ARE YOU A CRITICAL THINKER

So many issues are causing challenges in our society today and I think it would be beneficial if we could talk about them, while thinking about them from a critical perspective rather than an emotional one. There are gender wars, race wars, class wars ... the list goes on. If we sat down in a room full of unlabeled people, would we find that we aren't really that far apart. The polarization of our society is growing at alarming rates and it is very harmful.

What do I mean by polarization? The simple definition of polarize is to cause people to separate into sharply contrasting groups on opinions or beliefs. For example, if I told you I was caucasian, female and conservative, you would most likely assume you knew what I thought or how I felt about topics such as abortion, size of government, public services and welfare programs. By the same token, if I told you I was originally from a middle eastern country and moved here for the safety of myself and my family, a whole different idea of me would form in your mind. That is okay, it is human nature to form ideas and opinions based on a certain set of criteria. The danger comes in when we are unwilling to truly listen to one another and find out what/how we really think and feel. We cannot lump folks into groups simply because of their obvious characteristics.

I recently researched the differences between the conservatives and liberal label. Wow! It is scary to see what is in the written form. Depending on who is writing the column will depend on the slant it takes. For example, if you consult the website townhall.com, you'll see a slant toward making the conservative look very good and the liberal look like an idiot. Let me just share one example from that site.

"Conservatives believe in pursuing policies because they're pragmatic and because they work. Liberals believe in pursuing policies because they're "nice" and make them feel good. Whether the policies they're advocating actually work or not is of secondary importance to them." Would the liberals who believe this please stand up? I have a very hard time believing this statement in its entirety. Yes, conservatives want to pursue policies that work but I'm pretty sure liberals want that same thing. Why would we put any kind of policy or program in place if it wasn't going to work? Let me share one more example of this. For some reason, in general, liberals have a dislike and distrust toward corporate America. I do not believe this is a natural opinion. I think the idea was planted in their heads and they didn't really question it. Let's look at a short list of historical corporations: IBM, GE, Ford, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Eastman Kodak, Boeing. What is conjured up in your mind when you hear these corporate names? Bleh? Yuck? Bad for America and the average Joe? What about these: Google, SalesForce, Apple, Costco, Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, Oracle? What do you think would have happened to the growth and prosperity of America if it weren't for corporations? They employ millions of people - around the globe no less - and provide us with so many of the niceties of life -- gas, electricity, phone lines, cars, airplanes, personal care products, technology. The Internet. We would be a far cry from where we are without corporations. I find it hard to imagine that your average liberal thinks that we should do away with corporations.

I live in a very small community in northern California. I personally know the owners of two of our local restaurants. They are my friends. They own the sports bar serving burgers, dogs and beer where the kids can roam free and be safe. They also own the chophouse serving steak, fish and wine. While they are wonderful people, provide an amazing service to our small community and support about 50 families (between the two restaurants), they cannot, no matter how hard they try, provide me with gas and electricity. The restaurants are not there to provide tech support or build me a new car. While I truly believe in supporting my friends and my community through supporting small business, I know that I need both this small business AND a corporation to provide me with the things I need in life. I hold no grudge against either and wish no ill will on either. I support small business when I am able but I harbor no animosity toward corporate America.

Perhaps our concern with corporate America is not that it should or should not exist but that there are problems within the system which need to be addressed. For example, the certain disparity of pay among the workers of the business. In the 80s, CEO compensation became this thing, it was so overwhelming, so mind-boggling, how one person in a corporation could make so much money. Not only did most have a massive regular salary, they got bonuses and incentives that increased their pay into the millions of dollars annually, while the janitor continued making a reasonable salary. When the topic comes up, many will try to explain the phenomenon away but our common sense knows that there is still something out of balance. What do we do with this piece of information that we cannot properly process in our mind? How is it possible that ONE person can make millions of dollars per year? Why is that necessary? That can't lead to anything healthy, right? Some things in life are just too outside our understanding that it hinders us from being able to look at it from a healthy point of view.

I would encourage you to consider that this disparity in pay may be the cause of frustration we feel toward corporations, at least in part.

Something to ponder ...

http://brucecrobertson.com/2010/10/07/why-do-liberals-hate-corporate-america/