground is based in my own study of Eastern philosophy and religion -- Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. This approach is not for everyone. Many tell me that they feel a need to be (and some say that I should be) more adamant in taking on those who are "in the wrong". Perhaps. But hard times demand tough choices. I choose a determined search for common ground to build our shared future.
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