Quote:

Pat,

I think you may have misunderstood my analogy. Far left or far right is never good.

But you have to pick a direction.

Although I am a "conservative", I disagree with the fundamentalist's and right wingers on so many things that they would accuse me of being a liberal. I was raised as a "democrat", and it broke my dad's heart when I became a republican.

You have to pick a side, even if you don't agree with all of the policies of that side. The 2 party system barely works in our society. A 3 party system would probably lead to anarchy.

Those of us who are open minded, regardless of our party affiliation, can help that respective party to a reasonable stance. If we stand in the middle as "moderates", then neither side will listen to us.

Just my opinion.

Take care,
Bob



My bad, Bob...

In rereading my post I see that it came across as a rebuttal of yours, but that was not my intent. I think you and I agree pretty much 100% ... you haven't posted anything yet that I would not have said almost the same thing.

But in the spirit of point-counterpoint, it is my tendency to reply according to this pattern:
"we agree that xxxx is true... however, consider that yyy may also be true..."

This can be seen as a moderating approach, or it may also be seen as disagreement. I rarely seek to openly disagree... my approach is usually to offer a modifying thought to the equation.

as far as picking a direction, I pick the conservative point of view (difference in KIND of thinking) but I tend to pursue it in ways that lead to cooperation rather than competition (difference in DEGREE of action)

You're my brother man... thanks for helping me to communicate more effectively. I am a notoriously bad communicator, sending a contorted message almost all the time. Please continue helping me to say it better.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0