WHAT DO I KNOW?

I know I love this country, deeply, profoundly and instinctively.  And I know that something is wrong.  I know that I am not fully a member of any identifiable and easily dismissed group.  I am neither Democrat or Republican but I have voted for both at various times.  I am not an Evangelical or atheist, Muslim or Mormon but I believe in God and his works.  My education includes Anthropology - the study of how man behaves in societies, and Law, the way our society regulates itself.  I spent most of my career mediating disputes among human beings and between organizations.

I am a keen observer of human beings and I learned an important lesson at an early age.  When you see a group of people standing around, all agreeing with each other about something, and patting each other on the back for their wisdom and cleverness, THEY ARE ALMOST ALWAYS WRONG!  They are wrong because they are not receiving or open to receiving information from other sources.  They have stopped considering new data because they think they don't need it.  After all, why would they need to consider anything beyond each other when they are so obviously right?

Further, if they are right, then everyone who disagrees with them is wrong and therefore inferior.  The others are worthy only of contempt.  They do not deserve to be listened to, they do not deserve to be considered and they certainly don't deserve to be negotiated with.

When I look at America today, I see groups of people standing around agreeing with each other and refusing to consider the views of other groups of people.  I see groups of people accusing each other of abandoning the principles and the values of America.  And I see that they have both lost sight of the true principles and values of America.

And it makes me angry.