Individual Americans must begin mending the divide

This Letter does not help things. It's mean spirited.

I agree. I know for a fact that my conservative neighbors would be there for me in an emergency, as I would for them. We must come together if we are to heal this country. The problem is that we see the world differently. Part of that is just the nature of a "liberal" personality vs a "conservative" personality. That gulf is easy to bridge. Just as I don't need to understand why two people are attracted to each other in order to honor their right to their relationship, I don't need to understand why someone believes in X or Y policy in order to respect their right to hold that opinion.

And we need each other. Left and right are yin and yang. Gas pedal and brake. We define ourselves by what we are not. And both perspectives are valuable.

The larger issue - the new problem - is that we live in different realities. Conspiracy theories run rampant. QAnon, for instance. The far left and the far right follow alternative dystopian realities, each with their own version of history and their own heroes and villains. It can be challenging to find common ground with someone who believes in a reality that you know is not true. You can be civil - but it's harder to be respectful.

Letters like the one referenced are not helpful. I know who the radical left is - it's me. Labels like godless, socialist, and communist, or fascist, Nazi, and totalitarian are not useful in creating a dialog. These are words you use when you want to demonize and dehumanize people you don't agree with, not when you want to find common ground. I don't claim to be innocent of this.

Let's talk about ideas. Let's talk about policies. You may want less immigration than I do, but we both want control over our borders. You may want fewer government services than I do, but we both want honest and efficient use of our tax money. You enjoy socialist programs like social security, Medicare, and a public school system, and I enjoy the benefits of a capitalist economy. We can talk about how to fund social security and our schools, and what constitutes reasonable regulation of our corporations.

But none of this is possible if one side sincerely believes that the other side is less than equal, less than valuable, and less than the "all men" endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.

I don't know what to do about conspiracy thinking - I honestly do not understand it - yet it's rampant even in my own family. I don't know what to do about the demagoguery that plagues our politics. I don't know how to convince people to turn away from radicalizing talking heads who feed a steady diet of hate and dehumanization. But I do know that engaging each other in the real world of political policy is something that all of us can do. And I hope that we can do more of that in the future.

A couple of resources that I've found helpful in attempting to understand the other side are this article in The Conversation - https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-responses-highlight-how-humans-are-hardwired-to-dismiss-facts-that-dont-fit-their-worldview-141335 and the short book Patriots of Two Nations: Why Trump Was Inevitable and What Happens Next by Spencer Critchley. If you are of the conservative persuasion, I recommend the much longer A Promised Land by Barack Obama for a glimpse (who am I kidding, it's Obama so it's a dissertation) into the ideology that underpins the "leftist" worldview.

But coming together requires one thing that is in very short supply these days - the ability to acknowledge even the possibility that you might be wrong.

Wow Carlos, that is not what I took from that at all. What I got from that letter, is that we each have a personal responsibility to foster relationships, even with people we don't agree with. I disagree with you on almost everything, but I know we probably agree on a lot of things and I bet a few of those things are probably freedom of speech and freedom of religion and the 2nd amendment. I enjoy reading your comments and respect your right to express your thoughts. Americans in general, have much more in common than they probably think.

The far left and right, extremists, leave no room for the majority of Americans that are in the middle. Use of fear tactics, such as claiming we are on a road to Communism, Godlessness, etc. are an example of extremism and should be given no respect for their divisive and irrational intention. Those of us in the middle are tired of the constant whining, yes, from both extremes, but mostly from the radical right.

Thank you, Bill Love and Bailey Jones. I may or may not agree with what I read in this and other forums, but respectful commentary gives a path to a positive future.

I see where they just voted to strip Abraham Lincoln's name of a local high school in California! They say he did not deserve his name to be memorialized like that. See, as I said on another thread, they have linked Trump and Lincoln together with insatiable, unconscionable hate of the worst kind!

I guess Old Abe should have left those SLAVES ...in slavery! He would have RATED more love than he is getting! If Trump had kept those Historical Black Universities coming to DC like OBAMA'NEM did year after year begging for money, or kept minorities on welfare, and food stamps, and locked up in prisons unjustly, he would have cruised into another four year term too! Well, just goes to show you, "POBODY IS NERFECT!" Lololo.

Where is HUNTER? Swalwell? How bout "Fang-Fang?" Fang-Fang is a patriot ...bring her back....she fits right in with where we are now. I am glad my kids are grown and out of these sub-par PC Laden schools who brow-beat and intimidates kids to believe they are inferior because of the color of their skin or to believe they are racist because they are White!

They make up stuff and when reality does not fit their narrative, they simply change history or the past by tearing down what can be seen and eradicating and expurgating what cannot be seen! Ahhh what a country! WHAT A NATION!!!!!

In the first sentence Add Love behind Mr. and Substitute Bill love in place of Bill Fullen.

Sorry,

When Government contractors came to Galveston to clean up after Ike, that was "Socialism!" Socialism exists at nearly every level of American life. Recent COVID related payouts to individuals and businesses, some very large and profitable businesses, is socialism. And, similar examples exist throughout our history, at least since the Great Depression. Are we all "Communists?" I think not!

Charles. Ever wonder how pure and un-Chinese infiltrated we might have stayed were it not for Richard Nixon? In retrospect, we can be pretty sure he was handled by Fang-Fangs grandmother Why, I bet Nixon’s Southern strategy came directly from Beijing

You conveniently forget to mention Mitch McConnell and his wife's Chinese business connections.

Not confused except by your refusal to put your ideas out for public review. Try this: 13 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for editorial, like: essay, column, commentary, article, editor, editoral, Op-Ed piece, exposition, newspaper column, journalistic and newspaperish.

Pick one but keep it to 500 words. Oh, and enclose a snapshot cause I’m sure we all would love to see ya

Oh gosh, do we really have to see his face?