Venting about liberals and conservatives

I started writing this as a comment on Tom's blog, but it got so long that I figure I better post it on my own blog so I don't take over his comments section :). Tom's a big Obama supporter, but Tom posts a few things he disagrees with him on. I gave him kudos for being able to be free thinking enough to be able to disagree.

Political extremism is extremely hurtful. And it's really stupid. A two party system should give diversity of thought and provide balance so we can get the best of both worlds. But instead we get liberal and conservative extremists who just out of touch. I realize that taking this kind of stance might get people shooting at me from both sides, but I'm gonna take that chance!

Once in a while I get these emails from people (they seem to be more Republican at this moment) who are maybe fringe acquaintances but feel like they need to overdramatize stuff and spam my folder. They're like the people on the street who just yell about the world being damned and how we're all going to hell. I've always wondered what their endgame is... I'm thinking there is none. I've always wanted to go up to these people and ask them, "Hey, I'm listening. What should I do?" I mean do you want me to join your church? Start praying right now?

It's a bit troubling... I had a conversation with a Republican friend of mine about Rush Limbaugh. I said I didn't like listening to him because he thinks he's always right. And my friend said "It's because he is."

The bottom line is extremists don't take into account that there are human beings out there. People who have diverse backgrounds, and therefore think differently. We should be leveraging people's diversity to create a better country. Not be political drama queens dripping with sarcasm when someone has a different philosophy.

I'm not a big fan of corporate buzzwords, so when I am I hope people take notice. Leveraging diversity and leveraging strengths is my mantra. So how do you leverage the diversity of liberals and conservatives? I would say the strength of liberals is they have the vision... Affordable health care for everyone. End all wars. Equal rights. Conservatives are the reality... Put together the system to make the vision work. A thriving economy that doesn't need government support, where everyone makes enough money to be happy.

Maybe you agree or disagree with the strengths that each side brings, but at least I'm trying. We should all be thinking along these lines instead of wasting time listening to each other argue.