the shared pain of left and right

once again the news media commits suicide in front of the american public to the detriment of the country

their biases absolving them of the responsibility to seek the truth

and for the first time the republican hive mind feels the pain of having their children demonized, a pain many were happy to inflict on the children of black lives matter

the right often attempts to smear black victims of police shootings to justify their unjust executions by the state

my hope is that the left is self-aware enough to realize they ask of others the cessation of behavior they wish to justify for themselves

various after-the-fact justifications for the teenage hate devolve to "he deserves it for committing white maga facecrime"

this kind of dehumanization serves to absolve one of one's moral responsibilities: it can be the prelude to atrocity

or it can serve to wake us up

my meatspace life is filled with amazing people from both the left and the right. kind people, smart people. people who care about justice for all

my cyberspace life is filled with those who crave conflict

what if my cyberspace life was more like my meatspace life? what could the left and right achieve in both worlds working for a shared cause?

what if all drugs were decriminalized according to a model successfully pioneered in portugal? what if the unjust and immoral drug war was ended, and its funds were diverted to building drug treatment centers in areas ravaged by the opioid crisis

is that a left right issue?

a smart grid would be much more resilient to russian or chinese hacking and sabotage efforts

what if the left had faith in their own dire warnings and fast-tracked the development of a modern nuclear energy sector.

what if the left, perpetually concerned with the scientific consensus, recognized the consensus that nuclear is one of the safest and most dependable sources of energy humans posess

is energy independence granting us protection from the economic influence of our geopolitical rivals a left right issue?

what if the right realized that being the nation where men and women of mettle from all over the world wish to go is an economic and national security advantage

many on the left have gone through personal transformations on progressive issues

to make the fastest progress on issues like systemic racism people will need to be won over, not ridiculed into reflexive opposition

what if the right fought for the principles which actually make western civilization the greatest civilization?

the primacy of individual freedom and the dignity of all human beings

a religion preaching love and forgiveness

kindness for the poor

what if the left fought for reproductive human rights without celebrating the heavy price of their exercise

is harboring the weak a left right issue?

should the woke left "work with bigots" if it achieves the policies that will help the people they claim to defend?

or should the woke left continue to do cheap signaling, scrounging for pennies of opression, instead of working for their cause 

work that includes actually talking to people and convincing them of their point of view