A plea for compromise
I’m still trying to process what to write about something for which I feel so much passion. It used to be the Democrats primarily stood for social justice and Republicans stood for individual justice, and then the two sides would debate and come together on compromises that allowed our society to remain functional. Today, however, due to the fact that media, other corporations, and politicians have discovered they can make a ton of money by keeping us divided, this coming together thing no longer seems to be working.
Friends of mine, first responders and military personnel, have described to me what it’s like to go to a crime or war scene where innocent children have been brutally murdered by a deranged parent, an enemy combatant, or a sociopathic killer. They described in horribly vivid detail the carnage, the destruction, the forever in your brain images of these individuals slaughtered in the first decade or so of life. They’ve talked about the children so severely wounded their DNA had to be taken just to identify them because their faces had been blown apart. They’ve also described how incredibly efficient the AR-15 and AK-47 bullets are at destroying human tissue as they explode inside their victims.
When it comes to mass shootings, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat. Countries like Canada have gun ownership, but low statistics in wrongful use of firearms. We know now that some simple restrictions can help alleviate many of our gun deaths, but we can’t come together to protect our population. No politician ever considers the concept of taking away your guns now because that would be the third rail for them, and it would ensure they weren’t reelected. Unfortunately, simple restrictions like background checks, age limitations, locking up firearms at home, and red flag requirements are not even being considered.
My plea is for common-sense, middle-ground decision making, an attempt to find compromise by not focusing on the extremists on either side of the aisle but by looking to the 80% of us who agree to actually do the right thing. Let’s focus on the more level-headed, willing-to-compromise ‘tweeners who will consider all sides of an argument. This is the group that must commit to being that change we want in our communities so we don’t go back to the normalcy of fear and despair the next day. We absolutely know our politicians will continue to disappoint or betray us. Let’s elect leaders from both sides who can work to find agreement.
When I hear radicals ranting about everyone who is not espousing their extreme philosophies, or violent protestors threatening anyone who doesn’t think like them, love like them, or live like them, it hurts my heart, my mind, and my soul. When did we commit to becoming the disciples that contribute to division, a division that rips at the very fabric of the United States and divides neighborhoods, communities, states, and families?
I’m a year away from life’s official expiration date, the average male lifespan in the United States. Even if I’m lucky enough to make it longer than that, my life’s work is, for all intents and purposes, already in the proverbial history books. But as I look into my grandchildren’s eyes, I see our future’s problem solvers with potential cures for cancer, the end to climate change, and peaceful co-existence. They are an outwardly focused generation filled with love.
Conversely, when the parents who lost their babies in Texas look into their faces, they only see the end of the beginning. Endless blame can be placed on a slow police response time, corporate greed, a lack of support for behavioral health, and most of all, on this political division. But its over, and this real-life snuff film that took away the lives of their hopes, dreams, and future means there is no going back.
Nick Jacobs of Windber is a health-care consultant and author of two books.