Elephants on Bicycles

This is the time of the year, at least every four that I start to realize the difference in my thinking. I think differently than many of my coworkers, differently than many of my neighbors, acquaintances and even some of my friends. Interestingly however is that I don’t respond much differently than many of these people. We all get angry, hurt feelings and defend our thoughts as if they are the only thing we can call our own.

I suppose that’s the over arching point – our thoughts are the only thing we can call our own even when they’ve been influenced in either a small or large way from others. Regardless of outside influence every person processes the external in their own way and come to a conclusion based on what feels right to them inside.

Obviously I’m talking about the Presidential Election for myself. Civic duty is very important to me so election season holds my attention particularly. This wasn’t always true for me however and at different points in my life it may have been about motorbikes or music or art. For that matter I still have my thought processes surrounding those material issues as well but I’m not likely to shape my image of a person nearly as strongly on those as I do their political, spiritual or personal growth opinions.

Being that I am someone who abhors war and unnecessary conflict it is hard for me to admit an understanding of how people can come to the bearing of arms; the killing of their enemies. I don’t claim to be anywhere near that point of no return; in fact I am thankful for the freedoms that I still have to push for reform within my country or immigrate to another nation if ever that was the final option before armed conflict.

Watching the way that Barack Obama has handled his campaign for the Presidency has reminded me how powerful civility can be. I am saddened by the fact that he has taken a less civil tone in some of his recent advertisements but even that I can understand to a point – he’s nearing the demarcation line where voices raise prior to making a decision of fight or flight.

Juxtapose this to the campaign of John McCain who has spent much of the past couple months slandering Barack Obama; in the course of the past week there has been so many war drums beaten by the McCain/Palin camp that we should all be deaf. I am left disillusioned with the ability of two groups to disagree on substance instead of one (or both) of them turning to attacks of character and personal vendetta.

What has this all done to my psyche? I often find myself in conflicts of words and ideas with people who I would much rather be collaborating with to make a better future. I’m sure that those people feel the same way. So are our thoughts really worth this strife? Is there a way to overcome the thought processes that divide us all?

As to the value of our thoughts, well, I feel there is nothing more valuable to an individual than the thoughts and ideas they conceive of. Some religions and individuals look at these as the essence of ones soul. If you are a religious person, or at least spiritual, then you can testify to the fact that there is nothing, NOTHING, as valuable as your soul. Even mere mortals such as myself who are not spiritual find that nothing is as valuable to me as the thoughts, ideas and experiences which make up my beliefs – and sometimes change my beliefs.

That being said there is room for my beliefs to change; there is room for anyone’s beliefs to change. Where is that crack then; where does the opportunity for change come into my thought process or my belief system? For me it is not through conflict, it is through earnest discussion about facts and specific ideas. Both campaigns know that this isn’t the most effective way of maintaining their base though and they exploit that fact.

I believe that Obama/Biden are doing a good job of explaining what they plan to accomplish and how they will accomplish it. That being said I also understand that this campaign is extremely emotional, pulling at heartstrings at every opportunity. McCain/Palin are in a trap of not having issues that they can run on so they are running strictly on emotion, in their case from a standpoint of fear and dominance instead of compassion and unity.

So that’s where the separation is, the one that makes me find difference with so many people I’d rather be working with. When forced to retreat to my base ideals I go for my instinct to have compassion and empathy; those people I find opposite of me find comfort in their base of fear and domination.

Looking at what I just wrote I’m stymied as to how to overcome this. Even if we start the problem solving process full of factual statements as individuals we still process those facts differently. Compromise is the best solution that history has given us; compromise has failed us in recent history in several glorious examples. All of this has left us more divided today than we have been since the Civil Rights Movement and earlier the Civil War. We weren’t conquered by those events and I believe we will remain unconquered after we navigate these waters. The question remains though, in the current failure of compromise what is your solution?