Stand Up And Be Counted–Enough is Enough
Two months ago, I saved this quote on my desktop. At the time, I didn’t know why. Now I know. Events and comments made during this 2008 presidential campaign season have illuminated why we need to heed these words by Harry S. Truman:
Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear. -Harry S. Truman, 33rd US president (1884-1972)
Our government is not there yet, but if we allow hate slogans, catcalling, intolerance and elected representatives to question opposition as “unamerican” can we be far from that path? Opposition by all Americans to these types of intimidation needs to be strong and united. If we silence dialogue, if we eschew diversity, how do we become the innovative economy and country we need to be? My computer has just told me that the word unamerican does not exist. Is AI is more intelligent than humans? By the way, I am not adding it to the dictionary.
I would expand that to include individuals, all people. None of us should be intent on silencing opposition.
I’m often too intimidated to speak my mind about my political views because years of doing so have taught me that it’s risky business. I’ve been disrespected and downright embarrassed by others because they don’t agree with me. I’ve been told I’m a bad person because I hold certain political views.
In this case, in my opinion, the government’s misbehavior is a symptom of a larger lack of consciousness and respect among all of us. Change starts at home.
Esther
24 Oct 08 at 10:22 pm
I have been told that the reason I couldn’t find unamerican in my dictionary is because I did not craft it correctly (un-American) well I refuse to capitalize it and I will continue to in this case spell it my way. Thank you for the heads up though. I sure would have liked to think that it wasn’t in the dictionary.
Esther- I would agree with you that standing up begins with individuals, and I would add that I believe that the “community” makes the rules on the respect that those individuals receive when offering opinions. Too often, when I have attended meetings when someone offers a different viewpoint or wants to offer their solutions if they are not one of the “accepted”, people fidget, don’t really listen with open minds, and often interrupt. Basically, this cuts down the thinking capacity of the group and makes the ability for problem-solving more difficult or even impossible.
An egregious example of this type of community forum would be the “public hearings” that our county officials hold.
Thanks for stopping by.
Gloria Ferris
26 Oct 08 at 12:28 pm