Humanity is now dealing with a chronic pandemic siege disorder, which isn’t going anywhere soon because the virus keeps evolving quickly, Like other major challenges, COVID brings out the best and worst in us humans. Unfortunately, some of the media like Fox News and the internet greedily fan the flames of fear and divisiveness, making things far worse.
Yet there is a framework to solve the problem. It’s our Constitution’s first phrase, “We the people of the United States… .” The words “we,” “people” and “united” are the navigation tools. “We” won World War II, put men on the moon and created the various human cultures on our rich planet. The very wise Founding Father Ben Franklin, during the American Revolution, said, “We must hang together, or surely we will hang separately.”
The United States is a big tent containing lots of diversity, which is both a strength and a weakness. The Constitution provides a strong framework, if the players involved use the four Cs: communication, cooperation, collaboration and compromise. Problems thus get solved collectively by finding common ground, while respecting differences, even when the “sauage-making” gets messy. Each person, being part of this collective, makes a difference. Personal attitude and behavior are highly contagious. Kind words, smiles and waves create a far different cascading impact than mean words and raised middle fingers. Each day, each person chooses meanness or kindness, and the United States lives with the consequences.
Mike Beebe
Lyndeborough